Cleaning a Warwick body.

[40hz]

Not sure if this is the right place, so mods feel free to shift around as you see fit.

 

I'm going to try and keep my Streamer Bolt-On in as minty condition as is possible, as I can't stand how Warwicks look when they get mucky, so have been looking at cleaning products for wood, as being a Warwick, it's unfinished and not sealed.

 

A lot of information online seems to suggest the Warwick wax cleans as well as protects, but IMO, that can't be right, you'd just be sealing in any dirt and oil already on the body. If anything you'd use it *after* cleaning the body with a degreaser or solvent of some kind.

 

I've heard that Murphy's Oil Soap might be just the ticket and just wanted to check if anyone else had used this on a Warwick to good effect?

 

I note Amazon have a spray bottle version of this ;

 

Murphy's Oil 1030 22-Ounce Orange Multi-Use Wood Cleaner Spray https://amzn.eu/d/5LlsFkx

 

Would this suffice?

[Rayman]

Yes that would work. A citrus (acidic) cleaner will remove any surface contamination prior to coating with wax.

 

I actually used Muc-Off, the same cleaner I use for my mountain bike. It’s biodegradable and removed the dirt from my Streamer very nicely with no ill effects.

 

Also your assumption with regards to cleaning before waxing is correct. Overcoating the dirt with wax will just work it in not remove it.

[40hz]

32 minutes ago, Rayman said:

Yes that would work. A citrus (acidic) cleaner will remove any surface contamination prior to coating with wax.

 

I actually used Muc-Off, the same cleaner I use for my mountain bike. It’s biodegradable and removed the dirt from my Streamer very nicely with no ill effects.

 

Also your assumption with regards to cleaning before waxing is correct. Overcoating the dirt with wax will just work it in not remove it.

Excellent - thank you so much for the advice. 🙏

[Kev]

Depends how brave you are.

 

With my old Thumb basses, I would once a year scrub the whole body down with extra fine wire wool to get all the muck and grime off, then reapply the warwick wax all over and leave overnight, before buffing up in the morning to make it look brand new again.

[40hz]

37 minutes ago, Kev said:

Depends how brave you are.

 

With my old Thumb basses, I would once a year scrub the whole body down with extra fine wire wool to get all the muck and grime off, then reapply the warwick wax all over and leave overnight, before buffing up in the morning to make it look brand new again.

Not that brave! But thank you for the heads up. 

[JoeEvans]

What are you guys doing with your basses to get them so filthy?

[OliverBlackman]

23 minutes ago, JoeEvans said:

What are you guys doing with your basses to get them so filthy?

Warwick’s particularly suffer with drummer drool

[40hz]

30 minutes ago, JoeEvans said:

What are you guys doing with your basses to get them so filthy?

The 2 natural finished Warwicks I've owned (Stage One and 95 Bolt-On) have both been quite clean, luckily, but it's quite well known that natural finished Warwicks don't wear their miles that well (cosmetically) in the hands of less 'studious' owners. You don't need to look far to find them for sale with numerous dark patches on the body or neck and the common neck pickup divot.

 

On the other hand, some people might dig that look!

Edited January 11 by 40hz

[attackbass]

Lighter fluid apparently. Not a joke. Haven't tried it myself but if yoi research enough you'll find people talking about it, I think they call it something else in the States... Naphtha?

 

I've restored a good few Warwicks. Lots of careful sanding and wire wool and you can get them looking like new. 

[PaulThePlug]

Thats '0000 Wire Wool'

I like using it with lemon oil to de-gunk a fret board, knock back the lacquer on a neck and wax on the body to keep things matte-ish

Just make sure you tape-up any pickups if fitted... and a blow over with that air-in-a-can keyboard cleaner - or blast with a hair dryer on cold to get the dine dust out.

Edited January 11 by PaulThePlug

[Pea Turgh]

… and then spay a nice thick coat of poly to keep it fresh forever!

[Rayman]

4 hours ago, JoeEvans said:

What are you guys doing with your basses to get them so filthy?

My old Streamer was grim when I bought it. Also I don’t think the guy had ever waxed it. It was very dry and just, dirty. It hasn’t had much love, but then I got it very cheap. 

[Kev]

The Warwick finish dulls and darkens with use, if they're played hard enough! Sweat stains the finish etc, it's all part of the labour of love that comes with owning a natural oil Warwick.  I found the whole wire wool and wax process rather therapeutic!

