When I was young, the bars I played in were hot, we were sweaty (literally dripping with sweat), and there was cigarette smoke everywhere. Now, everywhere I play has LED lights (nothing is hot, I don't sweat), I'm always playing with clean, dry hands, and there is no smoke. How often you have to clean your bass depends on the situations you play it in - I used to clean my bass a LOT (I had to). Now, it's not much of an issue - when I change strings (which is a lot less often, as I'm not sweating all over them), I will give everything a once over.