Bass Guitar Maintenance And Care (How To Keep It Sounding Its Best)

Your bass guitar is a precious instrument.

So treat it that way!

You want to make sure it stays in top shape and sounds as good as possible.

That is why proper bass guitar maintenance and care is vital.

If you don’t take proper care of your instrument, its sound will deteriorate and you will soon have to replace it.

So how do you care for a bass guitar? Keep reading to find out. I’m going to cover everything you need to know to maintain your bass and keep it sounding its best.

 

Bass Guitar Maintenance And Care

A properly maintained bass guitar is an instrument that you play often, clean regularly, routinely re-string, polish, and take in for repairs as soon as you encounter anything out of the ordinary.

When it comes to bass guitar maintenance, it’s the little things that are easy to miss and that can build up over time and gradually ruin your tone.

Make sure that you’re keeping your bass guitar in a proper storage space, keep it safe from physical damage whenever possible, and play it at least once every few days.

 

The Importance Of Proper Maintenance

There’s a good reason most people shun buying used basses. You can never be sure whether the seller maintained it properly or not.

Unlike old, beat-up bass guitars where damage is easy to spot, improper maintenance is difficult to detect and can downright destroy your bass guitar’s tone and value over time.

As someone who actively keeps a small arsenal of bass guitars from various price ranges and brands, all in pristine condition, I want to help beginners and people with little technical knowledge about bass guitars understand what it takes to properly care for your bass. So let’s start from the top.

 

How And When To Clean Your Bass Guitar

One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen numerous beginners make is cleaning their bass guitar only when it gets dirty.

Even if your bass looks great, tiny specks of dust can easily infiltrate the tonewoods. And pieces of debris that build up on the strings will stick and become harder to expel later.

Use a clean, completely dry piece of cloth to gently wipe the entire bass guitar. This includes all the wood pieces, the strings, and the hardware.

Also, wipe the potentiometers and the pickups, but be even gentler than before to avoid moving them from their original position.

Besides cleaning the guitar, make sure that your hands are clean as well whenever you want to play. It is also wise to have a handkerchief in your pocket if you’re playing for over an hour.

 

How To Keep The Fingerboard In Pristine Condition

Whenever you’re playing a bass guitar, the part that you’re using the most is the fretboard. As a result, this part requires extra attention during routine maintenance, especially since fretboards are typically made from different types of wood relative to the rest of the instrument.

For example, one of the most common fingerboard tonewoods is rosewood, which is remarkably porous and tends to lose moisture far more quickly than, say, ebony.

All wood types dry up over time. And when they do, your bass tone degrades. Fortunately, you can delay this process by applying some lemon oil directly on the board.

If you’ve used too much, use a clean piece of cloth to wipe any excess oil, and leave the fretboard to dry for an hour or so.

 

Play And Restring Your Bass Often

Wood reacts to physical stimuli, just like electronic pieces need to be booted up to maintain their original functionalities. The “tooth of time” known as decay is unavoidable, but you can soften its bite by regularly playing your instrument and restringing it as often as your budget allows.

As for how often you should restring your bass guitar, it mainly depends on how often you play.

For instance, as a musician who performs every other week and practices every day for at least 2 to 3 hours, I restring my bass every 3 to 4 weeks. If you’re practicing every other day, get a fresh set of strings every 6 to 7 weeks.

 

How To Properly Store Your Bass

I’m perfectly aware of the fact that not all bass players have the luxury of buying large, thoroughly padded cases in which to keep their instruments. However, just leaving your bass lying around wherever can be extremely detrimental to its performance.

First and foremost, it’s important to protect your bass from dust. To do so, placing the instrument in a gig bag should suffice.

Most beginner bass bundles come with a complimentary bag, so even if it’s not too comfortable to wear, it should at least shield your bass from dust and other pieces of debris. Our article on the best way to store guitars has much more on this.

 

Keep Your Bass Away From Heat And Cold

The second, and arguably more important, reason proper storage matters is to protect the wood from bending due to temperature shifts.

If you have ever played a bass guitar with an unnaturally arched neck, temperature was probably the culprit. Chances are that the owner of said instrument didn’t pay much attention to this issue.

Wood contracts and expands as temperature changes. Even if it’s by a tiny bit, these changes can bend your bass guitar and completely ruin its action and playability.

It might be possible to fix this with a professional setup, but it’s better to completely avoid it by keeping your bass away from any heating elements.

This is especially true if you’re a gigging musician. Whenever you leave your home with your bass, keep it in a proper gig bag. Internal padding is ideal, so you may need to invest a few bucks in a better carrying case.

 

Take Your Bass For A Professional Setup Annually

No matter how many times you’ve inspected your bass guitar or how diligently you’ve polished it, there will always be a small detail or two you missed.

To ensure that everything is working as it should (and to have a second opinion on how well you’ve maintained your bass), I recommend taking it to a professional at least once a year.

I’ve been playing and caring for bass guitars for well over a decade, and I know how to set up a bass, but I still take it to a professional once a year.

It pays off to have a second pair of eyes inspect the guitar’s wood, hardware, and electronics, especially if you’re not perfectly skilled at more delicate tasks like replacing small wires or setting the neck straight.

 

How To Take Care Of A Bass Guitar: Final Thoughts

Bass guitar maintenance does take a bit of work. And I am the first to admit it gets tedious. But it is so worth it. You pay good money to buy a quality bass guitar, so you want to make sure you take good care of it.

Even if you get a cheaper budget bass, it is still going to cost you at least $100, and likely a few hundred. Taking the time for proper bass guitar care is a small price to pay to ensure your instrument lasts as long as possible and keeps sounding as good as possible.