Ever relic'd gold hardware?

[kidsmoke]

Planning to replace the tuners on an old guitar with tarnished gold hardware, and would like to make the new tuners match, somewhat.

Anybody know a trick to dull or "relic" the finish?

 

[Retro Hound]

My dad is an antique dealer and he frequently does this with brass hardware on dressers and such. The chemical gives it a black sheen which he then rubs off (with a fine steel wool I think) and it leaves the black in crevices and such that hands would not normally be rubbing shiny. However, I don't know how that would work on gold, and I'm quite sure you wouldn't want to get the stuff in the gears of the tuners. I have no idea if this post was worth your time or not. Good luck. Just search for 'antiquing brass" on the web.