Chordophone Cleansing
From “Strings & Maintenance¨ in The Bass Handbook
This is because part of the cleaning process may involve the re-application of a finish (refer to 20241215165631-Composite_Chordophone_Hardware_Components) (Ashton 2005, 70).
Cleaning the fretboard or fingerboard more specifically can help reduce the dirt and crud that accumulates behind the strings and thereby avoids eventually pushing that dirt and crud onto the string (relevant to 20241215195602-Chordophone_String_Cleansing) (Ibid). Clean fretboards or fingerboards also make re-fretting easier (refer to Set-up, i.e. Action Adjustment) (Ibid). To clean a fretboard or fingerboard, small specialist cleaners based on natural oils are recommended. Notable brands for fingerboard or fretboard cleansing are:
- Manson Fingerboard Oil (with lemon oil), removes grime and leaves aroma
- Lizard Spit (with orange oil), removes grime and leaves aroma
My bass guitar model hitherto
My bass guitar, hitherto a Yamaha black rosewood 5-string electric TRBX305. Rosewood finish, especially without lacquer, implies more cleansing of the fretboard or fingerboard is recommended (Ibid).
Cleaning a Chordophone with Lacquer Finish
In any case, among the finishes, a lacquer finish, for example, needs (Ibid):
From “Strings & Maintenance¨ in The Bass Handbook
[…] good quality instrument-specific polishes so that any future repair work to the finish isn’t hindered by the presence of silicones. A finish polish that can also be used on the hardware makes sense.
Bulling-type cleaners restorative of finishes via coarser compounds can allow for removal of scratches and minor marks on the chordophone body (Ibid).
Some recommendations for lacquer finish cleaners are (Ibid):
- Planet Waves Restore Deep Cleaning Cream for minor blemishes
- Manson Finish Restorer for heavier blemishes
- Ritter Surface Cleaner for renewed shine and safe use on vintage finishes
Cleaning a Chordophone with Wood Finish
“Wood finishes require different treatment¨ than lacquer finishes (refer to Cleaning a Chordophone with Lacquer Finish), possibly requiring regular application of a wax such as beeswax (Ibid). If the wood finish is oil-stained, simple surface cleaning with a cloth is also helpful (Ibid).
chordophone_body hygiene chordophone_finish string_instrument_finish bulling-type_cleaner natural_oils silicone silicones silicon silicons oil specialist_cleaners cleaner specialist_cleaner composite_chordophone_frets plucked_string_instrument_frets strummed_string_instrument_frets string_instrument_body chordophone_body musicology bass guitar bass_guitar music musicology
bibliography
- Morrish, John, ed. “Strings & Maintenance.” In The Bass Handbook: A Complete Guide for Mastering the Bass Guitar, 1st ed., 55–70. San Francisco, CA: BackBeat, 2005.