I recently purchased a 1967 Starfire Bass, which looks as though it has not been polished in a very long time.  Should I polish the body of the bass with my Alembic guitar polish and the neck with lemon oil? Should I oil the neck only (rose wood finger board) and not polish the body? Should I not polish or oil any part of the bass?  I guess the experts on Antique Road Show would recommend not polishing the body, but thought I'd see what you all have to say.
Thanks,
Rob

Treat the fingerboard with lemon oil.  Go ahead and polish the guitar.  The Alembic polish won't hurt, and patina on a guitar is a very different story from patina on a Tiffany brass lamp.  The issue with guitars is not cleaning them.  Rather, it is refinishing them.  You can do the best refinish in the world on a pre-CBS Strat that looks like hell, and easily devalue it by $10K!  But, as a general rule, people are not interested in preserving built up crud and grime on guitars.  At least that's my experience.
 
Bill, tgo

I might be a little careful with the polishing at first - I have an early-'70s Guild M-85, and polishing the back of the neck with Alembic polish, some of the red came off on the cloth.

Try cleaning with a soft damp cloth first - not wet, just a little damp. Have a dry cloth nearby to dry it off immediately. That will tell you a lot right away, and it's not destructive. Use distilled water if you want to be extra careful.

Thanks everyone for the advice.  I will try the damp cloth first to see what happens and then proceed (or not) from there.
 
Rob