shafizal Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Anybody know what kind of cleaners and material should i use to clean my nickel tailpiece, bridge and pickup covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Shafizal, Welcome to the forum. The covers on these are nickel: I've used regular automotive chrome polish on them for the last 35 years. Doesn't seem to have hurt them. Up close they do show a slight discoloration but, nickel does age. Often, I just use guitar polish. Always, I use a soft rag. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 The best product that I have found for cleaning any kind of metal from gold to brass and even gemstones is Sparklean.They make a polish cloth that's impregnated with a chemical that is really miraculous in the way it cleans any metal.They also have a cleaning solution that you use in conjunction with the cloth but you never use the solution or water on the cloth-the chemicals in it do the trick. I have used many different polishing and cleaning agents on my guitars over the years and this stuff is head and shoulders above even the best products that I've used.You can reach them here: http://www.sklean.com/ or (786)-287-9981 or toll-free at (866)-772-7556. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffery Smith Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Flitz metal polish, but go easy on it, and never use it on gold plated metal (which will become non-gold-metal-plating if you stare at it too hard). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shafizal Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Shafizal, Welcome to the forum. The covers on these are nickel: I've used regular automotive chrome polish on them for the last 35 years. Doesn't seem to have hurt them. Up close they do show a slight discoloration but, nickel does age. Often, I just use guitar polish. Always, I use a soft rag. Willy one more can thing, can i just apply it to my pickups without taking it out? will it give any damage to my pickups like electronic wise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 It has never done any damage to my electronics. I normally just use the 2 adjusting screws to raise the pickups, clean them and then reset the height. Even the raising up part is only once every few years. (just measure where your pickups are to bottom of strings first) Normally I just polish them in place. The reason the pickups were removed is because I was rebuilding the guitar. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvoRider Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 try some CLR. mix it 50/50 and remove the parts that u can and just dip in the solution. everything else use mothers mag wheel polish. or chrome polish works the same. also brasso works but not as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aster1 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I use this on Chrome (Nickle), brass & other metal finishes esp. when they are coated or even have some very slight pitting. Works on my Gits & Harley's and I've very particular with both. Cleaned up the plating on a bunch of stuff. I found at True-Value Hardware and has been a long time staple in the tarnished metal bidness!! After cleaning I like the Black Diamond to keep things nice. Works on paint, plastic, & metal quite nicely. I have several guitars with gold appointments that can tend to show fingerprints and even one a friend had that the acid from fingers etched in his finger prints into a tuner knob. Cleaned up and coated now not a prollem. And man do it shine!!! Aster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Remember, whichever of those polishes you use, they are an abrasive and will make the coating thinner. You could polish them then give them a protective coat. Chrome finishes are much harder and less active than nickel, thats why the use them more, but, the polished colour of nickel is something superb. I was looking at some works Brough Superiors in the National Motorcycle Museum the other day, nickle plated and they just looked superb, far better than chrome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I forgot to mention one very important aspect of Sparklean and that is that it doesn't contain any abrasives whatsoever and you can use it on the most worn and thinnest plating without fear of causing any further damage. http://www.sklean.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diverden Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Neverdull, does not scratch, no chalky residue like some polishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGgypsyboy Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Nevrdull is COMPLETELY non-abrasive. Best in the biz going back to polishing bombers and fighters in ww2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Septic Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 If you ever get the urge to clean all those little nooks and crannies that can't be reached by normal means, you can us a very fine artists brush to apply a tiny (and I do mean tiny) amount of dilute ferric chloride to the tarnished area, leave for 30 seconds and then rinse thoroughly. You can get it from Radio Shack type places... It's a Non acidic etchant that's used as an antiseptic and for water treatment.. It's also used to etch copper tracks on circuit boards and complex artwork on nickel and brass, so always dilute it and never splash it on any wiring, or control gear.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aster1 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 on the Never Dull. Some of the best stuff is the oldest stuff when they have the sense to keep the formula the same. Also, the Black Diamond, not to be confused with their product "White Diamond" is a non-abrasive polymer. Of course, rubbing anything too much, even with a microfiber or soft cloth is by definition "an abrasive" and what Pete B says is correct on that. Use anything gently. I find the gold plated products the "thinnest" of all finishes that I've ever worked with. Wiped the gold plated bridge on my Epi SG to clean up (used some simichrome I believe) and rubbed the dang plating totally off. Had to buy me a new one. I couldn't live with the fingerprints that were etched into it from being handled at the store where I bought it. I didn't even rub that hard. My 2013 purchase is going to be a small plating setup for my Harley parts (guitar stuff too). Nickle chrome, Gold, and some others it will do. I just sure I need that for my Business work, don't I? May start doing some custom chroming for Harley parts to offset the cost of the rig (about $1200). I just don't like the quality or lack there of, with the plating jobs on many things. Would also like to be able to anodize stuff too. Aster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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