Looking for an Aged/Relic Hardware Refinisher

Take a look at post three in this thread.

where to buy vintage or aged/relic parts/hardware..?

 

I remember reading about using pcb etching solution followed by brown shoe polish to age hardware.

 

Probably unhelpful, but if you look at some vintage basses the chrome hardware actually holds up really well. Conversely I was checking out some aggressively relic'd guitars in GuitarGuitar here recently, and there was a weird sort of carrot-orange gravy spilled on the bridge to approximate rust. Not sure it was a good look, beyond a sort of Mad Max vibe. I suppose you are shooting for a parallel universe where Hipshot A-style bridges have been around a lot longer, and accumulated dirt?

If it was me (and it isn't) I would dull the chrome slightly, then polish it back out by hand. You want a shiny but ever-so-slightly and evenly scratched look. I would then find a couple of different grits of coarse sandpaper and gently tap them into the chrome finish to put some random pitting in the chrome. Maybe rough it up more on the bass side to approximate wear from the player's hand. As mentioned before some use etching solution or acid vapour to induce corrosion. Maybe just stick the thing in a box full of rusty screws and washers and shake it up! A few minutes of constant shaking and it will pick up a truly random assortment of scratches and abrasions, as well as some nice dirt and dust in the corners.

Earlier today I pulled an old MIM Fender bass bridge out of storage, and the saddle height-adjustment screws are all seized and the screws seem partly crowned out, so my Allen keys all slip when I try and turn them. I'm guessing you don't want to approximate this aspect!

 

MJT.

 

Gassing metal parts with hydrochloric acid worked really well for me. Very convincing looking tarnish and slight rust.

Do it outside though. The fumes are unbelievable.