Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Recently Paul explained how to restore the chromed parts on your guitar to there former glory, (Shininup the ol pick guard), in answer to a query made.

Does anyone have any secrets on how to attack gold fittings?

I remember an old Les Paul I bought a long way back, that had a good coating of oxides, a little corrosion and other gunk, (for lack of the technical term), and decided to pull the guitar apart and give it a thorough clean and polish.

Well the body came up okay, but the polish cloth I used for the metal bits succeeded in removing all the gunge and gave them a nice shine, but also managed to strip a good deal of the gold plating from them.

You've all seen the results of this I'm sure and it detracts from the guitar. So apart from trying to find a plating shop to redo these, is there a gentle cleaning process that can be used to return the gleam with removing the plating?

Also, is there a preventative maintanance step you can apply to avoid things like the machine head key from corroding, apart from wiping down after playing? As from past experience this continual wiping also removes the plating, as well!

Because of the expense of gold, the plating on guitar bits is "flash"-plated, usually over nickel. (Chrome is also "flash" plated over nickel, but is a much harder material.)

The thickness of gold on "flash"-plated parts is only 1-4 millionths of an inch. That's .000001-.000004 inches. Since gold is so soft, it's not surprising that rubbing with a cloth will remove it when the coating is so thin.

If the gold parts get a bit dull or scummy-looking, they can be cleaned carefully with a soft artist's brush (a red sable #3 or #4 flat or "bright" is preferable--do NOT use acrylic brushes, as they will scratch the plating over time--dipped in a weak solution of household ammonia and water. Softly brush the solution over the tarnished area. "Q"-Tips can be used to soak up any leftover solution. Any greenish areas are an indication that the gold has worn off and the substrate is tarnishing. This can be removed by going the other way--with a dilute vinegar solution, followed by the Q-Tip to soak up excess solution. Then brush with some ammonia or Windex solution to neutralize the acid in the viengar.

If it's green don't expect to find gold underneath following cleaning, as gold does not tarnish and will already be absent.

Protection? Gold should not need it; just don't rub it with anything or it will go bye-bye.

Machine key heads (I assume you're talking about exposed ones like Grover "Sta-Tite"s) may be lightly squirted with my favorite concoction--Dr. Stringfellow--which has citrus oils in it, then the excess may be wiped off. I also use clock oil (which often comes in a needle-point dispenser, as too much is as bad as too little). Place just a tiny drop on the gears at the point where they mesh, and then work the tuning key back and forth. Best time for this is at string change. Excess can be cleaned up with a CSCC.

To clean tuning gears of the exposed variety, I recommend removing them and dropping them into a jar or paint tin filled with a mix of naphtha (lighter fluid) and light oil--to a pint of naphtha add one ounce of 10W oil or 3-in-1. Soak the parts overnight. If you have plastic or celluloid tuning key caps and they are not removable, you'll have to dip the gear part first into the solution and brush with an old toothbrush.

Lay the tuning heads on an absorbent cloth or paper towels and let the naphtha evaporate, then wipe and re-install.

Thanks Paul, thorough as usual. I think I'd better get some lighter fluid in, seems it's useful for many things guitar!

You'll need some if you ever participate in any Californian Rock Festivals, that's for sure.

Don't leave Oz without it!

Better buy some when you get here, I don't think you can fly with that stuff...

Seems (unfortunately) it's too useful for many things 'airplane' as well...

Dane.... speaking of security checks, I had jury duty a few weeks back, so I go marching into the court building and go through the scanner check. What do they find in my briefcase?.... a freekiin full-on industrial style box cutter!!! I'd taken it home one day from work weeks earlier and completely forgotten about it.

They treated it like no big deal and held onto it until the end of the day. I, on the other hand, felt like a total doofus.

(and to make matters worse, I didn't get on the jury... but thats a whole other story)

I'd feel like a doofus if I got on the jury...I've managed to escape twice, and all I had to do was express my opinion on an issue or two...

I'm in sympathy with you on that one Dane and I have often thought that I would do the very same thing. But there again, perhaps if we all did that, then criminals would not receive their just reward.

Unfortunately our obligation to fulfil our civic duty has to prevail.

Agreed...I just have to find other ways of fulfilling my civic duty. 'Solicitors' (great word, that) on both sides of the room seem not to want me on a jury...

I guess I just think too hard, and that sh*t can be contagious in a small room with bad ventilation...

Over here you have to have an extremely good reason to avoid call up for jury duty. However, If you are selected for an actual jury, the beak will give his estimate of the length of the case. After that he will hear any reasons for exclusions (they still have to be pretty good) and decide your fate. It wasn't always that way - if you were a public servant or something of that ilk you got automatic exemption!

I take jury service very seriously and see it as much a right as a duty.

Last time I got a case I was foreman, which can be a very trying thing when you have members of the jury with deep-seated prejudices who basically refuse to listen to and evaluate the facts. No fun!!

Now is this classic thread drift or what??

Actually, I wasn't trying to avoid jury duty either time I got 'passed' on...one was for a homicide, and I'm against the death penalty, so I got the bum's rush. The other time was: an ex-boyfriend broke into the ex-girlfriend's apartment and stole a teevee he considered to be his...I answered a question concerning the idea of one person's testimony being compelling enough to outweigh a lack of 'corroborating' evidence either way. When I used that big long word that starts with a 'c' in my response, the guy questioning me dismissed me summarily.

So, technically, I have done my civic duty each time, and deserved the $14 I was awarded for my 'duty' having cost me a day's work. (Hey, I'm willing to do these things, but not without complaining! Just like taxes, death, etc...)

If I ever get stuck (I mean: 'privileged to be') on a jury, I hope the Foreman's a guy like you, Aitch...

"Now then, Mr. Foreman: How say you on the charge of deliberate contribution to thread drift?"

You only get $14 per day, Dane? We get $36! And.... your employer can't dock your pay while you are doing your civic duty - it's illegal.

Hmmmm... might be a sweet smelling smokey haze in the jury room if we were serving together!

"Not guilty, man... er...yer honour... on account of we can't remember what the dude was s'posed to have done!".

$36 a day X a 30 Day trial. Wow! that's almost enough to buy another used Ric. Yep that's a great reason to volunteer er.... I mean to do your civic duty. You gotta figure out the angles. LOL

Thread drift? What was this thread about originally anyway? Gold bits. Oh yeah. Gibbies (and other guitars)and their propensity to lose their gold finish.

Howard...there's NO SMOKING of any kind in the Denver City & County Building where the jury duty goes down, and you're pretty much incarcerated, er, I mean 'sequestered' 'til yer duty's done...and if it ain't been done by quittin' time, we'll see ya tomorrow. Oh, by the way: don't talk to anybody about the case....

It's just not my kinda scene, man...uh, yer Honor...m'Lud...may it please the court...I gotta step outside for a smoke, can we take five?

Same here, Dane! Some government buildings you can't even smoke out the front.