Double Bass Vacuum for inside of assembled bass

[Steve Freides]

Can anyone recommend a vacuum cleaner for the inside of an assembled double bass? I am not a luthier, just would like this to be able to clean out the little wood chips floating around inside of my bass.

For guitar picks that get into the sound hole, I just turn the guitar upside down and shake it. I tried that with my bass but it's a little unwieldy! I did get some out but there are more.

Thanks in advance.

-S-

 

[Ed Fuqua]

You don't need a new vacuum, just a length of surgical tubing (cause it's soft and flexible) and an old "knife" attachment for the hose that you can duct tape the tubing into. Presto!

 

[Steve Freides]

Thx. Will give that a try.

-S-

 

[Harry Monkley]

There is an even lower tech solution - make a loop of gaffa tape with the sticky side facing out, tie it to a piece of string, tie other end of string to bridge leg and post the tape loop through the nearest f-hole. Play your bass as normal for a couple of days and then retrieve the tape which will have collected the loose dust and muck from inside your bass, rinse and repeat if necessary till all the muck is gone.

 

[JDBassist51]

Hi Steve, If you have a standard hose style vacuum, you can reduce, or taper the hose end down to fit a three foot piece of 1/2 inch, or 3/4 inch O.D. clear vinyl hose (thin wall) then tape around the ends. This method has worked well for me.

Hope this helps,

John

 

[GretschWretch]

Bad idea. Eventually the chips will mix with the dust inside the bass to form the "mouse." The mouse should not be removed. To do so will destroy the bass's mojo.

 

[RBrownBass]

Bad idea. Eventually the chips will mix with the dust inside the bass to form the "mouse." The mouse should not be removed. To do so will destroy the bass's mojo.

I had cleaned out my bass last week and discovered a loss of tone and volume. I formed a mouse out of dust from the vacuum bag and dropped it back thru the F-hole. The bass opened up again and all is well

 

[Selim]

You could check out the Metrovac by Metropolitan, made in New Jersey. Loads of attachments including a thin hose that will fit thru your F hole. I bought it to vacuum my electronics and interior of my car.

And as the door to door vacuum salesman said: “I assure you madam, this thing sucks.”