Discolored bridge on electric

[Monsum]

I had kept my PRS SE guitar for over a year in a hard case and when I opened the case, the bridge (and tuners to some degree) looked like on the picture.
What happened?

Can it be easily brought back to its shiny original state? And how to do that?

[Bob Womack]

That is either oxidation or etching. if this is a nickel-plated bridge, there's a good chance it is oxidation due to interaction with your body chemistry. I've got this on a guitar. What have been recommended to me are three products to restore the lustre:

SEMICHROME POLISH
WENOL POLISH
CAPE COD METAL POLISHING CLOTH

Note that I haven't used any of these but they were recommended.

If this was chrome, it has been etched and the chrome eaten off by your sweat acidity. My nickel-plated guitar has oxidized over seventeen years but the chrome on a guitar from the same guitar maker is forty-eight years old with no oxidization or etching. If it is chrome, your options are probably re-plating or replacement.

All the best,

Bob

[Monsum]

Thanks Bob for the reply.

It's all nickel. I don't think sweat caused this because as I said it happened when the guitar was not used for about a year.
I was moving house and this guitar was stored in temporary place so I can't guarantee that the right conditions were kept (temperature and humidity wise).

The other thing worth to mention is that the hard case the guitar was in for that year was old so possible there was something in there causing the chemical reaction.

[PineMarten]

I've had perished foam in old cases offgas something that smelled much like vinegar, and acid fumes of various kinds are one of the methods people use intentionally to faux-age nickel parts. Gentle polishing with a good metal polish should even out the worst of it, but you probably won't ever get it back to the brightness of new plating - it'll be a softer sheen.

[Monsum]

Originally Posted by PineMarten

I've had perished foam in old cases offgas something that smelled much like vinegar, and acid fumes of various kinds are one of the methods people use intentionally to faux-age nickel parts. Gentle polishing with a good metal polish should even out the worst of it, but you probably won't ever get it back to the brightness of new plating - it'll be a softer sheen.

Thanks PineMarten. I'll try some metal polish.