Love Rock 'aged' hardware advice please

[madamralli]

Hi Folks,
Does anyone have any advice on a good method of dulling the chrome plating on my Love Rock Hardware. I'm not trying to relic my guitar or make it appear older than it is, so any one reading this who is lucky enough to own an original 80's Love Rock with an authentic aged look, please don't feel offended. I have fitted a aluminium stp and it has a duller appearance to the rest of my chrome.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Keep on rockin'

 

[hawkeye2u]

If you join the LesPaulForum you can get lots of answers on this topic

Me, myself & I want to keep my hardware as shiny as possible, I like the "looked after look"

If you want to age it, goahead, me I'd just let it age naturally, it will get that authentic look in a few years, nomatter how well you look after it

Cheers

 

[Paladin2019]

A-ha, I know what's happened here... :lol:

Ok, first off - chrome doesn't dull. It's very resistant to corrosion, and the way it 'ages' is to flake off very slowly with time. This only occurs with heavy use/abuse though.

The problem you have is that your alu tailpiece is NICKEL, not chrome, which is why it appears dark and yellowish next to the rest of the hardware. Unfortunately nobody makes an aluminium tailpiece with a chrome finish so it you want it to match you'll either have to replace the rest of your bridge hardware plus your tuners, or put the old tailpiece back on.

 

[tudor]

I agree with you, Paladin ... that's the clue ! :wink:


If you want some advice for artificial aging look here ...

http://www.multi.fi/~nproject/thursday_burst/

Ludde is one of our forumites here and he describes all changes very sophistically ...

Roger

 

[HeadCreeps]

Unfortunately nobody makes an aluminium tailpiece with a chrome finish so it you want it to match you'll either have to replace the rest of your bridge hardware plus your tuners, or put the old tailpiece back on.

Not true !

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Electric_guitar,_non-trem_tailpieces/Gotoh_Aluminum_Stop_Tailpiece.html

 

[Paladin2019]

Not true !

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Electric_guitar,_non-trem_tailpieces/Gotoh_Aluminum_Stop_Tailpiece.html

Looks like things have changed since I last looked!

Doesn't help madamralli though. Unless he/she goes for a refund and exchange.

I've always thought of the aluminium tp as a kind of luxury upgrade, like a lacquered burr walnut dashboard on a car. Such a thing would come as standard on something like an Aston Martin (think Gibson historic...), would be a reasonable upgrade on a Merc or BMW (think Gibson standard) but would be a bit silly on a Ford Mondeo (think MIK Tokai...). Sure, the mondeo is a good car that does well at what it does and the dashboard would do the same as it would on an Aston but... it'd still be a bit daft.

Which is why I always thought nobody would ever make an alu tp in chrome. But I guess the internet is spreading the word like chinese whispers again.

 

[togps]

.... rest of my chrome.

madamralli, do you have a MIK Tokai?

Note: all MIJ Tokais features nickel plated hardware.
all MIK Tokais features chrome plated hardware.

 

[HeadCreeps]

I've always thought of the aluminium tp as a kind of luxury upgrade, like a lacquered burr walnut dashboard on a car. Such a thing would come as standard on something like an Aston Martin (think Gibson historic...), would be a reasonable upgrade on a Merc or BMW (think Gibson standard) but would be a bit silly on a Ford Mondeo (think MIK Tokai...). Sure, the mondeo is a good car that does well at what it does and the dashboard would do the same as it would on an Aston but... it'd still be a bit daft.

To tell you the truth I also think that it won't make much of a difference but in ~2 weeks I'll have one to install in a LC80 and I'll post a (hopefully) unbiased review.

 

[Paladin2019]

To tell you the truth I also think that it won't make much of a difference but in ~2 weeks I'll have one to install in a LC80 and I'll post a (hopefully) unbiased review.

I think it would be worth it, but on a MIK it's too expensive for what it does.

I noticed a smoothing out of the very top and bottom frequencies with a bit more midrange - an overall sweeter sound. Sustain seemed to increase, but only a little.

