Cleaning/maintaining your equipment

[xxxwookie]

Now I don't know a lot of detail on this but some people were asking about it yesterday so I thought I might as well put a thread in here for people to read in the future.

You should clean your bass once a month, maybe every 2 months but I wouldn't leave it longer than that.

Cleaning the body
First remove the strings, they'll only get in the way. While you're cleaning your bass, you can clean your strings (Separate section)

This is fairly easy, get a good polishing rag and just go gently over your pride and joy to get off some of the dead skin that collects and any other loose marks on your body.

Get some wax. I have 2 bottles, one is planet waves and one is called guitar care. Don't use the sprays you can get, firstly they're expensive, secondly they're uneconomical and thirdly most of them contain less than 1 percent wax. Don't use car wax, there are waxes especially designed to keep your instrument glossy and they aren't too expensive and last a while.

put a little bit on your rag. gently rub into your bass (Don't rub too hard, you can damage the paint work).

Now use a separate cloth to gently removethe wax (Wax on, wax off). The wax essentially is there to pick up bits of crap and then when you remove the wax, the crap comes off. Some will be left on which is why you rub it in, but make an effort to get it all off.

Hardware can and should also be polished (At the bare minimum wiped over with a rag to get bits of dead skin off)

Warnings
Be careful of your pickups, you don't want to bang them or get wax in them. Don't rub too hard, you can damage the paint work and the laquer.
Don't use excess wax. Firstly it's wasteful, secondly it's more difficult to get off and thirdly it can get in your pickups and cause problems.
Don't leave the wax on because you can't be arsed to finish

The neck
The back of the neck and the head should be cleaned in the same way as the body. The fingerboard can also be polished to get the nasty skin deposits off it, that is disgusting if you let it build up.

The important thing to do with the fingerboard is to use some oil. You can buy fret oils from places but somebody was recommending lemon oil which should work just aswell. What you want to do is to rub this into the fingerboard although that's not entirely necessary if you've cleaned it.

Use a Q-tip to get it right into the frets and the fret dots.inlays which do need to be done. Mould and mildew can collect here and not only is it disgusting but can cause damage to the frets and the finger board.

Remove the excess oil with a clean Q-tip

Warnings
Remove excess oil or it will leave a mess.
If you do notice mould developing and you can't get rid of it, you might want to take it into a shop and they'll probably remove the frets to clean it out if necessary and then refret or they might have a better way of cleaning it out.

Strings
Remember whe you first bought them? They had a nice springy sound which began to subside and now they're duller than a spoon. That's because when you play, bits of skin come off youre fingers and clog up the gaps in the strings. After cleaning you can usually notice that they're much cleaner

There are 2 main methods.
One is to clean frequently using alcohol imbibed wipes which you can get from a music store, but this needs to be done at least once a week and isn't that effective (IMO)

The other is to use alcohol or similar substances. Don't blame me if you use something that damages your strings because I don't know myself what is suitable and what isn't. I use turps.

Get a bowl or a shallowish dish and wind your strings round into circles like they were when you first bought them. Place them into the dish

Pour over the turps or whatever you happen to use. Most cleaning fluids will probably work but like I say, some might damage your strings. Just leave them for a while.

Now use gloves because most cleaning chemicals are irritants. Remove the strings and place them in another bowl and rinse them in water so that you get all of the fluid off. Pat them dry with a towel (Paper towels=bad, they'll bereak up and make a mess).

Boiling the strings is also a well known method. Simply boil up a pan of water and place your strings (Preferably curled round themselves as they were when you bought them) into the pan.

Leave them in the boiling water for a few minutes, more than 5 minutes is unnecessary and wont get them any cleaner. You know they're done when you can see bits of scum (That's the dirt and skin from your fingers) floating in the pan... Make sure you clean the pan afterwards!