[Burns-bass]

Always try whatever you’re using on a small portion of the finish before adding more!!!

 

(I say this as a person who used Pledge once to clean the Nitro body of a 1965 jazz bass. Don’t be me.)

Edited January 11 by Burns-bass

[LeftyJ]

I'm happy both my Streamer LX basses have a gloss finish. While I do like to keep my instruments properly maintained, I don't like a really high-maintenance instrument. I feel the same about Music Man necks with their oil finish, they can get incredibly dirty and almost gray after a lot of use. When I got my Stingray 5, I had the whole neck lightly sanded and re-oiled and it looked like new afterwards. 

 

I like the wire wool tip, but would be scared to do this myself to the face of a bass body. 

[40hz]

I used the Murphy's Oil Soap and it worked absolute wonders. The crap that came off onto the microfibre (from what I thought was a relatively clean bass) was scarcely believable! Finished with a wax on, wax-off (that stuff smells heavenly) and all is good in the world!

[velvetkevorkian]

On 11/01/2024 at 17:49, attackbass said:

Lighter fluid apparently. Not a joke. Haven't tried it myself but if yoi research enough you'll find people talking about it, I think they call it something else in the States... Naphtha?

 

I've restored a good few Warwicks. Lots of careful sanding and wire wool and you can get them looking like new. 

Never used it on a Warwick but I do have a can of lighter fluid in the cupboard that's only ever been used to clean gunk out of fretboards.

[Rodders]

I hardly play my Corvette Standard now but I remember the part the rested on my leg (played sat down a lot) took on a blue colour from my jeans, kinda liked it and made it mine, each to their own as they say.

[tauzero]

I've ordered some non-spray Murphy's soap for use on my defretted 2000 Thumb as the body has always seemed rather dull, despite applying Warwick lemony stuff to it and rubbing vigorously.

[NancyJohnson]

I had a Streamer five-string about 20 years ago.  Bolt on version.  Body was cherry.

 

Just used to use Mr Sheen on it once in a while.  Worked fine.  I just don't get all this, 'Ooh, use a lemon oil, but make sure it's applied with a lint-free cloth.'. It's wood.  Mr Sheen.

 

None of my kit get grubby/manky.  Where are you guys playing?  A slaughterhouse?

[LeftyJ]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

Where are you guys playing?  A slaughterhouse?

"A reviewer described the tone as beefy."

[Grahambythesea]

Music Nomad make a range of cleaning and polishing products that are well thought of by luthiers. I think I’ve only ever used the polish and it was excellent.  Might be less brutal than wire wool.

Edited January 17 by Grahambythesea
Correction

[LeftyJ]

20 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

Music Nomad make a range of cleaning and polishing products that are well thought of by luthiers. I think I’ve only ever used the polish and it was excellent.  Might be less brutal than wire wool.

On a high-gloss lacquered body, absolutely.

On an oil-finished Warwick it would be better not to use polish. 

[tauzero]

5 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I had a Streamer five-string about 20 years ago.  Bolt on version.  Body was cherry.

 

Just used to use Mr Sheen on it once in a while.  Worked fine.  I just don't get all this, 'Ooh, use a lemon oil, but make sure it's applied with a lint-free cloth.'. It's wood.  Mr Sheen.

 

None of my kit get grubby/manky.  Where are you guys playing?  A slaughterhouse?

 

In my case, it's not exactly manky - I just can't get the lustre on it that I can on the fretted Thumb. When I polish them (not often as I don't use them much these days), I use the Warwick lemony fresh stuff applied with some kitchen towel then polished off with a duster.

[Greg Edwards69]

I've had a couple of natural oil finished Warwicks in the past. I wouldn't say I babied them, but I definitely looked after them, kept them clean, and maintained the finish and hardware.

I seem to recall Warwick (possibly) mentioning that you should only need to regularly wax them for the first couple of years. After that, the finish should have built up sufficiently that it only needs a touch up once or twice a year. As for the neck, with regular playing, natural oils from your hands should keep them smooth and playable. IIRC, I waxed the back of the Thumb's neck once and hated it. I left it alone to let nature take it's course and it became one of the fastest necks I've ever played.

PS, I used to use Kaisers Lem-Oil (not actually lemon oil, pretty much just lemon-scented naptha) to clean finger poo off the frets, then fed the fingerboard with proper lemon oil. Worked a treat.

 

FWIW, the Warwick bass manual has cleaning and care tips

Edited January 17 by Greg Edwards69