 

[madamralli]

Thanks folks for your insight, can't help but notice we're going a wee bit off course though, The nickle finish on the MIJs is'nt a problem, but i've also got a MIK that i've upgraded with 50's wiring etc, & without opening a can of worms it is money well spent, a ?20 aluminium stp on a MIK Love Rock is totally worth it, a couple of pints & a packet of cigarettes for the sake of improved tone & sustain, ask someone like Garagerat, or anyone else who have improved a MIK & they'll agree!

I'll solider on with my mission & if i come up with anything good i'll post it on the forum.

Regards

Adam

 

[Paladin2019]

Thanks folks for your insight, can't help but notice we're going a wee bit off course though, The nickle finish on the MIJs is'nt a problem, but i've also got a MIK that i've upgraded with 50's wiring etc, & without opening a can of worms it is money well spent, a ?20 aluminium stp on a MIK Love Rock is totally worth it, a couple of pints & a packet of cigarettes for the sake of improved tone & sustain, ask someone like Garagerat, or anyone else who have improved a MIK & they'll agree!

I'll solider on with my mission & if i come up with anything good i'll post it on the forum.

Regards

Adam

They're ?20 now? Cripes! Even the Gotoh one was ?50 when I bought mine, and the gibson ones were over ?100. For that kind of money I'd say go for it, but pickups should always be your priority on a guitar of that standard.

 

[madamralli]

Now we're really off the beaten track, but its hard to avoid, this should really be a new topic, but............... going on what Paladin just said, if i were to stick ?120 worth of Seymores, or Dimarzios into my MIK Love Rock, with 50's wiring, Alu stp etc, aside from the actual wood & nitro finish etc, would it measure up to a MIJ Love Rock.................................................Oh Dear, i fear a real hornets nest may have been disturbed, but hey its really only a topic for a good debate. I might just start a new topic on it, or would that just be silly?

Keep on rockin'

Adam

 

[hahaedmw]

talking about aged look, any idea how do i make a "snow white" finished guitar to a creamy look? I have a white sg, it will look alot better in cream, any idea how to make it look yellowish?

 

[togps]

... any idea how to make it look yellowish?

Some guitarplayer with a lot of "Aging" experience swore to go this natural way ...

Hadn't proofed it yet.

 

[Paladin2019]

talking about aged look, any idea how do i make a "snow white" finished guitar to a creamy look? I have a white sg, it will look alot better in cream, any idea how to make it look yellowish?

What model is it? If it has a poly finish it'll look snow white forever. Nitro, as used on gibsons and high end tokais, will start yellowing natually within a year. Lots of exposure to direct sunlight will speed things up.

Gibson's distributors will only bring in white guitars to order because of the yellowing 'problem'.

 

[BaggyPants]

talking about aged look, any idea how do i make a "snow white" finished guitar to a creamy look? I have a white sg, it will look alot better in cream, any idea how to make it look yellowish?

What model is it? If it has a poly finish it'll look snow white forever. Nitro, as used on gibsons and high end tokais, will start yellowing natually within a year. Lots of exposure to direct sunlight will speed things up.

Gibson's distributors will only bring in white guitars to order because of the yellowing 'problem'.

If it's Polyester, it'll take for ever, if it's Polyurethane, it'll age almost as quickly as Nitro. Just look at all the lovely '70s Fenders which started off white and are now a nice yellowy colour The word "poly" gets used too much, without being specific. Most non-nitro Japanese guitars are polyurethane, whereas polyester is a korean and mexican made thing, in the main

 

[bruceboomstick]

it'll age almost as quickly as Nitro. Just look at all the lovely '70s Fenders which started off white and are now a nice yellowy colour

That's true my strat has turned green (started out blue) around the edges of the body. It started to do it a couple of years after I got (86-87) it has taken on a much more aged look in recent years.

It's a different aged look that nitro, but not unattractive.