The neck and fingerboard:
Cleaning the neck and fingerboard is part of maintaining the bass, just like washing the car. It must be completed from time to time. If the back of the neck has a lacquered finish, it can be cleaned with a good guitar polish. Just spray a little on a soft cloth and rub the neck of the hem. If it is not lacquered, an application of beeswax or similar will keep it in good condition. The fretboard is a very important part of the bass, so take care of it. Here’s a tip, if you come across what they call fret buzz when playing certain notes, you need a neck adjustment, but DON’T TRY TO DO IT YOURSELF, take your bass and have a guitar repairman make the adjustments for you.
Much of your attention should be on the fretboard. If the fingerboard is very dirty, remove the strings and scrub the entire bass fingerboard gently with a soft brush. This will remove most of the loose dirt. Remember to be very careful with an acoustic bass when removing all the strings at once so you don’t spoil the pickup under the bridge. If the frets are foggy, they can be cleaned with any good quality metal cleaner, but be careful not to leave any cleaner on the fretboard. Repeat for all frets. I don’t recommend using fine steel wool because the small particles tend to want to settle in the grooves next to the frets. It’s a time-consuming job, but it won’t take long and will increase the life of your investment.
If the bass fingerboard is not lacquered it can be treated with a little lemon oil, but don’t use too much and remove the excess. Although, if you try to do this without removing the strings, it can be difficult to prevent oil from getting into the strings (but it can be done). Another solution is to use Ernie Ball Wonder Wipes, there are also many polishes and cleaners available that will work well too. Wonder Wipes are like little baby wipes impregnated with a blend of flaxseed, orange and jojoba oils. One pack of these will last a long time. How often you need to clean the fretboard of the bass depends on how often you play your bass. I guess two or three times a year would be enough for most players.
The ideal time to do this is every time you change your strings, which should be every 3-4 weeks. Always keep some string cleaner on to keep the strings free of oil build-up from your fingers. There is another thing to consider besides the fretboard of the bass, and that is the humidity that you have in the room where you keep your bass. You should invest in a small humidistat to monitor the area where your bass is stored, because the fretboard and body of the bass can be damaged if the humidity is too low, causing the wood of the bass to dry out and then possibly crack. This is just something to keep in mind. If you are like me then you should take every precaution to keep your bass in tip top shape, after all you paid a lot of money for it.
