Nickel Silver Fret Corrosion/Tarnish/Pitting Question

[jonfields45]

I recently bought a used (RainSong) guitar with a polyurethane finish and a synthetic (maybe epoxy cut with silica???) fingerboard. It's in overall great shape but I noticed what I initially thought was a ding or strike mark on a fret. That mark is between the low E and A strings on the extension of the fretboard over the body and not on the absolute crown of the fret (how does that happen leaving the fretboard perfect???). But now I'm pretty sure the frets are overall slightly tarnished and in a few (very small) places maybe even surface corroded (it won't come off with a fingernail) and in one spot slightly pitted (where I thought it had been hit). The minor corrosion and pitting are near each other on the fretboard extension.

It plays fine and I have no intention of doing anything about this, but I was curious what might have splattered onto the guitar (mostly on the fretboard extension over the body) that could corrode nickel silver frets but not attack the synthetic fingerboard or poly finish on the body.

[JCave]

Nickle silver is tough stuff, yet it could tarnish and even pit if exposed to corrosive environments. Remember, it's bare material, no sealer of any type has been applied. Those frets can be polished but any pitting will remain.



Jerry

[Earl49]

Perhaps something splattered on the guitar and tarnished the frets in spots - something like sweat or beer? A poly finish is really tough and most things won't harm it. A synthetic finger board - cast epoxy in the case of a Rainsong IIRC - would likely be very inert too.

Left unplayed, standard nickle-silver frets can tarnish, especially in a damp climate. On occasion I have pulled out an long sitting guitar and found the frets to be a bit dingy. A once-over with some green or white (finer "grit") Scotchbrite does the trick and brightens them right up. I typically clean and lightly oil my wooden fret boards about once every 18 months or so, and Scotchbrite the frets at that time.

[jonfields45]

Well I broke down and brought the H-DR1100N2 over to Brothers Music in Wind Gap PA. For $25 they removed the pickguard, polished the frets, and cleaned the fretboard. It looks like a factory new guitar. Now I've got to get over its new found perfection and play it... They thought the fret damage was a minor impact pushing the strings into the frets.

They do a lot of conversions of older Brazilian Rosewood guitars and have a stack of original guitar tops under a table. It is something to be seen. They are by far my favorite guitar repair, restore, upgrade, and create people.