Chrome Sucks: It Doesn't Age Well
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- Chrome doesn't age well. This is a story of how I tried to relic the chrome humbucker pickup covers on my Gibson Les Paul Traditional Goldtop and failed. However, I did find a great solution in the process: raw nickel. I also throw some sound samples in there for good measure. Let me know what you think!
0:00 Why we're here
1:27 Removing the pickups and ideas
2:29 Disconnecting the covers from the pickups
5:33 The plan
6:06 A brief interruption / special guest
7:29 The pole pieces
8:58 Giving up
11:06 Stopping the squeal
12:09 Another example
13:25 Sound clips
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#guitar #relic #hardware 
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Love your content. Keep at it!
Thank you for the encouragement!
pcb etchant solution with q-tips - apply this to pole pieces to dull them.
Take the covers to a plating shop. They can strip from chrome back to nickel in minutes. Nickel is the base coat for chrome. Chromium was developed to offer a more durable, less ferrous end finish for nickel.
Nickel tends to have a slightly yellow finish, whereas hexavalent chrome is slightly blue.
If a completely rust free everlasting finish is required, copper plating to insulate the metal (if ferrous, as nickel is porous), nickel plating to create the base finish, or shine, then chrome to give a hard wearing finish.
Stainless steel is another option, but that's a whole other subject.
I have a Vintage Lemon Drop, which is entirely reliced, aside from the covers, which are brand new chrome.
Thanks for the info! I learned a few things. 👍🏻
Been torn between chrome or nickel pickup covers for my bkp pickups
Not so sure if I get something wrong about what you said, so based on your comment, chrome covers are actually a coating of chromium above nickel and being more durable from rusting?
Moreover, compared to nickel ones, does chrome affects tone more?
ha ha -very entertaining vid! I am happy, not to have tried out all these aging technics. Replaced the hardware of my strat completly with nickel hw - it looks so much more cool! Thank you for sharing your experience
Thanks! Glad you found a more straightforward way. 😉
Great video! I wouldn't truts myself in doing any of this stuff haha.
Just curious, what amp did you use to record the demos? Sounds awesome!
Thanks! It was all a Line 6 Helix into Logic.
•The first “simple” chord sounds were on a “German Mahadeva” which is based off a Bogner Shiva.
•The clean sounds were through an “Archetype” which is based off a PRS Archon.
•The Zeppelin & Black Crowe sounds were on a “Brit Plexi Bright” (Marshall Plexi)
@@NathanSink Cool, thanks!
I have a Trad with chrome hardware too :(
Then I bought I set of Bareknuckle Pickups, and made the mistake of selecting aged Raw Nickel. The patina is too bronze/gold looking and it didn't match my bridge and tailpiece, so I bought a kluson tailpiece and a nickel bridge from graphtech. Aged both using the vinegar fumes method. It worked, but still didn't match my Bareknuckle set. Although the tones were a bit better, the stock pickups weren't bad either. I could go with both.
I got frustrated and switched back to stock parts. I rubbed scotchbrite on my hardware it to give it a brushed look. Then everytime I had a gym session, I would dab my sweat on it. After 6 months, It looks better now and has that natural aged look.
Lesson learned. If I'm gonna do this again in the future, I'll buy it all from one manufacturer. Or maybe I should have picked Aged nickel. Not raw-aged.
Agreed: it can be frustrating trying to match parts and buying all from the same manufacturer or keeping all the parts in the same family (nickel, raw nickel chrome, etc) is probably best for a consistent look. 🙂
that guitar sounds amazing through that amp! whats the amp youre using in this clip?
Thanks! I was playing through a Line 6 Helix into Logic. It was either a Marshall clone or maybe the “Placater” amp. Sorry, I can’t exactly remember. 😬
@@NathanSink dude I would have never guessed that was helix! I’m an amp purist most of the time and I’d swear that was an amp. I personally liked the tone of the chrome vs nickel but aesthetically the nicked looks so much nicer! I’m surprised it made that significant of a difference. Way more midrange and wooliness with the nickel covers. Sounds like it would do the retro LP tones nicely for a more “vintage tone” I was thinking of beating up my chrome covers on my LP but might just let it age out naturally. Great video dude!
@@luisalextorres I’m glad it sounded legit! 😂 Yeah, after all that work I’m toying around with the idea of new pickups. The neck pickup on this set in particular has always been a bit too dark for me. 🫤 But I do like the raw nickel look for sure!
I use the the green side of a Scotch brite classic with great results .After that easy treatment the cover can further age naturally
On chrome or nickel?
@@NathanSink on chrome
@@noworries12 gotcha. Well you obviously were more successful than me! 😄Thanks for sharing.
You could have used Naptha to ease those labels. off.
Ah, true: I have found that mineral spirits (a weaker version of naphtha) does wonders on adhesives. But wouldn’t the labels get “greasy” with the naphtha residue? 🤔
@@NathanSink The naphtha just evaporates like alcohol. Lift a corner with tweezers and rub a soaked q-tip underneath. It will start to lift easier and just work your way across. Don't get any on your skin. I've heard it's pretty bad stuff. I've used it to get price tags off of vintage toys.
@@clutch2827 Gotcha. 👍 Thanks for the info!
Nickel it seems is a minute bit brighter. That’s just what I hear.
@@jbux1983 thanks for the feedback. 👍🏻
Always nickel hardware, chrome ages like milk.
😂
The biggest problem is it doesn’t age like milk. Making the rest of the instrument look ridiculous with all the shiny bling when the rest of the instrument is naturally aging. It’s exactly like meeting an old dude with caps or dentures on their teeth that are naturally white. it just makes it look fake or synthetic. Before people pile on to me. I have an actual vintage, fender jaguar, and everything is aged lovely. It’s not related, it looks pretty fresh even today. Just good old-fashioned time not abuse. But the chrome hardware on the damn thing looks like it rolled off the factory line today. which I understand the appeal. But nickel finishes just kinda age more naturally with the rest of the instrument. Who wants the 70-year-old grandma with 25-year-old perky tits? Sorry for the crass analogy but that’s exactly what it’s like. It’s just weird i And distracting.
@@Dungeon_of_Regret yes to this! 😂
@@Dungeon_of_Regret when you attempt to artificially age chrome it looks like ass, whereas nickel at least ages right.
I really liked the relic job actually. 😄
Well, thanks. 😂 It looked ok from a distance, but it was really scratchy up close.