Severe Rust on my PRS Silver Sky Core USA Model

masonstark18

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I purchased a PRS Silver Sky Core model about a year and a half ago and I have been satisfied with its overall performance and sound of it so far. Besides the top layer of the finish wearing off very easily in a few places, it has been a spectacular instrument.

My one big problem lies with the intense rust it has been developing on the saddles so far. I live in North Carolina where we deal with somewhat intense humidity from time to time, but for the first year, it was manageable. I barely brought it outside, kept it in its case with a drying pack and it seemed to hold its own.

This past summer, just a few months ago, the rust got so bad that my strings continuously kept snapping, even my low A string. I use Ernie Ball Slinkys, which I have never had a problem with breaking whatsoever, but the rust on the saddles has gotten to the point where the strings snap with any real heavy force applied to them. Luckily, the lower saddles (Low E-G) have been affected more instead of my high E and B but they too are developing a lot of rust.

I took all the saddles off just a few months ago and soaked them in Vinegar for 24 hours, neutralized them in baking soda, and then scraped off almost all the rust that hadn't come off already with some steel wool. This got almost all of the surface rust off and seemed to do the trick. Just a few months later after leaving it in storage with a humidity pack I come back to find the rust was worse than it had developed over the entire year of my having it before then, something that almost every one of my other guitars did not suffer.

Why do these guitars' saddles rust so aggressively? Most of my other ones including a Fender Player Strat did not have anywhere near as much rust in twice the amount of time as owning it. It is happening so fast that I do not think taking off all the saddles and soaking them in vinegar or some other anti-rust solution every few months is a sustainable solution for how much I like to play it.

Is anyone else having this problem? How can I keep my Silver Sky from rusting this bad? The pickups have also started to develop a lot of brown spots but not anywhere near as dramatic as the saddles. How can I keep this from happening?
 
If I remember correctly, the Silver Sky saddles are unplated which is why they rust so easily. You could try applying a clear wax after soaking in vinegar and then letting dry (always make sure it's completely dry or it'll actually rust worse) but I'm not sure what that would do sonically.
 
Dip/soak your parts in Coca-Cola. I would have said Coke but it gets expensive that way. ;)

That will handle the rust issue. Applying WD-40 or similar (like has been said previously) will help keep the rust away. Wash hands before playing and wipe down guitar afterwards.
 
Yeah all my metal hardware corrodes very quickly regardless of hand-washing, wiping down, etc.

Those NYXL strings everyone raves about only last an hour at most before they're black.

I've finally gave up and just accepted that I'll have to replace most of the hardware on my guitars eventually. Just a few weeks ago, I replaced the saddles on my SAS I got back in March with everything in working order. Two of the saddles had both height adjustment screws freeze in place.

My cable ends will eventually rust as well. Just part of life.
 
I purchased a PRS Silver Sky Core model about a year and a half ago and I have been satisfied with its overall performance and sound of it so far. Besides the top layer of the finish wearing off very easily in a few places, it has been a spectacular instrument.

My one big problem lies with the intense rust it has been developing on the saddles so far. I live in North Carolina where we deal with somewhat intense humidity from time to time, but for the first year, it was manageable. I barely brought it outside, kept it in its case with a drying pack and it seemed to hold its own.

This past summer, just a few months ago, the rust got so bad that my strings continuously kept snapping, even my low A string. I use Ernie Ball Slinkys, which I have never had a problem with breaking whatsoever, but the rust on the saddles has gotten to the point where the strings snap with any real heavy force applied to them. Luckily, the lower saddles (Low E-G) have been affected more instead of my high E and B but they too are developing a lot of rust.

I took all the saddles off just a few months ago and soaked them in Vinegar for 24 hours, neutralized them in baking soda, and then scraped off almost all the rust that hadn't come off already with some steel wool. This got almost all of the surface rust off and seemed to do the trick. Just a few months later after leaving it in storage with a humidity pack I come back to find the rust was worse than it had developed over the entire year of my having it before then, something that almost every one of my other guitars did not suffer.

Why do these guitars' saddles rust so aggressively? Most of my other ones including a Fender Player Strat did not have anywhere near as much rust in twice the amount of time as owning it. It is happening so fast that I do not think taking off all the saddles and soaking them in vinegar or some other anti-rust solution every few months is a sustainable solution for how much I like to play it.

Is anyone else having this problem? How can I keep my Silver Sky from rusting this bad? The pickups have also started to develop a lot of brown spots but not anywhere near as dramatic as the saddles. How can I keep this from happening?

I liked you post as you've asked for help about a PRS guitar on the PRS Forum, which seems like a considered and sensible thing to do.

