Bass Cleaning

[Telebass]

Some great posts here!
However, as a tech, there are fewer things worse to clean than a Jamerson style fingerboard...
I give my bass a good wipe down after every gig with a good quality microfibre cloth. Particularly as I string with TI Jazz Flats. They are too expensive not to look after!

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1368710827' post='2080487']
Pretty much any of the proprietary 'guitar cleaners' will do the job, but there are some issues surrounding this whole fingerboard cleaning thing for us to obsess over, should the fancy take us. As it has me, for years.

Thing is, we're often asking these products to clean [i]and[/i] (lubricate / finish / shine) at the same time, which is a bit ambitious. It goes without saying that finished maple boards do not require oiling, but you'd be amazed how many people, etc.

The so-called lemon oils we buy from guitar outlets are usually 99% petroleum distillates with a tiny bit of scent in there to make us think 'Oooh, lemony fresh!".

'Real' lemon oil - the pure stuff boiled down from real lemons and sold in specialist food sections contains sufficient concentrations of limonene and other stuff as would affect glues, bindings etc, and is not recommended. It will stain unfinished lightwoods a weird yellow and it's also bastard expensive.

Bearing this in mind, for myself I avoid anything with claims of lemony-ness. It's considerably cheaper and more effective (if slightly more dangerous) to use naptha (lighter fuel) to clean rosewood boards. Not too much or it soaks in and dries the board out over time.

Then a smidge of an organic oil like teak oil, olive oil, almond oil just to give it a sheen. Thing about teak oil is (i) too much can seal the board, inhibiting moisture transfer and (ii) teak-oil soaked rags can spontaneously combust, yikes.

Olive oil and almond oil contain a fair amount of water. Apply too much of these oils and the board beneath can get soggy while the oil will seal the top surface inhibiting moisture egress. Bad.

Dan Erlewine likes raw linseed oil (not boiled - forms a hard surface) for rw boards. He also recommends spit to clean nitro bodies - ymmv. Personally I'd not want to handle someone else's spitty bass. My own spit, fine.

Don't like fast-fret and similar string-lube products because they're usually silicone-based. If you want to get 'difficult to shift' fingerprints over everything it's considerably cheaper to buy a can of silicone lubricant from Halford's for £3.99 and very lightly spray a bit of kitchen roll to apply. Not WD40 because it contains petroleum distillates which dry the board over time.

Best and cheapest string lube is the oils in the skin of your nose. Outside of a shark's liver, nose oil has the highest concentration of squalene (the base for watchmakers' oil). It's organic, it's free and you've always got a supply within reach.
[/quote]

Thank you for what appears to be a well researched and scientific response but... nose oil? Seriously?

[Hobbayne]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1368779065' post='2081296']
Thank you for what appears to be a well researched and scientific response but... nose oil? Seriously?
[/quote]

Apparently, yes. Oh! and I heard KFC grease works too!

[Coilte]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1368778549' post='2081291']
Is the oil on your nose different from the oil anywhere else on your body? Does that mean I gotta pick my nose and rub it on my strings? or is it the outside of ones nose that does the job. I dont have a very oily nose, so does that put me at a disatvantage when cleaning is called for? So many questions, so little time!
[/quote]

It is the oil on the outside of the nose that we are talking about. I dont think it is a good idea to get too obsessed about oiling and cleaning. Yes, wipe down the body of the bass and the strings after a practice, but IMO there are much more important and interesting things to be explored with regards to bass playing.




[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1368779065' post='2081296']
but... nose oil? Seriously?
[/quote]

Yes, it is true. It is mainly used as a lubricant. There was a similar type of thread over on TB a while back. Some one posted a video clip of a
fairly famous bassist (cant remember his name at present) in action. He was playing very fast, and every so often his plucking fingers would rapidly touch his nose.

Thankfully I have never felt the need for this "accessory".

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1368778549' post='2081291']
Is the oil on your nose different from the oil anywhere else on your body?
[/quote]

All you need to know about nose oil [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_sebum"]here[/url]. And it's the [i]outside[/i] of the nose. One only ventures inside when bridge mute material is required.

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1368778549' post='2081291']
I dont have a very oily nose
[/quote]

Rub a little olive oil into it and you're gig-ready. (Not 'lemon' oil - contains petroleum distillates. Which is sort of where we came in.)
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Edited May 17, 2013 by skankdelvar

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1368796374' post='2081640']
All you need to know about nose oil [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_sebum"]here[/url]. And it's the [i]outside[/i] of the nose. One only ventures inside when bridge mute material is required.



Rub a little olive oil into it and you're gig-ready. (Not 'lemon' oil - contains petroleum distillates. Which is sort of where we came in.)
[color=#FFFFFF].[/color]
[/quote]

Well there you go, I had no idea my nose oil could be so useful. I particularly liked this part of the wikipedia article on your link...

"Nose grease has mild antifoaming properties and can be used to break down a high head on freshly poured beer or soft drinks. Wiping nose grease onto one's finger and then touching or stirring the foam causes it to dissipate rapidly[sup]."[/sup]

The burly looking tatooed chap with the bolt through his nose down my local is always complaining about the head on his beer. Next time I'm in I'll sort it out for him by sticking my nose oiled finger in his pint...