Question about matching covers for Les Pauls

[ventura]

Question, to match a non-VOS Lester with standard shiny/gloss hardware (not pre-beaten and relic'd, ahem!!) are the chrome covers on Les Pauls the same as CHROME for BKP or are they NICKEL for BKP??

Does this question make sense??  What's the BKP cover match if the hardware on my Lesters is the stock shiny silver (as opposed to gold hardware) - chrome or nickel??

Thank you,
V.

[kevinr]

I think they are chrome!

[Philly Q]

It depends what Les Paul it is!  Gibson use both chrome and nickel, and they can both look like "stock shiny silver", but nickel tarnishes much quicker.

If you compare chrome and nickel side-by-side, chrome is like a mirror, sort of blue-white.  Nickel is more yellow-white.

If it's a new-ish Les Paul Standard, it probably has chrome hardware, if it's some kind of vintage reissue (with an ABR-1 style bridge and Kluson style tuners) it's probably nickel.

[Alex]

Indeed I had mismatched covers on my SG for a while, chrome and nickel, and it only became apparent after a certain period of time, when wear started to show.

[ventura]

Ah ha!!  So I'm not off my tit for thinking this is a valid question...

Alright, the two guitars in question:
1.  '57 Goldtop Darkback reissue (2010)
2.  '59 Yamano Select Lemonburst (2011)

I will take a shot of both these guitars and load them onto the site for your opines.  Thanks immensely.  I believe them to be Chrome, but again, not having the wherewithall to know for certain, hard to say really innit??  Never had the opportunity to put 'em side by side to a nickel and chrome sample.

Pics to follow,
V.

[ventura]

See two pics of each...  I tried doing a side angle as well as a head-on.

Thanks for your thoughts in this matter.

V.  :lol:

[ventura]

I made this pretty simple...  Spoke to my retailer - NICKEL it is!!!!

Cheers,
V.

[Philly Q]

Yep, it's hard to tell from just a picture but I'm pretty sure they're nickel!

Both guitars have the narrower, "ABR-1" style tune-o-matic bridge.  When Gibson use those, they're almost always nickel-plated, so if you see that kind of bridge you can be fairly certain all the rest of the hardware will be nickel-plated too.

If it had the slightly chunkier "Nashville" tune-o-matic, it would more likely be chrome.

[ericsabbath]

not 100% sure
back in the 80's, they used nickel tuners, but chrome bridge, tail and pickup covers
the chrome parts age in a quite different tone, keeping the bluey silver shiny thing, even when rusted, while the aged nickel tuners look just like worn off gold parts

but Gibson annouces the '57 Goldtop Darkback as nickel hardware, so it probably is
not sure about the Yamano