How do you care for your instrument?

[bartelby]

I'll wipe down the neck after practice or a gig and clean the fingerprints off the chrome pickguard, when I can be bothered...

[Slipperydick]

Wash me hands before I play it, swipe the beer stains off now and again.

Whichever one I'm using at the time resides in the living room, if it gets really bad, the missus polishes it !

[the_skezz]

I beat it when I come home and it doesn't have the tea ready and waiting on the table for me

Damn Squier needs to learn some respect.

[El Bajo]

I cleaned mine down last night and changed the strings. Took them all of to get at the grimy fretboard and boiled the C and B string becasue I didnt have any spares. I was amazed how quickly the neck starts to bow!!!!! Quickly put new set of EBs on with the boiled strings and now letting it rest for a couple of days until I get a spare hour to practice

[Count Bassie]

Play it, feel good about it. Set up and adjust as needed. Try and never change the strings...

[Wylie]

Change strings once a year, wipe it off occasionally, never put it away. Little screws on the Squier tuning pegs tend to work their way outward. Tune weekly.

[Truckstop]

Every year on my birthday, I change the strings, wax/clean the fretboard (depending on whether it's the washburn or the yamaha), check the pups, the jack sockets and the knobs to make sure they're all working properly, buff the hardware a little and just give a good clean to get rid of all the dust.
This way, it feels like I have two new basses every year!
I also tend to my cases to see if the locks are sticking or to make sure the joints aren't getting too rusty etc.
Day to day I keep them in open soft cases.
I also carry out basic checks on my cabs and amp.
I know it sems ridiculous to carry out all this work once a year. After all, if something breaks... it breaks! But for me, my birthday is when I first started playing bass 9 years ago and it just really makes me happy and it's just a day that I can set aside to do stuff that I really want to do. I actually get really excited!

Truckstop

[Count Bassie]

[quote name='Truckstop' post='1014182' date='Nov 6 2010, 08:43 AM']Every year on my birthday, I change the strings, wax/clean the fretboard (depending on whether it's the washburn or the yamaha), check the pups, the jack sockets and the knobs to make sure they're all working properly, buff the hardware a little and just give a good clean to get rid of all the dust.
This way, it feels like I have two new basses every year!
I also tend to my cases to see if the locks are sticking or to make sure the joints aren't getting too rusty etc.
Day to day I keep them in open soft cases.
I also carry out basic checks on my cabs and amp.
I know it sems ridiculous to carry out all this work once a year. After all, if something breaks... it breaks! But for me, my birthday is when I first started playing bass 9 years ago and it just really makes me happy and it's just a day that I can set aside to do stuff that I really want to do. I actually get really excited!

Truckstop[/quote]

I like the idea of presenting yourself with your basses in 'like new' condition once a year! Pretty good way to stay happy with what you have to be happy with.

[danny-79]

Just wipe the strings an back of neck (oil finished neck) when finished playing it.
And i always put in in its case when finished playing it. (it takes just as long to take it back out of the case as it does to fall off a stand an get broke!)
Every now an again if feeling inspired (or uninspired to play) give a good clean with a guitar polish .

[Grassie]

I don't clean it as often as I should - and I suffer from sweaty hands when playing. This has meant I've had to replace the bridge because of rusty grub screws and intonation screws, rusty pick-up screws, rusty pickguard screws and rusty pole pieces, which have become so bad that I've given up cleaning them and replaced the exposed pole piece pick-up covers with blank ones. All that rust is ok if you like the "relic'd" look, but my jazz bass just ended up looking like i left it out in the rain.
Still not as hot as I should be as the frets have started to go a funny brown colour, especially up at the dusty end, which is strange, as I rarely venture that far east (or west if you happen to be watching me play). Maybe a re-fret will change my habits and force me into looking after it a bit more...

[Count Bassie]

[quote name='Grant' post='1014730' date='Nov 6 2010, 04:33 PM']I don't clean it as often as I should - and I suffer from sweaty hands when playing. This has meant I've had to replace the bridge because of rusty grub screws and intonation screws, rusty pick-up screws, rusty pickguard screws and rusty pole pieces, which have become so bad that I've given up cleaning them and replaced the exposed pole piece pick-up covers with blank ones. All that rust is ok if you like the "relic'd" look, but my jazz bass just ended up looking like i left it out in the rain.
Still not as hot as I should be as the frets have started to go a funny brown colour, especially up at the dusty end, which is strange, as I rarely venture that far east (or west if you happen to be watching me play). Maybe a re-fret will change my habits and force me into looking after it a bit more... [/quote]

Maybe fretless with nylon-wound strings? Wood pickup covers?