Cleaning rust from pole pieces

[blazer3]

I was given a precision copy yesterday and was wondering if theres anyway of getting rust off the pole pieces without using wire wool, the electrics on it are none to clever and when i plugged it in there was an almighty buzzing which after taking off the plate was down to 2 wires not being connected, so the pickups seem to work ok.
cheers
mick

[henry norton]

Seymour Duncan charge allot of money to put 'authentic' dust, rust and general crud on their vintage pickups, why do you want to devalue your bass???

[Bassassin]

I use a Dremel-type tool with a wire wheel attachment. It's the dog's for cleaning surface rust off any component & works a treat on pickups.

If the poles are the allen-screw type, take them out to clean them.

Jon.

[Delberthot]

I was thinking the same but using one of those metal brushes that look like a big tooth brush.

You're right not to use steel wool - that stuff goes everywhere.

[simon1964]

A tip I saw, I think on the Musicman website - once you've got the pole pieces clean, paint them in clear nail varnish. Apparently it will prevent any gunk coming back, and has no effect on the sound/performance of the pickup.

[blazer3]

Some sound advice there guys.cheers for that.
I"m gonna replace the pots as there in a terrible state, was thinking of getting one of the p bass kits from axesrus, anyone bought one of these kits, they seem decent quality, certainly coudnt be any worse than whats in now.

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='simon1964' post='594714' date='Sep 10 2009, 01:22 PM']A tip I saw, I think on the Musicman website - once you've got the pole pieces clean, paint them in clear nail varnish. Apparently it will prevent any gunk coming back, and has no effect on the sound/performance of the pickup.[/quote]
I did this on my Ibanez SRX700. Works a treat. Oddly, the AlNiCo poles on my Ray5 have never tarnished. Nor those on an SD basslines MM unit in my Zoot... must be non-ferrous alloys (?)

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='597535' date='Sep 13 2009, 05:54 PM']I did this on my Ibanez SRX700. Works a treat. Oddly, the AlNiCo poles on my Ray5 have never tarnished. Nor those on an SD basslines MM unit in my Zoot... must be non-ferrous alloys (?)[/quote]

Sort of, its [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnico"]AlNiCo[/url].

Edited September 13, 2009 by Mr. Foxen

[henry norton]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='597565' date='Sep 13 2009, 07:36 PM']Sort of, its [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnico"]AlNiCo[/url].[/quote]

Alnico magnets usually have an iron content in them too - maybe 'cheap' alnicos (or cheap magnets in general), have more iron content and less of the more expensive metals, meaning they're more likely to rust.

More on topic, I found using felt buds dipped in metal polish on my Dremel worked a treat on rust and didn't wreck any nearby plastic either.... Never tried the axesrus kits before. You could buy all the components you need elsewhere for a few quid less but what with the free postage and lack of hassle it looks like money well spent.

[waynepunkdude]

on a good night my missus cleans my rusty pole piece.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='597741' date='Sep 13 2009, 09:44 PM']on a good night my missus cleans my rusty pole piece.[/quote]

Rusty trombone?

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='597762' date='Sep 13 2009, 10:03 PM']Rusty trombone?[/quote]


Still working on that, one day maybe. < most appropriate smily ever.