Gold Plating pickups

Dominic

I would like to be able to restore my Dads old Gretsch which has gold fidelitrons and bigsby now 90% worn away to base nickel

Frankly I prefer the nickel but the headstock hardware is still as gold as a jewellers window for some reason ( better plating ?) and it looks odd - there is no great vintage worth so I would like to bring it back to its original condition as the rest of the instrument is in superb nick.

 Anybody know best way to do this ( I assume the pups have to come out of the case etc ) or who does it ?Or do I simply take it all apart and take it to a metal platers ?

Cheers for any tips

olafgarten

It might just be worth replacing the bigsby and the covers on the pickups.

paulnb57

Looking from another direction at your issue, stripping the covers off the pickups to be replated is doable but a hassle, why not use a mildly abrasive polish to remove the rest of the gold plate from the pickups and Bigsby and replace the tuners with nickel plated ones, it sounds easier to me and more to your taste...then possibly sell on the old tuners...

Sarge

Gold plating can be done at home with a 6volt power supply, some gold plating solution and a couple of sponge tipped prongs..... Or buy a kit from ebay.

Dominic

Thanks for the tips guys .........I want to keep it gold as per original spec

I cannot just replace pup covers ( which is the logical thing to do ) because they seem slightly smaller than all the normal modern ones and the surrounds are smaller to -this is a Baldwin era 1980s Super Chet

GuitarMonkey

You can't just replate them without stripping to base metal, polishing to a bright shine then doing the whole process. Plating pitted covers will just end up with pitted gold if it takes at all.

A job for a professional plating company I think.

WezV

GuitarMonkey said:

You can't just replate them without stripping to base metal, polishing to a bright shine then doing the whole process. Plating pitted covers will just end up with pitted gold if it takes at all.

A job for a professional plating company I think.

and all needs to be done after the covers have been removed from the pickup, which can easily put you into rewind territory if something goes wrong - more likely on an unusually shaped old pickup than it is on a standard humbucker

breakstuff

Would love to see a picture of the guitar if poss @Dominic.

Corvus

Taking apart a Bigsby needs the hinge pin removing, it has a hollowed end which is peened/splayed. Comes out OK with a pin punch or careful drilling but needs redoing with a new pin to refit. Filtertron covers should come off ok, inside they're pretty self-contained like a normal bucker except for the thin plastic piece sitting loose on top, needs a meaty iron to solder them back though.
Blacktop Filtertrons are based on those pickups, don't know if the dimensions were metricised otherwise BT covers might fit. Mine measure 71 x 34.2mm, fwiw.

Dominic

thanks @ Billkat -useful info about pups FWIW -they sound superb

paulnb57

At the end of the day it's only aesthetics, I'm guessing all the wear on the plating was done when your dad played it. To me that is history, somthing to remember your dad by in later years, memories, the more I think about this guitar, the more I think you should leave it as it is.....JMHO..

Dominic

yes but I am obsessive about keeping things nicely............I polish my shoes at least 3 times per week ! sad but true

paulnb57

Ah!, in that case.......

streethawk

I would look into the cost of replacing any worn parts, preserving the old ones in their current state.

Does it have a Gretsch branded Bigsby?

paulnb57

streethawk said:

I would look into the cost of replacing any worn parts, preserving the old ones in their current state.

Does it have a Gretsch branded Bigsby?

Thats actually pretty good advice, then whenever it goes to a new owner, the old parts can be refitted if desired. Many people prefer the honest worn patina.....

Corvus

If it was mine I'd leave it, or if those shiney bits are way spangly maybe get them aged somewhere to make the collar & cuffs match... Probably the easiest & cheapest & least risky, though if the worn look bugs you greatly that's notalot o'use