Photo Request: Aged/non-aged Nickel covers in Les Pauls

[Hammerheart]

I'm going to be getting a set of Mules for my Iced Tea Traditional and I'm wanting rid of the shiny chrome look (and horrible rounded corners) on the current pickups. I've used the search feature and seen a couple of pics but no close ups. I thought I'd give a good excuse for people to show off their guitars if they wouldn't mind helping me make my choice. I'd be particularly interested in how the non-aged nickel pups age once installed.

Doesn't necessarily need to be in a les paul :p

[wolfenstein]

If itīs brand new guitar I woud go for raw nickel...Already aged covers could make big contrast between shiny surface of guitar and dirty look of pickups...Raw nickel is just unpolished and ready to process...Also looks more natural...

Aged nickel covers:


Raw nickel covers:

[Cpt_Gonzo]

Homemade Les Paul with Nickel covered Holydivers.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

I like raw or aged myself, I feel like the regular nickel is just too shiny. I have aged ones myself.

[Hammerheart]

If itīs brand new guitar I woud go for raw nickel...Already aged covers could make big contrast between shiny surface of guitar and dirty look of pickups...Raw nickel is just unpolished and ready to process...Also looks more natural...

Thanks for the photos. Thats exactly what I was trying to figure out. I was wondering if it was going to look silly next to a brand new chrome bridge etc. I think the aged nickel ones in the photo look great. Is that just a standard chrome bridge/tailpiece? :D

[wolfenstein]

I canīt tell you exactly because itīs not my guitar but when I compared it to my SG standard which has chrome hw they looked the same except one has abr-1 and other has nashville type of bridge...That raw nickel and brushed nickel looks more neutral and there isnīt a big difference if you compare them with chrome bridge+tailpiece...But if you want to meke that 50 years old LP look I would recomend to replace rest of hardware for nickel as well...You canīt get the same result with chrome... 

[Philly Q]

But if you want to meke that 50 years old LP look I would recomend to replace rest of hardware for nickel as well...You canīt get the same result with chrome... 

Agreed!

Either all chrome or all nickel for me.  Preferably nickel.

The only guitars where you can get away with mixing chrome and nickel parts are vintage-spec Strats and Teles (IMO).

[ericsabbath]

raw nickel gets heavily age really quickly (couple months)
I like my brushed nickels better
they really catch some eyes

[Hammerheart]

Where is the best to get nickel replacement bridge parts? Jut want to check the options for I commit on the 'buy' button. thanks.

[Philly Q]

In the UK, the best places for quality guitar parts are WD or Allparts, but they're not cheap.  I buy most of mine from various sellers on eBay.

If I wanted a set of nickel-plated LP parts I would go for all TonePros stuff.

[wolfenstein]

In the UK, the best places for quality guitar parts are WD or Allparts, but they're not cheap.  I buy most of mine from various sellers on eBay.

If I wanted a set of nickel-plated LP parts I would go for all TonePros stuff.

My friend luthier swears with Gotoh Japan...He said TonePros is Korea and quality went down last couple of years...I also like Schaller but itīs in higher price level too...

[Philly Q]

I think your friend is wrong - the TonePros bridges and tailpieces are made by Gotoh, as far as I know! 

Certainly the Nashville style tune-o-matics and the aluminium tailpieces are identical to the equivalent Gotoh parts, just with the added locking grub screws.

(I'm not sure about the ABR-1 style bridges)

Schaller stuff is great, but not only is it expensive, it's very hard to find anywhere that sells it!