After sinkng money into my Gecko 5. Im now getting ready to do a Deluxe Jazz Bass Model. Going with a Walnut body and Wenge laminate top, Wenge neck with ebony maccassar fretboard (UC 862). No inlays, side dots only. NOW!!! What would look good as far as hardware on this?? Gold or black?? Even possibility of 6150 gold frets! Kinda torn on that~ Plus a DangerousR6 custom sasquatch neckplate! :icon_thumright:
Gold Hardware
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Cagey
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Either one would look good, but Walnut and Wenge are both pretty dark already - black hardware may be too much. I'd do gold. That'll provide a nice contrasting accent to the dark brown that also matches, color-wise. Also, definitely do the gold frets. They're nearly as hard as the stainless so they're super nice to play on, plus they look good and wear forever. It's not a plating - the metal itself is a gold-colored alloy.
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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I've done gold once. The problem I had is that everybody's idea of gold is different when it comes to hardware. When you go to assemble it, you'll find out the bridge doesn't match the tuners, doesn't match the knobs, doesn't match the ferrules, doesn't match the string tee, doesn't match the pickguard or control cavity screws, and the gold neck plate is no longer gold.
SustainerPlayer
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One more vote for gold. And I like the way the gold plating tarnishes all thou I'm not a relic guy.
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SalsaNChips
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Matter of personal taste of course -- whatever looks good to you. Myself? Years ago I put gold hardware (tuners and strap buttons) on an old acoustic and never liked it. I want to replace it with black -- which goes with everything. Would look good with that ebony fret board, eh?
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swarfrat
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Fretwire is 6100, ebony is run of the mill non-dyed garden variety. Wenge/Ebony neck, Black Korina body. Tru-Oil finish. I was worried about the gold mix and match. My GFS gold stuff come out ok, not sure how it will wear. The Wilky though has a funky bead blasted look that won't match anyone else's gold anything. Had I realized when I bought the trem that I was going this far down the Black/Gold mix hardware thing, I would have put gold saddles on a black trem (and used a GK for the hex pickup)
swarfrat said:
Fretwire is 6100, ebony is run of the mill non-dyed garden variety. Wenge/Ebony neck, Black Korina body. Tru-Oil finish. I was worried about the gold mix and match. My GFS gold stuff come out ok, not sure how it will wear. The Wilky though has a funky bead blasted look that won't match anyone else's gold anything. Had I realized when I bought the trem that I was going this far down the Black/Gold mix hardware thing, I would have put gold saddles on a black trem (and used a GK for the hex pickup)
Sweet guitar Swarfrat!!
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swarfrat
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Chambering can help with the weight a little bit. This one is chambered - I did it hoping to reap osme of the resonance benefits that are debated. While it's not a 335, and I can't really say for certain that it's more resonant than it would have been had it been solid - it's certainly a nice sounding guitar that responds well to cranked amps - which I try to do whenever I get the opportunity. (Not that often, so I take advantage of every chance)
You could do what I did - I couldn't decide, so made the decision to do both, sort of. Gold on black. Ebony neck, no inlays, gold frets. Sperzel gold tuners with black bodies. Gold pickup covers, but with black mounting rings. Wilkinson tremelo, a black on, but with gold string inserts. Looks great!
arty07: :laughing8:sduck said:You could do what I did - I couldn't decide, so made the decision to do both, sort of. Gold on black. Ebony neck, no inlays, gold frets. Sperzel gold tuners with black bodies. Gold pickup covers, but with black mounting rings. Wilkinson tremelo, a black on, but with gold string inserts. Looks great!
I actually like that set up alot!! :icon_thumright:
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swarfrat
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I tried brass pickguard screws when I couldn't find gold locally - when I realized they didn't look that great, I had a
moment when I realized that people have been trying to pass off brass as gold since the dawn of civilization with similar results.
I like that guitar sduck - nice top, and the accents really work.
I like that guitar sduck - nice top, and the accents really work.
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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In the guitars posted, the golds don't match, but they still look good. I've done the brass screw thing too.
Patrick from Davis
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Pure gold doesn't tarnish, however the stuff on your guitar is not pure. Anything less than 24 carat will tarnish in the presence of acids or sulfur compounds. Not only that, but the gold will migrate and form an alloy if plated on copper making the surface go from mirror like to hazy. Strange stuff.Cagey said:
Patrick
SustainerPlayer
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Patrick from Davis said:
Yeah - sorry about that. I thought it was common knowledge that gold guitar hardware is not actually pure gold.
If it was I do think that a gold Floyd Rose would be a little more than 200 dollars
http://www.warmoth.com/Original-Floyd-Rosereg-Tremolo-Gold-P546C693.aspx
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