Bronze

[mumra]

Hallo to all. I would like to tell me how can I clean the bronze parts of the alembic basses

[lbpesq]

I assume you are referring to the brass parts.  Alembic sells a great product called Flitz Metal Polish that works quite well.  You can find it in the Alembic Store under accessories.  I usually do it by hand but, if the brass is excessively tarnished, I will carefully use a Dremel.  After I'm done, I rub a little Alberto's VO5 on the brass.  VO5 is actually a hair treatment, but a very thin film will help keep the brass shiny longer.
 
Bill, tgo

[briant]

Flitz metal polish

[xlrogue6]

Flitz can also be found at hardware and paint stores, here in the US anyway.

[12stringwilson]

Would this product work on the pole pieces on pickups? I am trying to clean up my early Wal and the bridge pickup poles are oxidized from sweat and playing over that pickup for years. If not, any suggestions?

[tncaveman]

The poles on pickups are not brass but some form of an iron (or nickel) alloy that is magnetic.  About the only thing I  can think of would be to very gently sand them.  I would not put chemicals on the pole pieces, because the chemical would likely attack the windings (very thin copper wire).  After they were sanded, some clear lacquer (fingernail polish) would keep them from rusting again (or as quickly).  A Q-tip w/ some Rustoleum might also work to keep them new looking.  I would probably just leave them alone.
 
Stephen
 
(Message edited by tncaveman on November 15, 2012)

[12stringwilson]

Stephen -  
 
Thanks for the input. I will leave them be. I certainly would not want to do anything to ruin the pickup as they are not easy to replace.

[count]

I had chemistry classes during high school, also; My mom (!) gave me a tip for cleaning brass, and silver:
A decent strip of aluminium foil
Citric acid (high concentration lemon juice)  
Salt and boiling water
A squirt of washing up liquid for good measure, and you save yourself alot of elbow grease!
Be sure to thoroughly rinse the parts with water afterwards though..

[mumra]

Thanks to all.I found a product and I ll try to clean them.

[5sicks]

12 String; Your pole pieces are probably alnico. Try Coca-Cola on a Q-tip. Remove any stickiness with WD40 on a Q-tip. Let it dry completely before activation maybe a gentle blow with a hair drier.

[dfung60]

12stringwilson -  
 
I would recommend strongly against trying to clean the rust off your polepieces unless you're willing to do a complete teardown of the pickup.  There's way too high a chance that any physical or chemical manipulation will damage your very delicate pickup coils, which are wound with insulated wire thinner than a hair.  Chemicals strong enough to remove rust may eat through the varnish insulation on the wires and short the pickup up.  If you sand or abrade the polepieces, you'll knock off filings which will stick the magnets, and may work their way loose into the coil where they become a very effective abrasive.
 
It may not look the best, but I would just leave the pickups as they are.  The good thing is that a thin layer of rust (or your patina if you want to look at it positively) won't affect your sound.
 
More generally, I think the risk of polishing the hardware is much lower if there's a bit of care to stay away from the pickups.  
 
David Fung