Gold plating

A very thin electroplated layer of gold, used to dress hardware and to protect electrical contacts from corrosion.

Gold plating is applied for two unrelated reasons: appearance and corrosion resistance. As a finish it gives tuners, bridge parts, pickup covers and control plates a yellow lustre that reads as luxury, and as an electrical treatment it stops jack sockets, switch contacts and plug barrels from oxidising and losing signal. Premium pickup covers are also plated where a maker wants a specific look. The layer is extremely thin and the metal is soft, so it wears through on anything that is touched repeatedly, which means gold hardware slowly dulls and scratches while its owner tries to keep it clean.

Example: A gold-plated output jack keeps its conductivity for years where a bare contact would tarnish, while the same treatment on tuners is purely for looks.

typical use: Hardware plating, and corrosion-resistant coatings on electrical contacts.

Gold plating

See also