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Hi friends,
I just stumbled upon a 1966 P-Bass, nearly completely original. The owner bought it in 1971 and it had already been stripped of its original finish. That was a thing back then. You can guess that 55 years of gigging had the wood absorb much of the owner’s DNA and sweat. Maybe a few beers as well. Surface was quite tacky as you can expect. I cleaned it with naphta and StewMac’c brand-new cleaner (quite a great product I'd say) and it’s doing well, much of the stains have gone away and I can feel the wood quite well now.
Now… I don’t intend on refinishing it. What have you used successfully to protect the wood from the elements (and sweat) in such cases? Tru-Oil? Danish? Light wiped coats of diluted shellac? Lemon Jell-O?🤣 I’m open to anything, I just don’t want to risk ruining the bass any further, I just aim at preserving the thing so it can keep on living its bass life for a long time. Plays great by the way, light with a wide thin neck typical of the period.

Thanks friends!