Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just bought an old, gold-plated Gibson humbucker, because it was a hell of a lot cheaper than a similar vintage nickel-plated one. Much of the gold has worn off, but it doesn't bother me because I don't need a gold one anyway. What I want to do is re-plate it nickel (cover and screws), and was wondering what preparation I may need to perform before taking it to the electroplaters.

a) Will I need to physically remove the existing gold by either chemical or abrasive means?
b) Can the electroplater remove the existing gold using electrolysis?
c) Can the parts be nickel plated over the top of the existing gold without any negative effects? (keep in mind, the existing gold has rubbed off in some areas, so the surface will actually comprise of different metals)

Why not just replace the cover/screws with nickel ones?

The plater should be able to strip the old plating off, so just take the cover to your local (or not) guy.

dpowell wrote:Why not just replace the cover/screws with nickel ones?

The plating job will probably be less expensive.

It may be nickel under the gold. Why not polish off the gold and see what it looks like.

ken_j wrote:It may be nickel under the gold

Is it normal for gold plated parts to have base-coat of nickel, or are you suggesting that when Gibson ran out of gold parts, they may have sent their nickel parts back to the plater?

Yes, it is quite common to electroplate gold over nickel.

I vote yes! Nickel looks much better than gold hardware IMHO!

bails wrote:

ken_j wrote:It may be nickel under the gold

Is it normal for gold plated parts to have base-coat of nickel, or are you suggesting that when Gibson ran out of gold parts, they may have sent their nickel parts back to the plater?

cjj wrote:Yes, it is quite common to electroplate gold over nickel.

+ 1 on it is typical to plate gold over nickel.

A quality chrome plating commonly referred to as "triple chrome" uses a copper over the base metal, then nickel, and then chrome. There is a lot of buffing/polishing in-between steps.

What's the easiest way of removing the gold, without removing the nickel?

bails wrote:What's the easiest way of removing the gold, without removing the nickel?

Let Brian Crisman go at it for a while.

I would use a polishing/buffing wheel in a drill or drill press with some fine compound. You can also get one to go on the end of a bench grinder. I would not spin it too fast. Remember the larger the diameter the faster the surface feet per minute. Don't let it get hot.

Impossible to control taking gold and leaving nickel, so it looks good.

I'd take it to a plater. The old plating MUST come off before replating, so just tell him you want "bright nickel" and let him work his magic.

I have a thing about nickel...it has a warmth that chrome can't match, and it's much more durable than gold.

+1 Nickel looks great!