Brass

[daveq]

Any idea if either (or both) red / yellow brass will tarnish with time. Both contain 65 to 70% copper (yellow having more copper) and the rest is zinc. I don't know if the combination somehow prevents tarnishing or not? I'm planning on doing an inlay that requires that color so if it does tarnish, I'll look for alternate materials.

[Curtis P]

i havent heard of red brass, but the golden colour brass, i believe iff you polish it up first, and then put a clear coat on it, it may not tarnish, but dont quote me on that

Good luck

Curtis

[www]

I've tried to clearcoat different brasses and they all tarnish eventually.

And, Curtis there are a lot of different color brasses depending on the alloy mix.

[daveq]

Thank you for the replies.

I have been reading about this and have found that it is considered "normal" for modern brass objects to be lacquered to prevent tarnish. The key to actually having the lacquer work reliably is the surface preparation and the application. It doesn't look easy to do but I'm still looking for ways to handle it. There's also something called everbrite that supposedly does a good job but I don't know how feasible it would be for my application - still learning.

I'll let you know what I find.

[JohnnyG]

i would have thought that just so long as you polished it regularlly then it would stay shiny and not tarnish. depends slightlly on where on the guitar it is tho

[daveq]

It's inlay for the neck. I guess it's always an option to just deal with it as it begins to tarnish but I was loking for a way to deal with it long term.