That creeping green crusty stuff on my gold Johnny Smith pickup...

[MichYank]

Greetings. Hopefully someone can help me remove the dreaded green creeping crusty stuff that has recently appeared on my 78(ish) Johnny Smith pick up assembly!

Where I live, humidity is fairly consistent below 20% so I open the case weekly to add humidity via a wet sponge, and release off-gassing accumulated in the case. Now I have this scourge!

Any good ways to clean it off without damaging the pick up cover?

Thank you all!

[ICTGoober]

Unless you live where the relative humidity is less than 10% you are humidifying your guitar too often.

[GuitarStv]

I've never found a need to humidify electric guitars. We get humidity around here that dips below 20% during the winter, and goes up to 70/80% during the summer. Acoustics - yes, they can be picky about humidity, but electrics are pretty tolerant.

[ICTGoober]

Oh, and that green stuff? Not coming off unless you remove the plating from the pickup. Live with it - sorry.

And GuitarStv? A Johnny Smith IS an acoustic guitar - an archtop.