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Topic: Brass, Aluminum or Steel Hardware |
Gary Meixner
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 30 Jul 2011 8:31 am |
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I see that many of the builders on this forum use aluminum or brass for guitar nuts and bridges. Is steel not considered a good choice? I believe steel was used by many manufacturers in the past including Fender. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the bridge and nuts on some Stringmasters were machined from steel, case hardened and then plated.
Very best always,
Gary Meixner |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 30 Jul 2011 9:22 am
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I think one reason that you don't see more steel used is that it needs to be plated to avoid corrosion. Unless your doing the plating in larger volumes, it can be expensive for just a few pieces.
Another consideration is ease of working. Back in the day, big manufactures doing volume could afford to have sets of dies made up where they could easily punch the parts out by the hundreds.
For instance, a set of dies to punch out Stringmaster parts would cost several thousands of dollars up front before you even made the first piece.
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 30 Jul 2011 9:29 am
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| Plus, it's a lot easier to machine aluminum and brass. |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 30 Jul 2011 6:51 pm
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| I make some of the parts from stainless steel, and polish them. I've copied the bridge on the post-war Rick bakelites in brass,and had them chromed. They sound a bit different than the bridges made of bakelite, but it's an appearance thing also. Of course stainless is tougher to deal with, but it never pits or rusts etc. |
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