wear on black hardware?
- Thread starter arjepsen
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dmraco
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I have gold hardware that wore very quickly. If you try to clean it or polish, it gets even more silver even with mild cleaners. Polishing compound will completely take it off. BUT>>>>>it does look cool...a nickle like finish.
Black has lasted me forever.....I have a Charvel from the 80s with black hardware...only the slightest wear on the whammy from YEARS of palm muting.
Hope that helps...
Black has lasted me forever.....I have a Charvel from the 80s with black hardware...only the slightest wear on the whammy from YEARS of palm muting.
Hope that helps...
Black wears, nickel wears, gold wears, chrome doesn't wear very fast but can "bubble" as the underlying material gets its does of sweat thru pinholes in the chrome. Same is true for all the finishes.
Some folks pay BIG dollars for a worn finish... its called mojo if you got it that way naturally.
Some folks pay BIG dollars for a worn finish... its called mojo if you got it that way naturally.
ORCRiST
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=CB= said:
That is why I'm eagerly waiting for a package from Germany...
http://schaller-electronic.com/hp231410/Ruthenium-the-Black-Pearl-of-Schaller.htm?ITServ=CY6098463fX126b672d808X2170
If their claims about its elemental and acidic properties are correct, it will never wear!
ORC
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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I've seen many a black OFR that has the brass on the fine tuners showing thru.
erogenousjones17
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The nickel-plated bridge on my cheapo Jackson is almost completely worn off. I've had that guitar for five years, but haven't touched it much at all since I finished my Warmoth last fall. So that's three years of use. Seems pretty quick to me, but like I said: cheap guitar.
D
DanDeTora
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DMRACO said:
That's been my experience too; black hardware seems to be the most durable finish.
Not to go off topic, but anyone have experience with Cosmo Black? I just ordered a Gotoh locking trem in cosmo because it looks cool as hell, but I'm skeptical that it will last.
I wish that hardware companies gave us the option of unplated brass!!!
You could polish it with normal polishing compounds (I love white diamond metal polish for the chrome on my bike!!)
And brass just looks awesome even with some patina on it.
I have had gold, which wore off the edges of the hardware while I was building the guitar. Black hold up pretty good, but the black hardware I have on my one guitar is wearing off on the edges and corners.
SO............
I have decided that chrome is the way to go for me from now on. Other than it being the most durable coating IMHO, it iis the cheapest choice in hadware. So my logic is it is cheaper and looks new longer.
Most of these plating problems come from the company doing the plating trying to cut costs. The stuff needs to be coated in two or three different types of electroplating materials. One of those is copper, which is expensive. The Chromium they use for the final coating sticks better to copper, which I am thinking a lot of guitar hardware manufacturers simply do not specify to use. Sometime research a quality reproduction bumper for an old corvette. They range in price from $250-1250. The $250 ones are dipped once, maybe twice with no buffing in between. The $1200 ones are usually triple dipped in all the solutions they get dipped in, with a buffing between each dip.
I guess I really didn't answer your question, but hopefully I gave you some insight on why this happens!!!
When all else fails buy hardware that is made in the USA. That goes for you non USA members, too. We have unions and pay workers decent wages. I find it pretty hard to believe that some poor Vietnamese worker who makes $0.35 and a bowl of rice really cares if the parts they are plating hold up. A U.S. worker has something to be proud of, a decent paycheck!! So those are my thoughts on that!!
You could polish it with normal polishing compounds (I love white diamond metal polish for the chrome on my bike!!)
And brass just looks awesome even with some patina on it.
I have had gold, which wore off the edges of the hardware while I was building the guitar. Black hold up pretty good, but the black hardware I have on my one guitar is wearing off on the edges and corners.
SO............
I have decided that chrome is the way to go for me from now on. Other than it being the most durable coating IMHO, it iis the cheapest choice in hadware. So my logic is it is cheaper and looks new longer.
Most of these plating problems come from the company doing the plating trying to cut costs. The stuff needs to be coated in two or three different types of electroplating materials. One of those is copper, which is expensive. The Chromium they use for the final coating sticks better to copper, which I am thinking a lot of guitar hardware manufacturers simply do not specify to use. Sometime research a quality reproduction bumper for an old corvette. They range in price from $250-1250. The $250 ones are dipped once, maybe twice with no buffing in between. The $1200 ones are usually triple dipped in all the solutions they get dipped in, with a buffing between each dip.
I guess I really didn't answer your question, but hopefully I gave you some insight on why this happens!!!
When all else fails buy hardware that is made in the USA. That goes for you non USA members, too. We have unions and pay workers decent wages. I find it pretty hard to believe that some poor Vietnamese worker who makes $0.35 and a bowl of rice really cares if the parts they are plating hold up. A U.S. worker has something to be proud of, a decent paycheck!! So those are my thoughts on that!!
jay4321
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BigBeard said:
I'm all for American pride, but I think we've seen enough poorly-constructed, overpriced instruments here to know better than making rash generalizations or assuming that pride in one's work is exclusive to well-paid American union workers. You really have to take each product and manufacturer on it's own merit anymore.
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