After reading all the stories of mystery metal screws here, I am tempted to replace everything with some quality screws from RealParts. Apart from slight price and appearance differences, is there any particular winner among stainless, nickel plated, or chrome plated?
To save on postage I could get some nice electronics upgrades at the same time.
Mantra: No more pedals, must finish BlueyCaster...
Disclaimer: I haven't done woodwork since high school, and wasn't really paying attention at the time ...
It's more about matching the finish of the tuners than anything else. I tend to buy nickel plated hardware if available, rather than chrome, which I generally find too bright for my tastes. Whereas nickel isn't quite so bright and shiny and ages well.
Chrome and nickel (plated) are options if you want to match hardware that’s on the guitar. If you won’t see the screws or don’t care about appearance, stainless has no chance of a plating wearing off from screwdriver contact (most durable). Chrome is best for corrosion protection, but often nickel is used in bridges and pickup covers for tone, so there’s hardware to match everything.
You know I haven’t built a kit yet - I generally try not to give advice where I don’t have experience. But my background is in aerospace and marine engineering and I do have plenty of experience designing hardware and components from nickel, steel, and corrosion resistant alloys.
I agree with Simon I think nickel looks the best. IDK if my OCD would let me use nickel screws through chrome tuning machines. Hopefully you don’t have the same problem
Thanks Simon and Joe. I am already at risk of hijacking this thread so why stop now? I have the Gotoh tuner upgrade so have hopefully decent tuner screws (which is good cause I posted the stock ones to FCD). I am looking to replace the pickguard, bridge, and neck screws. Might go with nickel pickguard screws, chrome bridge to match the stock chrome bridge, and nickel or stainless on the neck. Will use stock pickup hardware since I will likely upgrade to ToneRiders in the near future.
Mantra: No more pedals, must finish BlueyCaster...
Disclaimer: I haven't done woodwork since high school, and wasn't really paying attention at the time ...
Sometimes it's a case of having to use what you can get.
Mantra: No more pedals, must finish BlueyCaster...
Disclaimer: I haven't done woodwork since high school, and wasn't really paying attention at the time ...
Hey Jugglindan,
Thanks for sending the screws, very kind of you and I am very thankful. Just got them in the mail!