Preventing rust spots on chrome hardware?

[Number Of The Priest]

Lately, I've noticed some small rust spots on the intonation adjust screws on the saddles of my chrome Floyd Rose. You know, those little screws you loosen and tighten when shifting the saddles during intonation adjustment.

I know there's the recommendation of WD40 and a toothbrush to remove the rust, but I am PARANOID about taking Floyds apart. Maybe I'll get around to it, someday...

Any tips for the prevention of rust on chrome hardware? Up until this particular guitar, I've always had all-black hardware that never seemed to rust. Is there something about chrome that accelerates rusting? [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

[rjohnstone]

Re: Preventing rust spots on chrome hardware?

I always wipe down my guitars after playing them.
Then once a month I go through and clean and oil them.
No major disassembly or anything... tooth brush seems to get the job done just fine.
Never had any issues with rust on any chrome.
My former lead guitar players stuff looked like crap... he said that cleaning them took away from his "tone". [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
I laughed my ass off when one of his trem arms snapped becaues it corroded through. The guy sweats buckets when he plays. [img]/images/graemlins/sick.gif[/img]

[XSSIVE]

Re: Preventing rust spots on chrome hardware?

the only way to stop that is to wipe down the guitar after each time you play it. i do that with all my guitars and have no rust problems on the ones i was the original owner or builder of. same with strings, if you want them to last longer wipe them down after you play.

-Mike

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Preventing rust spots on chrome hardware?

The thing is that the rust appears on those little intonation adjustment screws, which doesn't even make contact with my hands/sweat, so I never think about wiping those fine little crevices on a Floyd. I do wipe the surface and strings down after each session, though. See my other post regarding factors affecting setups... you'll see that I haven't needed to change strings in a YEAR. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[rjohnstone]

Re: Preventing rust spots on chrome hardware?

That's what the tooth brush is for... you don't have to take the Floyd apart. Just get in there with a lightly oiled toothbrush to get any deposits off of it. I usually do this when I change the strings.
Q-tips help to get any excess oil cleaned up when you're done.
And yea... sweat will get in there whether you touch it or not.

EDIT:
Change your strings more often. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] After a month or so, whether you played them or not, they're dead.
If you want them to last a bit longer, release the tension off of them when you put the guitar away.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Preventing rust spots on chrome hardware?

Ahhh, pearls of wisdom! Excellent. Learned much in this thread, I have! [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]