Bass Guitar Maintenance – The Neck and Fretboard

Cleaning the neck and fretboard is a part of bass guitar maintenance that needs doing periodically. If it is lacquered, the back of the neck can be cleaned with guitar polish. Just spray a little on a soft cloth and give the neck a good wipe. If it is not lacquered an application of beeswax will keep it in good condition.

Most of the work needed will be on the fretboard. If the fingerboard is really filthy, remove the strings and scrub the entire fingerboard gently with a toothbrush. This will remove the worst of the dirt.

If the frets are tarnished they can be cleaned with any good quality metal polish. Remove the strings first and use masking tape on either sided of the fret to prevent the metal polish from being soaked up by the fretboard. Repeat for all frets. It is a tedious job, but will not take too long. Some people use fine steel wool for this. Although it will do the job, I do not like using it as pieces of the steel wool will break off  and could easily become lodged in the pickups.

If the fingerboard is not lacquered it can be treated with lemon oil. Do not use too much and wipe off any excess. Although it is possible to do this without removing the strings, it is very difficult to prevent the oil getting on the strings. Also, it has been found that the acid in the lemon oil can eventually cause the frets to corrode. Another solution is to use Ernie Ball Wonder Wipes.

Wonder Wipes are like small baby wipes impregnated with a mixture of linseed, orange, and jojoba oils. A pack of these little wipes will last forever, too. A big plus if you don’t need to clean tarnished frets is that Wonder Wipes can be used to clean and treat the fretboard without the need to remove the strings.

How often the fingerboard will need to be cleaned will depend upon how often you play your bass. I would guess that two or three times a year would be adequate for most players. The ideal time to do it is when you change your strings.