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Gold Hardware

jp8848

Junior Member
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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:
 
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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
warmoth-assembled-web.jpg

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:
warmoth-assembled-web.jpg

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!! 
 
Saw some pics of some basses with all wenge bodies, but my understanding is that Wenge is rather heavy as a body.  :dontknow:
 
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!

grngtr%20006.jpg
 
I went the same route on my latest Tele, but inverted. Black interior parts with gold (actually, brass) highlights.
 
Plus, we all know gold has an older, blusier tone. Black hardware has a more thunder metal tone, like palm muted power chords, and chrome has a brighter sound, like Van Halen. Multiply these by 10 if you're using pickup rings.  :party07: :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!

grngtr%20006.jpg

I actually like that set up alot!! :icon_thumright:
 
I tried brass pickguard screws when I couldn't find gold locally - when I realized they didn't look that great, I had a
facepalm2.gif
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.
 
Cagey said:
If your gold is tarnished, it's not gold. Gold doesn't tarnish.
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.
Patrick

 
Patrick from Davis said:
Cagey said:
If your gold is tarnished, it's not gold. Gold doesn't tarnish.
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 allow if plated on copper making the surface go from mirror like to hazy.  Strange stuff.
Patrick

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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