Polishing a Brass Nut

[Donnyboy]

The brass nut on my old Aria SB 600 is tarnished/ discoloured. I'd like to have it nice & shiny .

Any handy suggestions?

[T-Bay]

Autosol and a clean rag, use a small amount and take your time.

[dyerseve]

Fine steel wool will also do a good job. 00 or finer grade.

[paul_5]

Edited August 2, 2017 by paul_5

[TheGreek]

I've never known anybody to use it all up....

[Donnyboy]

Ah Brasso. .. I'm sure my Mum will have some.

[Geek99]

i used brasso on my warwick's frets (they'd not been touched in the last ten years according to the previous owner) and they came up beautifully in moments.

[Pete1967]

+1 on Brasso, but remove the nut or mask the fretboard and headstock off

[Geek99]

yes, I used a metal fret mask to stop the chemicals getting into the wood. You can also use masking tape.

[dyerseve]

this is why I use steel wool when cleaning frets, no need to mask the fretboard off as it cleans the fretboard as well - you do need to mask the pups off though.

[rmorris]

Not sure that Brasso or similar is really a problem for a non varnished fretboard as long as you buff it off properly ?
Esp if you use the wadding rather than the liquid.
Just looked it up on Wikipedia and worth noting that the US version is different to what we get here in UK and Australia is a bit different too.
Also 'Silvo' is a bit less abrasive than Brasso so could use that.

[Donnyboy]

[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1502096494' post='3349217']
Not sure that Brasso or similar is really a problem for a non varnished fretboard as long as you buff it off properly ?
Esp if you use the wadding rather than the liquid.
Just looked it up on Wikipedia and worth noting that the US version is different to what we get here in UK and Australia is a bit different too.
Also 'Silvo' is a bit less abrasive than Brasso so could use that.
[/quote]

Thanks for that - I think I'll try the Silvo wadding - I spotted some in my mum's cupboard - it's probably been there since the 70's!

[Happy Jack]

Just don't go to the pub afterwards and start talking loudly about polishing your brass nut.

[40hz]

I used brasso on the frets and nut on my 91 Streamer Stage One and it worked a treat. Small dabs onto a microfibre cloth and then rubbing the frets, got them looking brand new again. I used masking tape on the fretboard to protect the wood and it worked perfectly.

Edited August 19, 2017 by 40hz

[Donnyboy]

Thanks for the replies folks - here's the polished nut Silvo style. It's a bit of a moody photo but I didn't use the flash