How to avoid gold plating wearing off?

Don't buy anything gold, then you won't have to be worried about it wearing off.
Gold plating is only a few molecules thick, so, there's not much there to begin with, and, it WILL wear off eventually. That's just the nature of the beast. Coating it with a clear lacquer might help, but it also could dull it some.

 

Not easy to apply to complicated shapes like the bridge but I've used clear vinyl tape to protect wear spots. Invisible on any normal solid surface.

 

Think of it as patina and enjoy playing your guitar.

 

The only avoidance that I have found is to avoid gold plating. Unfortunately some of the guitars I really liked only came with gold hardware. The other option is when and if it gets to the point that the wear or corrosion drives you batty...buy new hardware. I have done that.

 

Yes. Some folks pay a premium to have a new guitar made artificially to look like a "relic".

 

It's a real sore point with me.
Even the Proline models, marketed as premium guitars have the cheapest, rubbish gold coating I've ever seen.
I've owned Peavey (USA) models which have gold and it lasted 8 years without "wearing off".

Anyway in my experience there is nothing you can do to prevent or retard the corrosion - and gold doesn't corrode or tarnish.
In my opinion it is poor metal prep before the coating is applied.

 

Gold plating may not corrode or tarnish, but it is applied in a very thin coat and being a very soft metal, it will wear off quickly.

 

I agree, except that on my Proline G6120 the corrosion popped through from underneath in a rough form which had nothing to do with wear. And, I might add, in two months from purchase.

The gold tuning keys manufactured and coated by others had no wear after 4 years when I sold it. They were genuinely gold plated.

 

Stop playing it and bag it.

 

Hah! I did that with a few parts on my Gibson B.B. King Lucille! After a few weeks I was already seeing wear on the pickup covers, so I unsoldered and removed them. It wasn't until a few years later that someone told how risky it is to remove those covers. Oh well!

 

I haven't tried it but I expect a spray metal lacquer like Incralac would protect the gold plating from wearing off. It's used a lot on brass parts like tap fittings etc to stop them tarnishing - on the gold it would just be a physical barrier to wear. Some care would need to be taken with prep & masking etc but could be worth trying out.

 

I have not tried this and am not an expert, but this might be worth consideration and trying on a test part, maybe, before applying to an actual guitar. The product was once called Future, but now is known as Pledge floor care finish. This is a glossy clear acrylic based product. It should stick to the gold hardware and protect it pretty well. I have used it to protect decals on models as a clear overcoat, but have not tried it on gold plated hardware. Someone want to give it a try on a spare part?

https://www.amazon.com/Pledge-FloorCare-Finish-27-Ounces/dp/B077D6B4HR/

 

What?

Never heard that... I had many guitars with or without cover and never had any problem

 

I am a HUGE fan of gold hardware. I have a bunch of Gretshes with gold hardware. I put a coat of car wax over all the gold occasionally and I'm not seeing any wear. On the ones that do have wear, a bridge or the Bigsby arm are easily replaced with shiny new ones if it really bothers you.

 

I like the looks of new gold hardware, but I avoid it like the plague for this very reason. I know people say "Guitars are meant to be played"...and that's true....but I like my stuff to look nice, and it seems like there should be a better way of applying the stuff that would avoid this happening. And it's not just Gretsch....seems to be gold hardware in general...

 

That's me!

I've bought new gold plated parts and intentionally ''relic'd'' them in the typical locations intentionally to get rid of the ''new''.

I haven't liked ''new'' since I saw my first relic'd guitar 16/17 years ago.

Mind you...there is relic'd...and there is ''ruined''...there is a big difference between an accurately ''aged'' guitar, and a guitar that has ''belt sander'' rash.

BIB.

 

You don't. That's part of the reason I hate gold hardware, I've never seen it last.

 

Whatever it takes to make you happy with the guitar in your hand (always worth more than two going unplayed in the shop!).

 

It’s not the having/not having covers that’s risky, it’s the removal process itself. Depending on how the pickup is built you can do a ton of damage with very little effort.