Floyd Rose Special tarnishing?

[MartinBarre]

I have one of the black Floyd Rose Specials on my DST-3 and, although it's not been played that much and I really don't have corrosive sweat, the colour is beginning to tarnish in the place where my palm rests when picking.
I'm thinking of changing the chrome parts on my SL3 for gold and the FR Special is a MUCH cheaper option than an OFR or Schaller but it's not worth it if the gold wears off after a couple of years of light use!
I'd be happy to go for a gold JT580 but they don't seem to have made them.

[groverj3]

Is it a black nickel floyd special? That black nickel finish is known to wear off quickly on every kind of bridge.

[MartinBarre]

Yeah, it is nickel. I'm not sure why they use it then if it tarnishes so quickly - it doesn't even look as good as the plain black parts you normally get on Jacksons (I just got an old black JT580 LP, gonna use it to replace the FR Special).

[LaoWai]

I have the back nickel FR special on my DKMG, I noticed it tarnishing after a few weeks of playing. I gave it a lite coat of wax and polished her up like new. Now I give the whole guitar a quick wipe down after each session and all the metal parts a lite coat of wax at string change. Still looking like brand new after two years… she gets about 10 hours a week play time. YMMV

[MartinBarre]

Good tip, cheers!

[MartinBarre]

Just in case anyone is thinking of trying it, replacing a FR Special with a JT580LP does not work. The JT580 baseplate is a fair bit larger and won't fit in without some routing.
Fucking bastard, I really wanted to use the black JT580 I had spare, but ended up just swapping in the saddles and arm. Looks better but it annoys me that I still have the baseplate, cos it would look kick-ass all black!

[JonSick]

Well, I have two ESPs with chrome floyd roses. I've noticed that they are tarnishing like MOFOs. These are Japanese ESPs, not LTD guitars. ESP MII and a white SV-2.

I also have a black SV-2 which has a gold tremolo and it's fine.