fret cleaning work on a budget

[danbowskill]

As a lot of you I try to do most of the set up and repair work myself on a bass ,especially set up as to an extent its quiet personal to your playing style(bar neck relief, levelling )

I use roto rounds strings and they scratch the hell out of frets. I've tried the different grit fret rubbers that you can get which are ok but take a lot of time and work........but one of these fits the bill perfect  https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-nail-buffer-4-in-1/p/0348223....ideal for getting scratches out and buffing back to looking new without taking Much meat off of the frets, £1.20 as well 🙂

Edited February 10, 2019 by danbowskill

[Jonse]

Good stuff, always love a DIY job, makes an instrument your own. May have to nip wilkos and pick up a couple. 

[DaveFry]

And a handy source of fretboard oil on a budget is walnut oil from the supermarket . Woodturners use it on salad bowls because it is foodsafe .

[danbowskill]

It would be quite good to start a thread for bass hacks on budget? Wish I knew loads.

[Jonse]

38 minutes ago, danbowskill said:

It would be quite good to start a thread for bass hacks on budget? Wish I knew loads.

Yeah not a bad idea! 

[MoonBassAlpha]

On 10/02/2019 at 20:50, danbowskill said:

As a lot of you I try to do most of the set up and repair work myself on a bass ,especially set up as to an extent its quiet personal to your playing style(bar neck relief, levelling )

I use roto rounds strings and they scratch the hell out of frets. I've tried the different grit fret rubbers that you can get which are ok but take a lot of time and work........but one of these fits the bill perfect  https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-nail-buffer-4-in-1/p/0348223....ideal for getting scratches out and buffing back to looking new without taking Much meat off of the frets, £1.20 as well 🙂

I've used these very things, work a treat for shiny frets.

[bazzbass]

On ‎13‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 04:15, danbowskill said:

It would be quite good to start a thread for bass hacks on budget? Wish I knew loads.

a battery powered toothbrush with just warm water cleans the grungiest fretboard. The round headed toothbrushes work best.

[GisserD]

Ive been using a duster with some silver polish wrapped around a credit card for years with the most excellent results. Pinch the duster behind the card, and it glides nicely over the top of the frets in circular motion, not risking any contact/damage to the fretboard at all.

I usually put lemon oil on a rosewood board first, that makes any stray polish really easy to clean off the wood.

whilst im at it i usually use the corner of the duster covered card to get down the sides of the frets into the corners to get the gunge out. I've been doing this for 10 years or more at lest once every 3 months with excellent results.

Silver polish is very mild, but If a more abrasive polish is necessary to remove deep scratches, brasso can be used.