Grateful Dead Music Forum

HI all,

Wondering what the best way to care for the brass hardware on my Eastwood Wolf is? Just wanting to preserve it over time. Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Zach

I'm afraid I can't help you in your efforts to delay or reverse the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics as I've never tried to do so with my Wolf or my Tiger but I could possibly help you free your mind instead. Which is to say, there's nothing intrinsically "wrong" with normal tarnishing. For me, it's natural and has its own appeal.

For polishing the brass I use Flitz polish, as recommended by Alembic. Then, once it is shiny, I use my fingers to rub on a little Alberto VO5. Then gently wipe off any excess with a clean cloth. It’s an old fashioned hair conditioner my mom used to use and an old trick for keeping brass shiny longer. Works great on the brass on my Alembic custom Further and my other guitars with brass fittings.

But, as Jon suggests above, there is nothing wrong with letting it develop a natural patina. I have a couple of 1970s Alembic guitars on which I leave the brass tarnished. And I’ve been building an Alligator replica on which I soaked the brass parts in vinegar and salt to get them tarnished.

Bill, tgo

OUCH!!!!

I’ve actually brought some similar bridges back to life. A lot of work and probably not worth it other than for the satisfaction. I’d start with a three day bath in Tri-Flow lubricant.

Bill, tgo

"Patinaaaaaaa, scrape it off baby!"

The irony is that people elsewhere are paying significant premiums for new relic'ed guitars with artificially aged hardware. Yet when we age our hardware ourselves the natural, hard-earned way, then people want to make it look like new.

TI4-1009 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 7:47 am

(P.S.- This is Tiger's original bridge)