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Is it really necessary to polish your bass?
- Thread starter kroz
- Start date
don't use pure lemon oil - the acid is not fingerboard friendly. the lemon fingerboard products by martin and other companies contain little actual lemon oil.
Regular guitar polish for the body keeps the finger prints off. They are more obvious on dark instruments and make it look like you don't care that you are on stage.
Rosewood necks should be oiled maybe once a year, depending on the humidity of where you live. I live in a very dry, dust place, so I will do it maybe twice a year to avoid warping or shrinkage.
I bought the little Jim Dunlop kit and it has worked fine for me.
I used that on the wenge/ovangkol neck of my Warwick. I don't think I'd be comfortable using it on a rosewood fretboard attached to a finished maple neck.
I have 4 basses, all over 30 years old, and never oil the fingerboards. Never have. Never saw a reason too, as regular playing and reasonable care have sufficed.
Never had a problem, either here in the desert or on the East coast, a few blocks from the water.
For regular cleaning, I use one of these: D'Addario Planet Waves Microfiber Polishing Cloth
Has served me well for a few years now, works great.
Never had a problem, either here in the desert or on the East coast, a few blocks from the water.
For regular cleaning, I use one of these: D'Addario Planet Waves Microfiber Polishing Cloth
Has served me well for a few years now, works great.
http://www.amazon.com/Dunlop-6500-System-Guitar-Maintenance/dp/B0002E1H9W/ref=pd_sim_267_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=41o4YWSKUOL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0KSY9B5WSGETC3GN4F1N
just get this I use it and it works great, if you ever get a maple Fb tho, the lemon oil they make wont stain it like this stuff does apparently
I also have the wipes that Musicman basses come with so when It is time Im gonna try those, but itll be a while
just get this I use it and it works great, if you ever get a maple Fb tho, the lemon oil they make wont stain it like this stuff does apparently
I also have the wipes that Musicman basses come with so when It is time Im gonna try those, but itll be a while
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Back when I was messing with expensive mandolins I read about and tried Dr. Ducks AxWax. It's the only thing I bother with now. It does not provide a luster like a polish, but I know the wood is fed.
Dr. Duck's AxWax & String Lube
Dr. Duck's AxWax & String Lube
I kind of approach it like the roll the bassist is "expected" to play. You know, the less is more mentality.
Beyond a decent functional (to you) set up, I would pay the most attention to the fret board/neck itself (coated Maple fret board excluded).
I don't know for sure but the overwhelming consensus in my research seems to be lemon oil or boiled Linseed oil is the way to go with Lemon oil leading by a small margin. How often seems to be considerably more subjective.
I am comfortable with a new/new to me once over and then maybe once a year, more like every other year, oiling of the fret board.
To be fair I live in a perpetually humid climate (stored openly on wall hangers) and my instruments do not go through the rigors that some players put theirs through so very minimal works for me.
If it looks dry, you probably want to oil it.
Keep a clean soft cloth handy and give your instrument a good rub down (not that instrument you weirdo) at whatever frequency you like.
Beyond a decent functional (to you) set up, I would pay the most attention to the fret board/neck itself (coated Maple fret board excluded).
I don't know for sure but the overwhelming consensus in my research seems to be lemon oil or boiled Linseed oil is the way to go with Lemon oil leading by a small margin. How often seems to be considerably more subjective.
I am comfortable with a new/new to me once over and then maybe once a year, more like every other year, oiling of the fret board.
To be fair I live in a perpetually humid climate (stored openly on wall hangers) and my instruments do not go through the rigors that some players put theirs through so very minimal works for me.
If it looks dry, you probably want to oil it.
Yep, pretty much. My opinion, but you can pretty much save your money and skip the polish altogether.
Keep a clean soft cloth handy and give your instrument a good rub down (not that instrument you weirdo) at whatever frequency you like.
You have already received plenty of great suggestions on polishing the fingerboard/body.
I just wanted to drop a note to recommend wiping your hardware and strings after playing. Whether you've played onstage for 20 minutes or a night time of 2-3 hours broken into sets, you should wipe your sweat off the hardware and strings. Sweat on the hardware causes corrosion on the metal components. Wiping the strings will keep them fresh for you longer.
I have an Ibanez SR885 that I wish I had wiped it down more often, because the bridge is tarnished and a proper replacement is difficult to locate.
I just wanted to drop a note to recommend wiping your hardware and strings after playing. Whether you've played onstage for 20 minutes or a night time of 2-3 hours broken into sets, you should wipe your sweat off the hardware and strings. Sweat on the hardware causes corrosion on the metal components. Wiping the strings will keep them fresh for you longer.
I have an Ibanez SR885 that I wish I had wiped it down more often, because the bridge is tarnished and a proper replacement is difficult to locate.
Definitely good advice here. Again, no polish/oils for my basses, but they do get regular wipe-downs during and after playtime.
And, tbh, The Ibanez hardware of the era was notorious for tarnishing, pitting etc. Might not be (all) your fault.
I'm an 99% sure that you're not supposed to use olive oil on fretboard.on pasta and saladsFor my fretboard i use virgin olive oil.
It's good for my bass and for my spaghetti
Hooray for maple ('77 P bass)!
I was pretty disappointed that the fretboard on my Martin acoustic was richlite and not ebony, until sitting on the couch after supper one night, just noodling away, I got gravy on it and found out that it's the same crap they make cutting boards from, wipes right off with the kitchen sponge. Got an el-fako board on my VM fretless too - no polishing required, and gravy friendly!
I was pretty disappointed that the fretboard on my Martin acoustic was richlite and not ebony, until sitting on the couch after supper one night, just noodling away, I got gravy on it and found out that it's the same crap they make cutting boards from, wipes right off with the kitchen sponge. Got an el-fako board on my VM fretless too - no polishing required, and gravy friendly!
Humidity impacts the amount of water in wood.
Oil impacts the amount of oil in wood.
They're two different things that don't have anything to do with each other.
