Repairing Dirty Pickup Surface

[Tinu_CH]

Hi folks!

I recently bought an Ibanez Universe off Ebay - It was in a good overall condition, but... the pickups look HORRIBLE! They're scratched really bad and the magnetic poles (sry i don't know what they're called in english) are rusted

Now my question - How do you think I can repair or refinish or call it whatever you want the caps and poles?? What about just spraying them? Or will this interfere with the performance of the PU'`s?

I heard you can screw out the poles with a regular allen wrench - can I totally unscrew them from the pickup? Or will I destroy the pickup like that?

well thanx 3 answers and sorry for my bad english

Greez Tinu

[Hughes]

when i bought this old bc rich that had rusty pickups, i took some sand paper to it, cleaned it right up....i also hear the back of tin foil takes rust off?

[Tinu_CH]

And what grit sandpaper did you use? 1000 wet?

mfg >Tinu

Edited May 28, 2006 by Tinu_CH

[rokeros]

Some people suggest to use coke and dab a little bit on the magnet pole pieces. Apparently, the acid from coke is meant to eat or decompose the rust in some way...

[Southpa]

For those parts that can be unscrewed and raised off the plastic surface I use my little "Minimite" cordless dremel with a tiny wire wheel attachment. For the pickup pole pieces (I call them "buttons"), I use 320 to 400 grit sandpaper. Be careful so you don't scratch the surrounding plastic.

[GuitarGuy]

A little autosol and a buffing wheel will make it look better. Won't be too harsh on the plastic either.

[Racer X]

You can also finesse the plastic back to a nice finish, with a little light sandpaper, and some plastic polish.

[rokeros]

Or you can leave them as it is. Might not bring out 100% of the ideal output volume, but I think its fine as it is.

[GodBlessTexas]

For those parts that can be unscrewed and raised off the plastic surface I use my little "Minimite" cordless dremel with a tiny wire wheel attachment. For the pickup pole pieces (I call them "buttons"), I use 320 to 400 grit sandpaper. Be careful so you don't scratch the surrounding plastic.

I use my dremel tool with a polishing wheel and Flitz on the pole pieces because it's gentle and has a rust inhibitor. For the plastic covers, a little plastic polish by hand works well.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...