Modding a Hot Rails to have Silver instead of Black

[ERWebster]

What kind of coating is on the rails of a Hot Rails?

For aesthetic purposes on the particular guitar I am building, the silver of bare metal would be preferable to black paint.

I asked elsewhere and was told that solvent based removal was a very bad idea, but that gently scraping with a blade might yield the results I am looking for.

Any advice?

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Modding a Hot Rails to have Silver instead of Black

They usually wear off without trying much, so scraping should work.

 

[ERWebster]

Re: Modding a Hot Rails to have Silver instead of Black

Cool, thanks.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Modding a Hot Rails to have Silver instead of Black

Just a warning, the rails will rust over time. You might want to put a protective Rustoleum clear coat on it.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Modding a Hot Rails to have Silver instead of Black

The rails eventually do wear, so who knows, you might be able to scrape it off. Kinda like half of the Vintage Rails. I still would put some kind of coating on it in case it rusts.

 

[akio]

Re: Modding a Hot Rails to have Silver instead of Black

I've taken the black coating off with a dremel, buff wheel, and some Autosol chrome polish. Just make sure to tape off the rest of the pickup real good; top, sides and bottom.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Modding a Hot Rails to have Silver instead of Black

I think it wears off (and hence can be scraped/sanded off) since I hadnt even realized the old hotrails in my fraken strat/tele partscaster WERE, in fact, painted black... judging by the sides of the rails that still retain some paint