Painting Stainless Steel Saddles Black?

[UMT]

I saw a set of stainless steel saddles that I like and I emailed the vendor to see if they were available in black. He replied that since stainless steel cannot be electroplated, that black wasn't available.

What about I lightly sand them, scuff them up and paint them? Any suggestions on how to do this, type of paint, etc.?

Help a brother out! Ha.

UMT

[Eagle1]

"No" don't do it ,it doesn't stay on .

[UMT]

I sent a email to Fender regarding the material used for the bridge and saddles on my Tele HH and a reply tells me it is NOT 'pot metal' but a ZINC ALLOY...

I'm looking at anything that will make this guitar even better than what it is and one of the things I like about it is the amount of sustain. Am I splitting hairs thinking that going to a stainless steel saddle set is going to be a noticeable improvement? Any metal experts out there.

Thanks,
UMT

[Eagle1]

Zinc alloy is pot metal and yes steel would be a big improvement.

[UMT]

Zinc alloy is pot metal and yes steel would be a big improvement.

See, shows ya what I know about metal!

Ok, Eagle. If I'm going to replace the saddles, should I replace the bridge plate itself at the same time? I'm going to assume that if the saddles are made of Pot Metal/Zinc Alloy that the bridge plate is too?

Thanks,
UMT

[Eagle1]

Post a pic and I'll tell you ,I think it will be steel though.

[Structo]

How about powder coating them black?

[UMT]

Post a pic and I'll tell you ,I think it will be steel though.

Ahhh, no can do. I'm not much for photography and don't have an online picture storage thing set up...

SO....... Would it make much of a difference if the bridge plate was pot metal or steel?

Thanks,
UMT

[Eagle1]

Ahhh, no can do. I'm not much for photography and don't have an online picture storage thing set up...

SO....... Would it make much of a difference if the bridge plate was pot metal or steel?

Thanks,
UMT
Yes pot metal sound like SH%$.
Find a pic on the web of your bridge and link it.

[UMT]

Eagle,

It's a Special Edition Tele HH... Made in Korea. It's been a very special axe for me and is very well crafted and put together. The weakest part of the whole guitar was the electronics, which I immediately redid. Swapped out the Seymour Duncans for a Rio Texas BBQ Set and made some other mods. Here's a link from Fender. Mine is Crimson Red but has the same 'black chrome' hardware. Funny, I was looking at different bridges yesterday and the one that is on there is a spitting image of a Gotoh non-tremelo string thru bridge. Same with the tuners.

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0262000520

At this point, I think I'm just going to swap it out but would appreciate your opinion. How can you tell by looking at a picture what kind of metal it is?

Thanks,
UMT

[Eagle1]

It is a copy of this.
http://www.sounds-planet.com/gotoh_catalog/gotoh-e/htmlfile/guitarbridges&tailpieces.html
The bridge you have is an fact steel with powder cast steel saddles quit good really.
Fit the Gotoh if you like but the difference will only be marginal.

[UMT]

Hey, Thanks, Eagle! Appreciate your interest and your help.

UMT

[MaxBoogie]

It you're looking for black saddles, why not just go with Graph Tech saddles? I run them on my G&L & love 'em!
http://www.graphtech.com/products.html?CategoryID=3