Rusty pickups.

[Marshall Growl]

In another thread I mentioned a guitar I just bought back from someone. This guitar was mistreated and often not left in a case and apparently in a room with open window here in Hawaii. The Pickup's pots have alot of rust on em. First of all does this harm the pup? Second, what's a good way to get that shit off? thanks.

[Riscchip]

IThe Pickup's pots have alot of rust on em. First of all does this harm the pup? Second, what's a good way to get that shit off? thanks.

The pots have rust on them? Do you mean the pickup poles? If the pots are rusty, I'd assess whether they work and sound okay and then leave them alone or replace them. They're not part of the pickups and won't hurt them, and I've played plenty of guitars with ancient worn-out pots that still sound and work fine.

If you are referring to the pickup poles being rusty...that's a comman problem. Any old or vintage guitar pickup is going to have a certain amount of rust on it, and nobody complains about how those sound, so I would leave them alone.

I have cleaned rust from the poles on some newer pickups, and I can't guarantee my method is the best / won't damage the pickup (keep that in mind), but I'll share. I typically remove the pickup from the guiatar and tape it off around the poles to keep grit out of it. Then, I get one of those green scouring pads for the kitchen and moisten slightly with lighter fluid. I have no idea if lighter fluid (naphtha or however you spell it) is good on rust...all I'm worried about is that it evaporates quickly and doesn't leave moisture on the pickup. I then scrub like crazy. Anything that doesn't take off, I leave alone.

I've read others use fine grit sandpaper. That may well work fine--I've never done it because I don't want to dig into the magnet material. Avoid steel wool which will generate debris that sticks tot he poles and is very difficult to get rid of.

Hope this helps.

[Marshall Growl]

Yep, that's what I meant, the poles. My local guitar guru told me not to worry but if I decide to clean it off I'll try your method. But it bummed me out because I sold this guitar to my friend and bought it back. It's been 2 years and it looks like he left it out of the case for 2 years and we live in Hawaii. So the pickup had no rust at all when I sold it to him and now every pole has rust on it. It's kinda thick on some of them. Thanks man.