Floyd Rose Problem - Rust on Saddles

[hksb_alex]

It happen to my gold plated saddles (OFR). What do you guys normally do? Clean the rust (the gold plate is falling off...nasty!!!) and leave it? Or replace the saddles? Cheers.

[straycat]

Replace the saddles is ALL you can do.

[Mario8672]

agree

[Zerberus]

Depending on how bad the rust is, you can easily remove it with 0000 steel wool, especially if you soak the parts in naphtha beforehand.

It will come back, though, so in the mid term you will probably want a new saddle instead of having to clean the saddles more often.

[Nazgul]

Gold hardware is the most prone to rusting and stripping. I have to buy a new tremolo arm for my floyd, half of the gold is missing on it and it has a really rough feeling when you touch it. Damn Stewmac is out of them . I'm not even going to bother replacing the saddles...

[wilkinsi]

How quickly does gold hardware rust? Are we talking years or months?

[Nazgul]

How quickly does gold hardware rust? Are we talking years or months?

In my case, I got a guitar with basically unused gold hardware and it was a matter of few months when the stripping and rusting started. I must also say that that was the only guitar I played for about 8 months 4 hours daily. I have it for 11 months now...do you want a picture?

[Zerberus]

How quickly does gold hardware rust? Are we talking years or months?

It reallsy depends on a few factors, such as how often you use the axe and esp. how acidic your sweat is, because that´s what eats through the plating. The different plating thicknesses of different manufacturers also make a difference.

If the axe is used heavily it can be mere months, but if it´s cared for and not used often it can last for decades.

[jackson1]

I also think the quality of the plating has a lot to say. Nothing found on a guitar has quality plating, imo.

[wilkinsi]

In my case, I got a guitar with basically unused gold hardware and it was a matter of few months when the stripping and rusting started. I must also say that that was the only guitar I played for about 8 months 4 hours daily. I have it for 11 months now...do you want a picture?

Yes, please post a picture.

[Nazgul]

Looks like that now:

[jackson1]

Stop drinking surgical spirit, Uros. Look at that poor trem, it ain't worth it!

[fett]

It's just about impossible to match new goldplate with old goldplate. On top of flaking, their is oxidation. I gave up.

[Nazgul]

Here's another picture, it's not as bad as it looked in the first pic. I rubbed the saddles with a soft rag:

[toejam]

Stop rubbing the saddles, as that's part of the problem, too. I know people say it's good to wipe down your guitar after playing, but just do the neck and strings, leave the gold hardware alone or just try to be more gentle with it.