• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

DIY relic Hipshot nickel plated tuners

S

skycruiser

Jan 15, 2019
3,767
6,568
#1
I recently picked up a Squier 40th anniversary P with lightly relic'd hardware. I love the bass except with the lightweight body, it has neck dive. I'm thinking of replacing the tuning machines with a set of licensed Hipshot ultralites, but they have a nice shiny finish that won't match the other hardware. I thought I would try doing a DIY relic finish and I'm looking for advice.

I have read a bit online and see a few options including vinegar and muriatic acid to chemically rough up the surface possibly adding discoloration as well. And the mechanical methods include scuffing with sand paper or scouring pads, or jumbling the tuners around in a box of rocks.

So I'm looking for suggestions from people who have tried this. I'm wondering about long term effects as well. Do any methods cause problems down the road? Rust or tuning issues? Excessive discoloration maybe?
 
#2
I would pick the nickel Plated. Nickel gives a warm brown hue (chrome is a cold bluish hue) and it tarnishes rapidly. As long as you don't polish it, in a short time it gets a nice patina to it.

Chrome doesn't tarnish, it only gets dirty and cleans up very easily. Nickel gets a hard film of tarnish that takes a lot of elbow grease to remove.

Edit: I just found a hobbyist electroplating website (seems it's a thing) that says sulphur rapidly tarnishes silver and nickel. They suggest (hold on now it's whacky) mashing a hard boiled egg with some onion (sources of sulphur) and putting your parts in a plastic baggie with the mash.
Invalid Link Removed
 
Last edited:
#3
96tbird said:
I would pick the nickel Plated. Nickel gives a warm brown hue (chrome is a cold bluish hue) and it tarnishes rapidly. As long as you don't polish it, in a short time it gets a nice patina to it.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I already have the nickel plated tuners and I have had them for awhile. They still look new. I'd like to try accelerating the aging to match the other hardware.

The stock tuners look like this:
IMG_20221015_105938077.jpg
 
#5
I just knocked some of the new nickel shine off a Hipshot bridge by putting it in a plastic container ( no lid ) and then floating that container in another with about an inch or so of white vinegar in it.

I set it aside for a few days until the fumes did the job.

There are other things one could use to age nickel plating, but vinegar is pretty harmless, which can't be said for some of the other things.

Patience is required for this method, but it is pretty simple.

Let it sit and check every few days until it gets to where you want it.

Search "how to age nickel hardware" and there's quite a few recipes
 
  • Like
Reactions: skycruiser
#6
48 hours in a sealed container with vinegar did absolutely nothing to these Hipshot tuners. I might try muriatic acid next. Maybe they are coated as suggested above. Or maybe the "shiny nickel" isn't really nickel.
 
#8
ariff said:
Hey Skycruiser did you ever figure out a good way to get your hipshot tuners to match. I am in the same boat and have been trying to figure out how to do this. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I haven't tried any other chemical treatments after the vinegar. I'm still using the stock tuners. If you have a set of tuners you want to try, start off with the weakest chemicals first, such as the vinegar. Coatings can vary from one manufacturer to another and what didn't work for me might work fine for you!
 
#9
skycruiser said:
I haven't tried any other chemical treatments after the vinegar. I'm still using the stock tuners. If you have a set of tuners you want to try, start off with the weakest chemicals first, such as the vinegar. Coatings can vary from one manufacturer to another and what didn't work for me might work fine for you!
Click to expand...
Yeah in my situation I am adding a Hipshot Xtender and trying to match the other stock tuners.. Thanks!
 
#10
After doing this again, I'd recommend an overnight soak in acetone/nail polish remover to get rid of any coating that might interfere with the acid fog.

I did a batch of nickel parts, wanting them to age in a similar fashion and they did not.

I soaked them in naphtha to get rid of finger oils and such, but next time I'll use acetone.

I'm guessing some of the parts, including a Hipshot string tree, were either plated more thickly or were coated.

I just took the parts out of the container when they looked right to me and some were done a day or so before the others.

Decent results, but it's something to consider.

At least it's tough to completely ruin things with vinegar.

For an Extender, I'd disassemble it completely and soak in acetone first, then vinegar until done. Might take a day or two.

Baking soda bath after to stop the acid...
 
Last edited:
#11
reviving this thread to see if there are any other experiences and ideas! All my nickel parts came out great minus the actual tuner keys themselves for my hipshots. I was concerned that maybe I accidentally received chrome instead of nickel (no true way for me to tell, but I'm going to trust hipshot's official ebay page).

I started by scuffing the tuners with some steel wool scotch pads that I had and then have them suspended in a fume box with a mixture of white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and salt, but no real effect after 24 hrs.

Should I take them out and try to use acetone / nail polish remover? or would I be too late in that process?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back