Cagey
Mythical Status
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I'm putting together a Tele where the hardware is mostly dull in keeping with a theme. Not trying to "relic" it per se, just making the whole thing sorta subdued in presentation. The body and neck will still be deliberately new. But, the neck pickup cover is stubbornly refusing to age. I tried the vinegar trick for several days, to no effect. In fact, the brass parts, springs, etc. included in the exercise didn't respond to it, either. So, the next trick was the ammonia gas treatment. The brass responded to that, although not dramatically...
...and that effect only came after several days of exposure. The parts were on a platform in a sealed container to hold the fumes. My understanding was that for that kind of exposure, they should have been damn near destroyed. Obviously not. What's weird is the chrome acts like nothing's going on at all. After all this abuse, the cover still looks like new...
I'm just curious. In looking around the world wide wibble, I see all kinds of examples of folks tearing up metal using these techniques. Why isn't it working for me? Am I not holding my mouth right? Is there such a thing as the "wrong" vinegar, or "depleted" ammonia? The most aggressive technique I've seen uses muriatic acid to terrorize the parts, but I couldn't get it when/where I needed it, and frankly, the stuff scares me a little bit. Am I going to have to get some of that and go medieval on this cover? There's no coating on it - I thought of that and if there's a finish over this chrome, it's harder than the metal because I couldn't scratch it.
If anybody has any experience ageing chrome, I'd sure like to hear from you.
...and that effect only came after several days of exposure. The parts were on a platform in a sealed container to hold the fumes. My understanding was that for that kind of exposure, they should have been damn near destroyed. Obviously not. What's weird is the chrome acts like nothing's going on at all. After all this abuse, the cover still looks like new...
I'm just curious. In looking around the world wide wibble, I see all kinds of examples of folks tearing up metal using these techniques. Why isn't it working for me? Am I not holding my mouth right? Is there such a thing as the "wrong" vinegar, or "depleted" ammonia? The most aggressive technique I've seen uses muriatic acid to terrorize the parts, but I couldn't get it when/where I needed it, and frankly, the stuff scares me a little bit. Am I going to have to get some of that and go medieval on this cover? There's no coating on it - I thought of that and if there's a finish over this chrome, it's harder than the metal because I couldn't scratch it.
If anybody has any experience ageing chrome, I'd sure like to hear from you.