Painting chromed bridge black

[MPU]

I’d like to paint a G&L bridge black. I know paint does not stick to chrome. I can sand or sandblast or chemically remove the chrome off and paint. Has anyone painted chromed parts succesfully? What’s your advice? And no, I’m not looking for discussion whether I should paint the bridge at all or leave it as is.

 

[gidbass]

You may be able to use an etching primer. A quick google search did have results. I've never painted chrome myself.

Good Luck!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I’d like to paint a G&L bridge black. I know paint does not stick to chrome. I can sand or sandblast or chemically remove the chrome off and paint. Has anyone painted chromed parts succesfully? What’s your advice? And no, I’m not looking for discussion whether I should paint the bridge at all or leave it as is.

Hey Marko;

Getting paint to stick to stick on chrome is tough. The best results I've gotten have been to get the part thoroughly degreased and then spray it with black Rustoleum. Or the comparable paint on your side of the world. It's an enamel made specifically for spraying on steel. That's a pretty good bond, but still not great.

To do better, I'd recommend a small amount of sandblasting first. Not enough to rip the chrome off, but to give it a little bit of texture. And the sandblasting will get the texture more even than hand sanding.

Fully stripping the chrome and the nickel would be good, of course, but that gets into real nasty chemicals. And potential damage to small complex parts.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

If you can find a plating shop that will take a small job, getting it over-plated with black chrome is the best option. That may be difficult or it may be easy, depending what's available in your area. Check with folks that customize cars or motorcycles, perhaps, they may know a shop that's reasonable.

I guess it's theoretically DIY-able these days, but not something I'd be interested in dealing with, reading through this:

Stunning Black Chrome Finish: Black Chrome Plating Process - Brass, Chrome and Zinc Electro Plating In Bali

The sleek, dark allure of black chrome has made it a popular finish for automotive trim, motorcycle parts, and other decorative metal surfaces. But beyond

maschrome.net

Lots of nasty chemicals and fussy.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

in an alternate universe (mine), I always kinda wanted a chrome bridge for my 83' L2k, it has the black "crinkle" finish on the bridge, control plate, and neck bolt plate. Some kind of powder coat, I assume. It's held up amazingly well all these years, just some "highlights" peeking through on the bridge. Could the chrome plating just be grinder wire-brushed off? I once accidentally ground off a chunk of bumper chrome while attempting amateur body work on my truck. I also managed to remove a nice chunk of skin off my knee, but that's another story. The chrome came right off, my touchup with silver paint was... unconvincing. Of course, you'd have to polish it up too. How about the epoxy 2K paint, that stuff will stick to almost anything if it's degreased and roughed up a little.

 

[MPU]

in an alternate universe (mine), I always kinda wanted a chrome bridge for my 83' L2k, it has the black "crinkle" finish on the bridge, control plate, and neck bolt plate. Some kind of powder coat, I assume. It's held up amazingly well all these years, just some "highlights" peeking through on the bridge. Could the chrome plating just be grinder wire-brushed off? I once accidentally ground off a chunk of bumper chrome while attempting amateur body work on my truck. I also managed to remove a nice chunk of skin off my knee, but that's another story. The chrome came right off, my touchup with silver paint was... unconvincing. Of course, you'd have to polish it up too. How about the epoxy 2K paint, that stuff will stick to almost anything if it's degreased and roughed up a little.

Well, that crinkle finished black one is the one I’d like to have. I think I’m taking the bridge apart, sand the crome for some ey to hold the paint, use either epoxy or etch primer and some 2K black paint.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Well, that crinkle finished black one is the one I’d like to have. I think I’m taking the bridge apart, sand the crome for some ey to hold the paint, use either epoxy or etch primer and some 2K black paint.

I know in the USA you can get spray cans of wrinkle black paint at auto parts places. I’ve used it for motorcycle engine cases. No idea how it would hold up on a bridge. Engine cases obviously get hot, maybe bake it on?

 

[Coldmilk]

If you can, cerakote works great. The finish is extremely thin and won’t affect tight tolerances, unlike powdercoating.