These aren't cheap but maybe something like these tatanium Strat saddles from StewMac will work, assuming they'll fit a SS.

StewMac Tatanium Saddles

StewMac also have an article on how to clean a dirty guitar

How-to-clean-a-guitar-that-really-needs-it

Good luck!

Edit - it does say it changes the sound and sustain as well as resisting corrosion.
 
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Yeah all my metal hardware corrodes very quickly regardless of hand-washing, wiping down, etc.

Those NYXL strings everyone raves about only last an hour at most before they're black.

I've finally gave up and just accepted that I'll have to replace most of the hardware on my guitars eventually. Just a few weeks ago, I replaced the saddles on my SAS I got back in March with everything in working order. Two of the saddles had both height adjustment screws freeze in place.

My cable ends will eventually rust as well. Just part of life.
But the COOLEST cat!!! Both he and the Cat!
 
Soaking hardware in vinegar is popular way to age (rust) fender parts. Blame your own creativity, wash your hands before playing, and clean your guitar after if you sweat excessively
to RUST parts? It removed all of the rust that built up, the problem is it came back in a few months. Are you saying it can make it come back more aggressively? I always wash my hands before playing, and I always clean my guitar afterward. It doesn't seem to help enough.
 
I won't be surprised to see a tread tomorrow titled "I have put my USA Core in a battery acid and it self dissolved".

The Internet will never cease to amaze me
How is this anything like that? I spend 2,600 on a guitar and it has parts that are rusting extremely quickly despite taking almost every single preventative measure possible. I simply want to not see this expensive instrument go to **** and vinegar got off the rust at least the first time. If that's not the best method to do so, I have no knowledge of a better one. Comments like this do not help.
 
I liked you post as you've asked for help about a PRS guitar on the PRS Forum, which seems like a considered and sensible thing to do.

These aren't cheap but maybe something like these tatanium Strat saddles from StewMac will work, assuming they'll fit a SS.

StewMac Tatanium Saddles

StewMac also have an article on how to clean a dirty guitar

How-to-clean-a-guitar-that-really-needs-it

Good luck!

Edit - it does say it changes the sound and sustain as well as resisting corrosion.
The titanium saddles definitely seem to be a possible solution, I appreciate the suggestion.
 
Yeah all my metal hardware corrodes very quickly regardless of hand-washing, wiping down, etc.

Those NYXL strings everyone raves about only last an hour at most before they're black.

I've finally gave up and just accepted that I'll have to replace most of the hardware on my guitars eventually. Just a few weeks ago, I replaced the saddles on my SAS I got back in March with everything in working order. Two of the saddles had both height adjustment screws freeze in place.

My cable ends will eventually rust as well. Just part of life.
Yeah, I've realized this is definitely going to be something I'm going to have to deal with, I just want some solution to maybe make them longer lasting and not have strings snap so fast... makes it really hard to gig with confidence.
 
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I would look into why your sweat is so acidic. It could be indicative of underlying health issues and lead to things like kidney stones.

Fun thing about that is we had blood and urine tests for life insurance and mine came back completely normal for everything.

Yeah, I've realized this is definitely going to be something I'm going to have to deal with, I just want some solution to maybe make them longer lasting and not have strings snap so fast... makes it really hard to gig with confidence.

If my strings broke early because of sharp corrosion, I'd just buff out the rough spots and move on. At least that's what I did on a tele.
 
Fun thing about that is we had blood and urine tests for life insurance and mine came back completely normal for everything.



If my strings broke early because of sharp corrosion, I'd just buff out the rough spots and move on. At least that's what I did on a tele.
Interesting. What did you use to buff out those rusted/corroded spots on the saddles? Steel wool?
I appreciate the responses.
 
Interesting. What did you use to buff out those rusted/corroded spots on the saddles? Steel wool?
I appreciate the responses.

First thing I do is get any chunks out with a screwdriver. Then I'll use a bench grinder and some metal compound on a buffing wheel. It'll take the brass Tele saddles up to mirror finish.

My strat(s) I didn't play enough for it to interfere with the point of contact on the string but they're pretty nasty and my neck plates are hazy on all those guitars.

That was back when I was playing between 8 and 20+ hours a week on stage excluding any practice. I also got in the habit of running all the hardware adjustment screws completely through the holes and threading them in from the opposite side to clean the threads every string change just to keep them from freezing in place.


Maybe you should pee or bleed on your guitars instead of sweating on them!

I'm worried that might have a negative impact on the collector value. Now if someone famous did the same, it might be a different story.
 
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