Satin Finish Strat Hardware? (bridge, jack plate)

[Toy Sun]

I see Fender locking strat tuners in Satin/Brushed at StewMac, but not finding much other hardware to match. There is one guy selling satin finish jack plates (cup) on eBay, but the big challenge is a hardtail bridge. I love the standard Fender American hardtail and the saddles are not shiny, just the plate. I guess if that is the case, I'll end up with a cohesive look, as those three items (tuners, bridge and jack plate) are really the only highly visible metal HW on the guitar.

Any thoughts on this? Sources?

Thanks,
J

 

[bagman67]

The trouble with the bulk of flat-plate hardtail bridges is that they tend to be chrome or nickel or gold plated. The point of that is to prevent oxidation on steel or brass, and to ensure enduring shiny-ness. I suppose you could disassemble a hardtail bridge and get the plate beadblasted, or just sand it down to 320 or so, for a matte finish. OF course, if it's steel plate, you run the risk of rust; but applying a matte lacquer or epoxy coating would provide some protection.

Alternatively, if you get a stainless steel bridge like the Hipshot item here you could sand or bead-blast that to a matte finish and be good to go without applying any subsequent coating.

 

[Toy Sun]

Yes! That Hipshot bridge caught my eye, but wow, it's expensive. Unanswerable question, but are they worth it?

 

[Spud]

Yes! That Hipshot bridge caught my eye, but wow, it's expensive. Unanswerable question, but are they worth it?

I dunno if they are worth it or not really it depends on whether you dig the look.

 

[bagman67]

I have one installed on a guitar that has been a solid performer. It's vintage-spaced, and I find it's not 100 percent to my taste, so I'm switching to the modern-spaced one as soon as I get the time. I'd let the vintage-spaced one go cheap if you're interested, and I'd make the time to switch it so you can get it in a reasonable time. PM me if you're into it.

 

[Toy Sun]

That's interesting, I'm PM'ing you but I am keeping a bit of the discussion in the thread to benefit others. This is leading me (as it seems everything does in this world) to other questions. Neck width. Hmmmm.
This is going to be my first build, and it's overwhelming, so I was taking some Aaron advice from a video and going conservative/standard on everything I could. It does seem that vintage-spaced (and here I've learned, drop the descriptions, use numbers: 1-5/8" 41mm (narrow) is actually quite common/standard. I think I'll like it.

 

[stratamania]

On a slightly different angle, the satin locking tuners do not necessarily need a matching bridge. I first saw satin look tuners on the Fender strat plus variants in the late 80s, and the bridges were chrome.