Pat them dry with a towel and restring your machine

Warnings
I don't know what is likely to work well and damage your strings, I am seeking advice myself so look at hat others in here say.
Many people recommend boiling your strings. While this works, Many people say it can damage your stings and that it is less effective

Finally
You want to go around your hardware. Remove your knowbs and give them a good clean inside.
Make sure that your pots (The part that your knobs attach to that turns) are securely fastened to your bass/. Wipe around those too with a bit of neck oil.
Make sure that everything is securely attached and screwed in properly, stuff does tend to come loose.

That's more or less it. If anybody has any recommendations, I'd like to hear them and they'd be useful to the thread. If anyone has any questions I'll come back and look occasionally but there are plenty of able members in this forum to help you out

[Dzrael]

I have a question, what exactly are dot inlays.. I don't mean to ask dumb questions,.. but I don't really know.

[joe_bass]

they tell you where you are on the fretboard. if you get me.

[morpcat]

+ A good way to clean fretwire is to scrape it with #0000 steel wool. It's really fine and won't damage your fretboard, but don't go about trying to make scratches with it or you probably will. Use it with strength along each fret, and then give the whole board a few vertical wipes.

[xxxwookie]

Originally Posted by Dzrael

I have a question, what exactly are dot inlays.. I don't mean to ask dumb questions,.. but I don't really know.

basically it's a way of working out wher you are on the fret boasrd without having to count. after a while you get used to knowing where you are, I don;t even look anymore

[Dzrael]

Okay, thanks and sorry for the dumb question. x..x

[xxxwookie]

Meh, it's not dumb, people do ask things like that. One of the think I loe about John Myung's old bass (Yamaha RBX6JM) was the pattern they made with the inlays. Instead of having the inlays in the normal places they just used the dots to make a cool spiralling pattern which looks awesom

[Dzrael]

I was looking at a bass on music123.com, and it had flames all the way up the fretboard for inlays, now that I know what they are. *chuckles*

[Bass+Fingers+Amp=Groove]

You left out boiling in string cleaning, it wont damage the strings and its much more effective.

[xxxwookie]

I did mention boiling (I personally tend to boil) but I also mentioned that many people believe it's damaging to the strings

[Bassman4000]

I was talking to this guy from a guitar store, and he said the if you did that and didn't know waht you were doing, then you could seriously damage you bass and to bring it in if youd never done it before.

[Bass+Fingers+Amp=Groove]

Originally Posted by xxxwookie

I did mention boiling (I personally tend to boil) but I also mentioned that many people believe it's damaging to the strings

they dont damage them, unless you add some thing to the water, or do it excessively.

Originally Posted by Bassman4000

I was talking to this guy from a guitar store, and he said the if you did that and didn't know waht you were doing, then you could seriously damage you bass and to bring it in if youd never done it before.

so cleaning your bass is dangerous? sounds like he wants your money

[Bass+Fingers+Amp=Groove]

hey wookie, maby i should ad my set up thread to this one. it falls under maintenace.

[TheMachineRagesOn]

How long should you boil your strings for anyways?

[Alma]

you should only boil your strings once or twice, because boiling them makes them weaker.

[Alma]

Originally Posted by TheMachineRagesOn

How long should you boil your strings for anyways?

whack them in the pot with the water as they are and then bring them to the boil, then leave them for about 2-5 mins then take em out and dry.

simple

[xxxwookie]

Originally Posted by Bass+Fingers+Amp=Groove

hey wookie, maby i should ad my set up thread to this one. it falls under maintenace.

Sounds like a good idea. Sorry I've been away recently, hence only just replying.

I've added the basic method for boiling your strings into the original post

[FlamingCouch]

Can I use Endust on my bass to clean it? (dust polish or something like that)

[xxxwookie]

I don't have a clue what endust is. I'd recommend using only polishes recommended for instruments, but at the bare minimum, something designed for wood. I would recommend against using sprays. Visit the music store and see what you can get from them.

[FlamingCouch]

Originally Posted by xxxwookie

I don't have a clue what endust is. I'd recommend using only polishes recommended for instruments, but at the bare minimum, something designed for wood. I would recommend against using sprays. Visit the music store and see what you can get from them.

Endust is a dust polish used on wood furniture. I was just wondering if it's worth a shot.