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New Year traditions for bass

RGerhart

RGerhart

Supporting Member
Jan 11, 2021
1,716
3,632
Portland, OR
#1
Are there any "traditions" or things you do, bass-related, for the new year? Clean your fretboards on your basses? Adjust the truss rods?

For me, I replace all of the 9V batteries in my active basses. I don't know, but it gives me peace of mind that they all have fresh batteries, regardless of how much juice is left in them. I started doing this a couple of years ago, and keep a spreadsheet with the dates I've replaced the batteries, along with string changes for each bass.
 
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#2
RGerhart said:
Are there any "traditions" or things you do, bass-related, for the new year? Clean your fretboards on your basses? Adjust the truss rods?

For me, I replace all of the 9V batteries in my active basses. I don't know, but it gives me peace of mind that they all have fresh batteries, regardless of how much juice is left in them. I started doing this a couple of years ago, and keep a spreadsheet with the dates I've replaced the batteries, along with string changes for each bass.
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Aye, all of these.

Fresh batteries, fresh strings (if roundwounds), clean, polish, treat fretboards, check relief, check intonation

a good luck bass tradition here
 
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#3
GwenOnBass said:
Aye, all of these.

Fresh batteries, fresh strings (if roundwounds), clean, polish, treat fretboards, check relief, check intonation

a good luck bass tradition here
Click to expand...
If I have time, I enjoy oiling fretboards and giving them a good cleaning. Adjusting intonation and cleaning the neck are also for some reason enjoyable. I like the routine, and feel like I can hear the difference, LOL. Kind of like how your car always runs better after a car wash, eh? :)
 
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#4
RGerhart said:
Are there any "traditions" or things you do, bass-related, for the new year? Clean your fretboards on your basses? Adjust the truss rods?

For me, I replace all of the 9V batteries in my active basses. I don't know, but it gives me peace of mind that they all have fresh batteries, regardless of how much juice is left in them. I started doing this a couple of years ago, and keep a spreadsheet with the dates I've replaced the batteries, along with string changes for each bass.
Click to expand...
Nothing new or extra. Just business as usual.
 
#5
RGerhart said:
If I have time, I enjoy oiling fretboards and giving them a good cleaning. Adjusting intonation and cleaning the neck are also for some reason enjoyable. I like the routine, and feel like I can hear the difference, LOL. Kind of like how your car always runs better after a car wash, eh? :)
Click to expand...

I accidentally bumped the floating bridge on my semi-hollowbody as I cleaned it yesterday. :banghead: Now that bass is intonated for 2026, for sure.
 
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#6
RGerhart said:
For me, I replace all of the 9V batteries in my active basses.
Click to expand...
I swap batteries in my two active basses every January and July. The two holidays being six months apart helps me remember. While I’m at it, I also check the batteries in the only two pedals I use but don’t swap them if the voltage is still above 8V.

I put fresh rounds on two basses in January, the rest are strung with flats and get new ones only when needed.
 
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#10
RGerhart said:
If I have time, I enjoy oiling fretboards and giving them a good cleaning. Adjusting intonation and cleaning the neck are also for some reason enjoyable. I like the routine, and feel like I can hear the difference, LOL. Kind of like how your car always runs better after a car wash, eh? :)
Click to expand...
There is a story out there that James Jamerson never changed his strings or cleaned his fretboard. It said he liked the grunge on it, helped give him the sound he was looking for?

I wrecked my first two cars, before I even turned 19, and both were freshly waxed. Haven't had an accident since, and I'm 71. I almost never get a car waxed now, and am super careful after coming out of the car wash, until I have a good layer of city dirt on it again.

On the other hand, I do keep my fretboard super clean.
 
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#14
BassicJazzy said:
There is a story out there that James Jamerson never changed his strings or cleaned his fretboard. It said he liked the grunge on it, helped give him the sound he was looking for
Click to expand...

This is true. The quote attributed to Jamerson: "the dirt keeps the funk". Engineers in the LA studios (the post-Detroit location for Motown) tried to get him to change those strings because they were so worn they wouldn't intonate properly, but Jamerson resisted. I've picked up a bit of Jamerson trivia over the years, most of it from the excellent book "Standing in the Shadows of Motown".
 
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