nickel cleaner

[Ochaye]

i have some grungy pups and bridges i want to clean,any tips,wots best?

[singto]

 :)

[Transcend]

ive never actually tried doing this as i normally keep my pickups rather clean witha  quick wipe on string change.

But i reckon methylated spirits ona  cloth will get them clean itll certainly pick off any grease etc.

Dunno how the metal will react to it though

[WezV]

nickel will always age and wear... you have the issue that regular cleaning will speed this process up quite a lot

something non abrasive like toe-knee suggests will get it clean - but if you start polishing it there wont be much nickel left

[Philly Q]

It's very difficult to get tarnish off nickel without using metal polish - and as Wez says that's actually rubbing away some of the nickel plating every time you polish.  Even then, it'll quickly tarnish again.

Is it definitely nickel not chrome?  Chrome is much easier to clean and doesn't really tarnish as such.

[MDV]

Its not the tarnhishing he wants to clean....?

'Gungy'

Accumulation of stuff on it.

I'd just take it all off, take apart the bridge and wipe it all down with a damp cloth, make sure its dried thoroughly and stick it all back on. If theres anything terribly stubborn I usually use WD40 (not on anything painted, though). That could be a gamble with the nickel but I dont think there're be a problem.

[Dmoney]

not really a suggestion...

but my grandad used to drop coins into coca cola to clean them. just left them to soak for a while and they came out super shiney
guess it wouldn't work for pickups but would there be a problem with any materials if you did this to clean other hardware?

[AndyR]

not really a suggestion...

but my grandad used to drop coins into coca cola to clean them. just left them to soak for a while and they came out super shiney
guess it wouldn't work for pickups but would there be a problem with any materials if you did this to clean other hardware?

It dissolves teeth as well :lol:

Never tried it personally, but I understand (from a chemistry teacher 30-odd years ago) that if you drop a tooth in glass of Coke and leave it over night... it'll be gone in the morning... could be an old wive's tale though...

[Transcend]

Not gone but majorly decayed. I remember doing this in middle school

[Ian Price]

Never tried it personally, but I understand (from a chemistry teacher 30-odd years ago) that if you drop a tooth in glass of Coke and leave it over night... it'll be gone in the morning... could be an old wive's tale though...

I'm pretty sure we did this in school - it took the tooth about 4 days to completely dissolve IIRC.

[Vincentinflames]

Baking soda and water, only add enough water to make the soda into a paste though!. Then, put it all over the pick up cover and let it dry. Get some warm water on it and buff it dry with a lint free cloth "this is quite an old technique I think" ^.^ :D Yea I know its a bit odd but use to work on nickle plated bike bits I had, gets anything off them and does not seem to damage the plating. Just next time I would go for chrome if I was you ^.^

I think if you send your pickups back to BKP for a small price they change the pickup covers for you without it breaking the lifetime warranty :) Just a thought anyway ^.^