Any way to repair/restore rusty chrome plated hardware?

heatmiser

heatmiser

mr. green christmas
Hey - I'm not talking surface rust here either...

I'm talking about a bridge and tailpiece that are deeply pitted with thick rust. It's a 1968 Gibson SG Special, and I know a certain amount of surface rust might be appealing to some ("relic"?), but this is to the point where my hand can get raw from resting on the bridge too long.

I searched online, but only found info about cleaning rusty surfaces...not repairing this kind of damage. I guess I'm wondering about stripping/grinding it down and then is there some kind of liquid chrome I can apply?

Maybe I should just buy new hardware, but I'm always reluctant to change anything due to it's age. Whadduya think?
 
I've had some success with petroleum jelly by letting it sit longer than the directions say......I've used it on lugs for older drums and it helped in that case.......available at most hardware stores....
 
jahey said:
I've had some success with petroleum jelly by letting it sit longer than the directions say......I've used it on lugs for older drums and it helped in that case.......available at most hardware stores....
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Thanks. Maybe I'll give that a try.
 
You could consider sending the hardware to be re chromed, then you'll still have the original hardware. You are right in being reluctant to change anything on a guitar of that vintage taking into consideration what it is. I'd seek advice from a reputable restorer, you'll probably find someone on the forum will give you some sound advice. I've had stuff re chromed it's not too expensive for small items and does get it back to a top notch finish, but it needs doing in a electro-plating bath hence sending the parts to a specialist.

Regards

Tim
 
If the rust is so bad that it's pitting and tearing up your hand, just get new pieces. Rust is cancer to metal, and it can't be fixed without major surgery. You could pick and clean it out but then you're left with pitting. You gotta live with the pits or fill those pits. What do you fill pits with? More metal. You gonna weld and grind on a bridge and tailpiece? Maybe you could fill it with solder or brazing and then re-chrome? I don't know if chrome will stick to dissimilar metals or faux steel filler. Maybe you could find nice used era correct replacement parts that will preserve the vintage value of the guitar.
 
Sadly not. What you have is indeed pitting and it is in the base metal or casting under the plating. As part of my apprenticeship at Rolls Royce and BA I worked for a long while in the plating shop to learn that shit and it aint something you can easily setup yourself. Hell, I also did a stint at Boosey and Hawkes when they still made stuff in Londons Edgware Road working on plating brass instruments. I've been making guitars for over 30 years now and I have done just about everything that is possible in a small shop that is practical. Electroplating isn't, it requires a dedicated setup, some knowledge of the process and lots of pretty nasty chemicals (especially chromium). There are no substitutes that will give you what you want.

Like gerg said swap em out and keep the originals for resale.
 
Bummer.

Thank you though.

I guess in the short term, it wouldn't hurt just to file down some of the rusty roughness though. I mean, I don't ever intend to sell it, and while I understand that original parts help with resale, I don't know that original parts in this condition would appeal to anyone much. I see vintage replacement pieces on ebay now and again...surprisingly expensive.

Long term, I think I should just replace the bridge. The Specials came with that cheesy bridge with fixed saddles, so intonation adjustment possibilities are minimal. I always wanted a bridge with moveable saddles and I think they make ones that will fit the existing post holes so that I wouldn't have to drill into the body. I don't want to do anything irreversible if possible. I've left it as is for so long as the action is perfect and I'm afraid to mess with it.
 
heatmiser said:
Bummer.

Thank you though.

I guess in the short term, it wouldn't hurt just to file down some of the rusty roughness though. I mean, I don't ever intend to sell it, and while I understand that original parts help with resale, I don't know that original parts in this condition would appeal to anyone much. I see vintage replacement pieces on ebay now and again...surprisingly expensive.

Long term, I think I should just replace the bridge. The Specials came with that cheesy bridge with fixed saddles, so intonation adjustment possibilities are minimal. I always wanted a bridge with moveable saddles and I think they make ones that will fit the existing post holes so that I wouldn't have to drill into the body. I don't want to do anything irreversible if possible. I've left it as is for so long as the action is perfect and I'm afraid to mess with it.
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Yeah there's one called a pigtail or something like that. I think it's called wraparound intonable. It's an adjustable replacement for those fixed saddle bridges.

You could use chrome polish to clean up most of the surface rust and then smooth it out with steel wool. The nasty pitted shit will still be there, but you'll at least knock down the stuff that's tearing your hand up.
 
If you start removing stuff you could well start accelerating the problem. Pitting in brass is not so much of a problem but in cast metal which I suspect you have it will get worse if you allow more air and sweat or moisture to get at it. Essentially the cast is uneven in the distribution of the metal crystals as the alloy varies from place to place. A weak spot will get eaten away.

