Music Man Bass Questions

[dubjuice9]

- Ok I recently purchased a Music Man Sting-Ray 4 string Cherry Burst Bass, I've had it for about 4 months now and have experinced these follwoing problems-

1- The 1/4" input on the Bass only works if I push the chord back when it is inserted, it makes a strange hiss if the chord gets knocked around in the input. Im sure it's not the chord or the amplifier.

2- Their is no finish on the entire rosewood fretboard, and it collects a lot of figner gunk, is this typical?

If anyone has experinnced these problems or has any solutions it would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

[tadawson]

1) Try another CORD, (not chord - that is a musical concept . . ) some 1/4" cables have an odd plug that may not make tip contact well.

2) I have never seen a finished rosewood fingerboard, so I would not consider that a problem. You just need to clean and oil it occasionally (Check the EMBB FAQ page for how to do that . . . )

- Tim

 

[dubjuice9]

Thank you Tim

 

[MCBTunes]

my bass used to do that hiss deal.... cords wouldnt fix it so I took it in and got a new input put in.... cost me like 3 bucks, and now the cable doesnt move at all, perfect.

 

[basspastor]

my bass used to do that hiss deal.... cords wouldnt fix it so I took it in and got a new input put in.... cost me like 3 bucks, and now the cable doesnt move at all, perfect.

+1

 

[Golem]

You can treat the rosewood with gunstock oil [Tru Oil, sporting goods dept at walmart]. This will not put on anything like a lacquer on there, but it's a slightly glossy long-lasting sealant, an oil finish, and it makes cleanup quicker and mre effective [a more gunk resistant surface].

 

[jongitarz]

I would not use gunstock oil on the rosewood....Lemon oil!

 

[bovinehost]

I would not use gunstock oil on the rosewood

I've never seen that done, either. Rosewood doesn't really need a 'finish' and it's kind of an oily wood to begin with, which is why a little lemon oil goes a long, long way.

Golem, have you used gunstock oil on a rosewood board? I'd be curious to hear about the process/results.

 

[shamus63]

How often should you Lemon Oil your rosewood fretboard?

 

[MingusBASS]

How often should you Lemon Oil your rosewood fretboard?

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you should just use it when the board looks like it is getting dry.

Andrew

 

[shamus63]

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you should just use it when the board looks like it is getting dry.

Andrew

Sounds about right. Thanks!

 

[TheDirtyMoocher]

i went away for a week once and when i came back my fretboard was easily 5 shades lighter than when i left...which was odd i guess...but i put some orange oil on it and it was better than ever

thats my story

 

[high mileage]

I've used lemon oil a couple of times (literally) on my '86 Ray. It doesn't take much, cause like Jack says Rosewood is pretty oily to begin with. I polish it with Martin guitar polish first, then rub some lemon oil on it. Go back the next day and buff it out. You shouldn't need to do it very often, and mine still looks great.

For the cord, try another one first because it's easiest. Does it make any noise between the end of the cord and the plug if you shake it? You might need a new input jack, but like everybody said it's an easy fix.

 

[bovinehost]

And remember, kids: too much oil on your fretboard will soak in, and guess what your frets will do?

Don't let this happen to you.

Jack

 

[shamus63]

And remember, kids: too much oil on your fretboard will soak in, and guess what your frets will do?

Don't let this happen to you.

Jack

That's good to know!

 

[strummer]

And remember, kids: too much oil on your fretboard will soak in, and guess what your frets will do?
Jack

Get high cholsterol values

 

[Golem]

I've never seen that done, either. Rosewood doesn't really need a 'finish' and it's kind of an oily wood to begin with, which is why a little lemon oil goes a long, long way.

Golem, have you used gunstock oil on a rosewood board? I'd be curious to hear about the process/results.

I do two ways: fretted or fretless, a mix of lemon oil and gun oil on the same wipe down rag, allowed to linger and dry down, just seems to put a barrier layer into the wood without changing it's character. Like a sealant. I clean up with straight lemon oil first to clean out wood dust, skin gunk, etc. It's just an elaboration on lemon oil clean-up maintenance routine.

The second way is only for fretless. I remove the strings, lay up the bass for about a week, and apply gun oil straight out of the bottle, rub it around and then wipe away the excess, leaving a noticeable but thin film. It takes about 2 days to be really dry [a heavy linseed oil content perhaps?] and then I lightly sand it and do it again. I do 3 coat like this. It results in a glossy finish and a brighter tone on rosewood or maple. With ebony, I got the same glossy finish but tone was about the same. Obviously with a full week to get 3 coats plus a few more days drying time [paranoia factor] before playing, there's no real-time A-B comparision - it's all memory comparison.

I did try a pau ferro EBMM board. I coudn't get the first coat to stick. It just began to rub and peel off when I tried to sand it. Since it was not going to work out and I didn't want to sand the board itself, I scrubbed it off with lemon oil and rags [it took a lot of rubbing, but it all came off]. I don't sand any of these boards before coating them. The whole idea is that unlike epoxy, this is not a major alteration to the bass. I assume it's reversible if treated with a mild paint stripper, but I haven't tried. I know it can be sanded off easily enough, but that means sanding the wood a bit as well.

The coating is not expected to withstand roundwounds, and is not expected to endure without maintenance. I figger once or twice a year a light sanding and a single refresher coat will do it. But that's just a guess. I only started doing this in the late summer. The primary purpose is to keep wear and sanding confined to a renewable layer, not let it reach the wood, and not need a planing by a luthier for a very long time. The brighter tone is just a side effect.