Do you clean you gear

[john_the_bass]

Just wondering if you have a cleaning regime for any of your gear (not to sound totally OCD).
And I don't mean stripping them down and polishing every individual component before you put them back on, I mean wiping the greasy fingerprints off with a cloth or giving a rosewood board a scrub with a bit of lemon oil now and again to get the crud off.

[Adrenochrome]

I wipe off/mop up the sweat from my bass after each set and also wipe the strings down with fast fret.
Funnily enough I don't get any build up of crud on basses I play regularly and I play every day at the moment (gigs/rehearsals/home practice).

[alexclaber]

I wash my earplugs annually.

Alex

[neepheid]

Yeah, I give mine a wipe every so often. Gloss black loves to collect fingerprints and dust.

[cheddatom]

I use anti-bacterial handwash to get rid of the cheesey smell. Especially after gigs.

[Dubs]

I enjoy the waxing process, and the smell always makes me happy

[clauster]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='468139' date='Apr 21 2009, 09:54 AM']I enjoy the waxing process, and the smell always makes me happy [/quote]

Not me! Can I bring my Warwick down to you every couple of months pls?

[alexclaber]

[quote name='clauster' post='468146' date='Apr 21 2009, 10:00 AM']Not me! Can I bring my Warwick down to you every couple of months pls?[/quote]

I'm sure an annual wax is more than enough in our mild maritime climate.

Remember, the dirt keeps the funk!

Alex

[Dubs]

[quote name='clauster' post='468146' date='Apr 21 2009, 10:00 AM']Not me! Can I bring my Warwick down to you every couple of months pls?[/quote]

Yes, my rates are very reasonable

[BigBeefChief]

Nah.

[~tl]

I give mine basses a wipe down with a towel (well, a Guiness bar mat that's made of a towel like material) after I play gigs. I also occasionally give them a dust, but I don't clean them regularly aside from that.

[b]Edit:[/b] Oh, now and again I also hoover the ratfur on my amp, if that counts

Edited April 21, 2009 by ~tl

[MB1]

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='468093' date='Apr 21 2009, 08:56 AM']Just wondering if you have a cleaning regime for any of your gear (not to sound totally OCD).
And I don't mean stripping them down and polishing every individual component before you put them back on, I mean wiping the greasy fingerprints off with a cloth or giving a rosewood board a scrub with a bit of lemon oil now and again to get the crud off.[/quote]

MB1.
...............Do You Clean Your Gear?
I dont clean it as such but i do cut it with a little Tomato Paste from time to time....Woops!...not what you meant was it?

Edited April 21, 2009 by MB1

[steve-soar]

After playing, I have a brace of teenage filipino girls, each one equipped with Steward MacDonald tools and polishes to deconstruct, polish, reassemble, set up and wax my plank.
It pleases me.

Edited April 21, 2009 by steve-soar

[Ou7shined]

I wipe down after every gig with a microfiber cloth and polish on a regular basis.

I use it on everything.... varnish, fretboard, hardware and strings.
There's probably some secret guitar rotting chemical in it but to date it works for me. I love the feel of my freshly polished guitars - especially the strings.

[steve-soar]

Mr Sheen is ok for sideboards but it contains silicon, which can be harmful to some surfaces.
Massive plus one for microfibre cloths, I use one dry for all places on my basses. The one for the fingerboard is seperate because of lemon oil residue, then when they're dirty, chuck 'em in the washing machine.

[steve-soar]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='468185' date='Apr 21 2009, 10:29 AM']I wipe down after every gig with a microfiber cloth and polish on a regular basis.

I use it on everything.... varnish, fretboard, hardware and strings.
There's probably some secret guitar rotting chemical in it but to date it works for me. I love the feel of my freshly polished guitars - especially the strings.[/quote]
Mr Sheen works to polish things by the action of degreasing and as such, when used on rosewood boards, or any other unsealed wood can cause shrinkage because the natural oils of the wood are being removed, this has resulted in cracked and warpped boards and frets becoming loose.
In my experience.

[peted]

Being a Warwick owner I am obliged to regularly wax my instrument to keep the wood in top condition (it's a natural oil finish). It's actually quite a thereputic act and keeps it looking better than the day I bought it as the wood gets a little darker after the first 6 months of waxing.

Every 6-12 months I apply a little lem-oil to the fretboard as a cleaner and conditioner.

I recently opened up my Hartke head after about 5 years of ownership and gave it a slight hoovering to remove dust and squirted all the pots with some switch cleaner. The switch cleaner cured all the crackles in the dials and I feel better after removing most of the dust. Can't say it's had any positive or negative on the sound coming out of it though.

[The Bass Doc]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='468152' date='Apr 21 2009, 10:04 AM']Nah.[/quote]

Me neither - I follow the James Jamerson school of thought. Mind you as far as personal hygiene goes I have a bath once a year whether I need it or not.

[clauster]

[quote]Remember, the dirt keeps the funk![/quote]

The I have the funkiest Warwick in the world

[Happy Jack]

What is this "cleaning" of which you speak?

[jim_bass]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='468112' date='Apr 21 2009, 09:29 AM']I wipe off/mop up the sweat from my bass after each set and also wipe the strings down with fast fret.
Funnily enough I don't get any build up of crud on basses I play regularly and I play every day at the moment (gigs/rehearsals/home practice).[/quote]

+1

[51m0n]

I give my basses a pretty thorough clean when I switch the strings, I hate gunk on the fret board.

Other than that a quick wipe over after a gig is cool.