Hardware Corrosion - Why? What to do about it?

[Michael_B]

I've bought a few used guitars, lately. Some have signs of corrosion on the nickel/chrome plated hardware. What causes that? Sweat/salt? What do you recommend to stop further corrosion? What do you recommend to prevent it from occurring in the first place?

[Studio Custom]

Wiping your guitar down after using it is the first line of defense. Of course you could clean it with alcohol and blow the parts off with an air compressor each time, but who's going to do that?

[gorch]

Become the polish king or ignorant.

[Steve Haynie]

Some people have more acid in their hands than others. Plating protects the metal underneath until a small pit in the nickel or chrome allows the acid to touch the metal.

Gold is supposed to be corrosion resistant, but I have seen a lot of gold plated guitar parts dull out. Quite often gold wears off.

[Studio Custom]

Some people have more acid in their hands than others. Plating protects the metal underneath until a small pit in the nickel or chrome allows the acid to touch the metal.

Gold is supposed to be corrosion resistant, but I have seen a lot of gold plated guitar parts dull out. Quite often gold wears off.

Gold in color does not necessarily mean gold in content.

[tomteriffic]

Gold plating is usually extremely thin. And gold is a very soft metal. These two factors combine to make it disappear very quickly.

And, as closely as I can tell, once nickel begins to tarnish, you can keep it from disintegrating completely, but you'll never restore it to its original hue and shine. I'm all ears if anyone has corrections or advice on this.

[Armitage]

Yea, Gold doesn't corrode, it wears off, leaving the metal underneath exposed.

[dragan]

I like the tarnished look of nickel , give the guitar a vintage vibe

[crunchee]

The SD Firebird pickups on Eclipses are well known for tarnishing. I dunno if it works for them, but you could always try a rubber eraser...that's what kids use on pennies.

[Michael_B]

It couldn't hurt, I guess. Thanks for the tip.

[tomteriffic]

Worth a try, I have three Duncan FB equipped axes.

[kenjones]

I use Nevr-Dull on nickel and chrome parts. It makes tuner knobs look new. Do not use it on gold parts!

[Michael_B]

Thanks for the recommendation.

[JohnnyB]

Chrome doesn't bond equally with all metals underneath. I used to have a 1965 Ludwig Supraphonic 400 snare drum. It sounded great but the shell was made of aluminum alloy (mostly Al plus a little Zn and Mg I think), and keeping the shell from pitting or flaking was a lost cause. Unlike guitar hardware, the drum shell was not subjected to hand oils and sweat, yet it pitted and flaked despite our best efforts with polish and anti-corrosives.

The previous iteration of that drum, mfd from 1957-1962 with a brass shell (called COB "chrome over brass"), doesn't seem to have as much problem with this.

[ARM OF HAMER]

Corrosion??????.............what corrosion??????.................I don't see any.

[e-isle rock]

Corrosion occurs on all metals. Gold and other precious metals are already in their metallic state and are stable in the environment. Corrosion is metal returning to its organic state. Corrosion has to have four factors to occur; an anode, cathode, conductor and electrolyte. Much like a battery in that sense. Eliminating any of these will slow corrosion. The hardware on guitars is most likely coated with something but if there is any break or puncture in that coating corrosion can begin. The sweat and oils from your hands speeds the process by providing the electrolyte. There are different forms of corrosion like galvanic corrosion. Galvanic corrosion is dissimilar metal contact and looks like what is happening in ARM OF HAMERs pic. In galvanic corrosion one metal is the anode which is the weaker metal and gives up electrons to the cathode or the stronger metal. Graphite/carbon fiber while itself doesn't corrode, it will cause metal to corrode (especially aluminum) if there isn't some kind of barrier between them. As mentioned earlier, keeping your guitars clean and wiping them down will help. Also, keeping them in their cases with a desiccant bag can help. As far as metal to metal contact for guitar hardware I don't think there is much you can do.