Cleaning Hardware on a Vintage Bass

[EricS]

Thanks to everyone for your input so far! Much appreciated!

 

[rojo412]

If you clean that up it's still going to have a lot of patina. Just don't go overboard and don't use steel wool.

That brings to mind, SCOTCHBRITE (or similar plastic scrub materials)...
DO NOT USE THAT ON CHROME OR NICKEL, EVER!
Whether restoring or keeping patina, it's just NOT good.

That plastic seems safe - but will scratch the living hell out of shiny objects. And if it's plated (like chrome or nickel), you can't buff it out.

 

[blastoff]

don't soak in vinegar. my friend ruined an entire bass drums worth of vintage ludwig hardware. pulled all the chrome off and they immediately oxidized and looked awful. i would just wipe down with some micro fiber cloths and lube with your favorite smelling three-in-one

 

[Pirate Captain]

"The dirt keeps the funk" -James Jamerson

 

[96tbird]

Keep in mind that hardware is all nickel plate, not chrome. I know, I own a g-3 from that year. Nickel tarnishes deep past the surface unlike chrome so you dint want to polish them to a shine. Polish is abrasive It could remove too much plating. A bit of toothpaste for light polish only. Just get the milky white surface gunk off.

I would soak them in naphtha and brush loose gunk off with a toothbrush and call it good.

Take the saddle screws out while cleaning. Run the screws slowly in and out to clean the threads. Perhaps chase the threads with a tap first so not to get any stuck. Check the areas of the tuner worm gears, base plates, and flat mating surfaces of the spur gears and smooth them with a dremel with brass brush.


With mine, I tried naphtha to clean grey gunk off the wood finish and it didn't work well. I ended up using windex on paper towel which worked quick and well without saturating the surface. Areas where the finish had worn through to bare wood and stained black are basically uncleanable and require bleaching with acid… straight advice from an antique restorer.

Cool old bass right there. Original old uncared for, relic finish. No point in polishing that to a shine.