 

[FUCHSAUDIO]

I would reach out to Advanced Plating in Nashville. They are in the guitar part supply business, besides being a full service plating shop for automotive and other industries. They did black chrome for me on some parts (which were not previously plated however) many years ago. They may know how to remove the current chrome and put black chrome in it's place. Likely not cheap. Another thought might be asking if you can buy a raw bridge without plating from G&L. That might make having it plated much cheaper.

 

[MPU]

Well shipping a bridge to US for plating is out of question. I think sanding, good primer and colour coat will hold up for my sofa playing and rehearsals just fine.

 

[ColinR]

By the time you spend money on ways to paint it, and actually spend the time doing it, it might be worth just buying a black one or a better/close substitute, and selling the original.

 

[Thumpin6string]

In the 50 years of doing autobody and 20 years of guitar refinishing, the only success I had painting chrome was to sand or sandblast the part and then use a catalyzed epoxy primer. Then you can scuff and paint as usual. Obviously, the petter the paint, the better it will hold up. I would use a catalyzed urethane for longevity.

The easiest and cheapest way would be to buy a black bridge IMHO.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Another option would be to take it to a shop and have it powder coated. A lot stronger than paint.

 

[Brian Patterson]

By the time you spend money on ways to paint it, and actually spend the time doing it, it might be worth just buying a black one or a better/close substitute, and selling the original.

My thought exactly - why go to the trouble to refinish something that will suffer issues later. Sell yours and buy a black one.
I did that when i replaced the OEM Yamaha bridge witha Hipshot - got the color and upgraded in the same time!

 

[MPU]

Well I have not found a black G&L 4 string bass bridge for sale. I’m not going to buy some generic bass bridge.

 

[whodom]

A few years ago I read that muriatic acid (available at hardware stores and building supply stores) would quickly strip chrome. I was trying to strip an old wristwatch case to expose the brass it was made of. It worked, but not that well, and I wound up having to sand several areas.

A quick search revealed a bunch of YouTube videos on chrome removal. You might find some good info there.

 

[Low Main]

Muriatic acid will strip chrome but not the nickel plating beneath it.

Sometimes I strip chrome because I prefer the look of the nickel. It's mellower looking, not as liquid shiny looking.

Doing that creates hazardous waste, as does stripping chrome in an electrolytic bath, which I've also done.

I take the waste to a plating shop and ask them to add it to their bulk waste for a small cash contribution.

A few years back, it was easy to find a place to have chrome stripped but now it's much tougher. It's easier to find plating shops than stripping shops.

This early 80's G&L had a black bridge and chrome control cover. That wasn't unusual for the time. They mixed and matched parts on some basses.

I stripped the control cover in a DIY electrolytic bath. To me, that's an outdoor activity. I would not do it indoors.

To match the wrinkle finish of the bridge, I used a "textured" aerosol paint because "wrinkle" paint actually had too much wrinkle.

Let the paint air dry overnight, then the next day, baked it at a low temp for an hour in an old toaster oven, then left it in the oven to cool and set overnight.

I did the same to the G&L three hole neck mounting plate which was also chrome.

The paint is durable, but it comes off readily with lacquer thinner if needed.

If not done carefully, electrolytic chrome stripping can cause pitting etc. and the parts might have to be filled with auto body spot putty (3M) before painting.

 

[STRMan]

They have that black spray and peel paint that you can spray over chrome wheels and bumpers. It looks pretty good if you do it correctly. The advantage is if you change your mind or want to sell it later, you can peel it off. Maybe that would work. Another advantage is you can try it, and if you don't like it, peel it off and do something more aggressive.

 

[STRMan]

They have that black spray and peel paint that you can spray over chrome wheels and bumpers. It looks pretty good if you do it correctly. The advantage is if you change your mind or want to sell it later, you can peel it off. Maybe that would work. Another advantage is you can try it, and if you don't like it, peel it off and do something more aggressive.

Rustoleum calls it Peel Coat. It comes in gloss and matte black.

 

[bassfran]

I would shoot a clear coat over whatever black paint you end up with to minimize wear.