If I was you I would replace them and put the old parts in a dry sealed container wrapped in acid free paper with some silica. That is if you want to keep them as is for a resale.

The process of plating involves flashing a copper base coat to seal the casting, then building a base coat of nickel which levels out the polishing marks and introduces a bright shine. Finally chrome is flashed on top as it is hard wearing and stays bright longer than nickel. Anything not cleaned off before hand or any minute pits under the surface eventually result in pitting. Thats why lead free machining brass is preferred for plating on precision parts where longevity is required. it is significantly more expensive to produce though. Even replating cast metal is an issue as the process of cleaning and activating the surface for plating can make the pits worse. You can get by the problem by building up the copper base coat but that is time and problems.
 
Greg_L said:
Yeah there's one called a pigtail or something like that. I think it's called wraparound intonable. It's an adjustable replacement for those fixed saddle bridges.

You could use chrome polish to clean up most of the surface rust and then smooth it out with steel wool. The nasty pitted shit will still be there, but you'll at least knock down the stuff that's tearing your hand up.
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Cool. I hadn't heard of the pigtail. I'll check it out. I remember reading long ago about a badass bridge that supposedly could fit older Gibsons like mine using the same post holes. Not sure though...

I guess understanding that I wasn't personally going to be able to restore it to pristine condition (which I don't really care about), I wondered if leaving the parts entirely alone and not even trying to smooth them out was preferable to doing something like you describe in terms of keeping them "original". I mean, if I try cleaning it up a bit at least, I can't make it worse, can I?
 
If I do try to clean it up a bit I'll try to remember to post some before and after pics as it might help some ignorant schmuck like me in the future :).
 
It's really a question you have to ask yourself with any vintage anything. Do you fix it and make it more playable potentially hurting some value? Or just leave it and maintain it's total originality? I'm no guitar collector so I don't know how much replacing a bridge would hurt. I guess it depends on the buyer. does he wanna play it, or is it an investment? When I started racing my GTO, I had to remove a lot of it's original stuff. Naturally that hurt it's value. I have no intention of ever selling it though so it makes no difference to me. I didn't do anything that couldn't be undone though. I didn't cut or weld anything. I can put it back to original spec no problem. You could do the same with your guitar.
 
heatmiser said:
................. I mean, if I try cleaning it up a bit at least, I can't make it worse, can I?
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Potentially yes. Read my post earlier. Seriously invest a few quid on a new bridge and enjoy the instrument. There are good replacement parts out there and nothing lasts forever.:)
 
Rub or with wet aluminum foil. The friction creates aluminum oxide and dissolves the rust. Then see to what degree the base metal is pitted.
You may be able to get it looking half way decent by painting the pitted base metal with a small brush and rust oleum paint.
There isn't a whole lot you can do short of torch or welder work if the pitting is severe. It would require grinder, file, and sanding work plus rechroming.
It would be worth going to those lengths on a super rare part. I would probably price replacing the part with an original or a reproduction and see what made the most sense
 
muttley600 said:
Potentially yes. Read my post earlier. Seriously invest a few quid on a new bridge and enjoy the instrument. There are good replacement parts out there and nothing lasts forever.:)
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I was only looking at your first post. Never mind - I get it now. Thanks!
 
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jimistone said:
Rub or with wet aluminum foil. The friction creates aluminum oxide and dissolves the rust. Then see to what degree the base metal is pitted.
You may be able to get it looking half way decent by painting the pitted base metal with a small brush and rust oleum paint.
There isn't a whole lot you can do short of torch or welder work if the pitting is severe. It would require grinder, file, and sanding work plus rechroming.
It would be worth going to those lengths on a super rare part. I would probably price replacing the part with an original or a reproduction and see what made the most sense
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Interesting...thank you for the ideas jimi. See arcaxis' links below for price - ouch!
 
muttley said:
If I was you I would replace them and put the old parts in a dry sealed container wrapped in acid free paper with some silica. That is if you want to keep them as is for a resale.
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^what he said. You can get a nice adjustable replacement for around 50 dollars.
 
arcaxis said:
How's this one look compared to yours?

1968 Gibson SG Special Bridge 4580228742921 | eBay

1968 Gibson SG Special USA Vibrola Tremolo | eBay
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Yes, those are the exact parts. They look pristine, but there's no way I'd spend that kind of money on them.

My bridge isn't too rusty, but the posts are, and I have some deep grooves carved into each saddle. My tailpiece is the worst in terms of rust. I still have the vibrato arm, but lost the bolt that attaches it to the tailpiece years ago. Thanks for the links! Sadly, those parts are even more expensive than the last time I looked for them a few years ago.
 
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