Tarnished tuners or normal?

[strummer21]

I just bought my first bass a '97 Squier P Bass Special with a P body and a Jazz neck and both sets of pickups. It's made in China. My question is is the tuner hardware supposed to be a dull grey color as opposed to a shiny chrome finish that I see on all other P basses? It's wierd because it is not discolored unevenly so it looks like that is just the way the finish is supposed to be. I thought I'd ask here in case anyone knew if this was something unique to the ones made in China. One other question, I figured out that my bass was made in '97 because of the serial number, but before the N7+5 numbers is the letter "Y" and I have never seen that letter listed in any of the Fender serial number sites. Anybody know about that either? Thanks for any help.

[silversport]

I bet a combination of cheaper parts and acidic hands...I have some nicer gold tuners that have some of this (but not completely "tarnished") but I believe your Squier has cheaper tuners (I don't mean bad)
Bill

[bassmanrocke]

Originally Posted by silversport

I bet a combination of cheaper parts and acidic hands...I have some nicer gold tuners that have some of this (but not completely "tarnished") but I believe your Squier has cheaper tuners (I don't mean bad)
Bill

The tuners on the older Chinese Squiers are definitely not the Cheapies. They have the straight cut posts and cloverleafs similar to 70's fenders. I have two of the specials from this period and the tuners do get grayish. I may be wrong, but they appear to be nickel plated not chrome. Anyway, if you choose to change them out put them on ebay. Many player/builders are looking for aged tuners of this type.

[strummer21]

Thanks for the replies. So Bassmanrocke, if they are nickel plated, how would I clean them or shine them up without damaging them. I'm not interested in replacing them as they are in good condition, just want to clean them. Or should I just leave them alone? They are the straight posts w/cloverleafs. Thanks.