It’s oxidation on the pickups. This will not short anything. This person has no clue what they are talking about.

A guitar pickup, wires and magnets, don’t suddenly start shocking people and shorting amps with “rust” or oxidation.

Hahahahaha this isn’t an antique guitar. Those aren’t even active pickups.

You are clueless about guitar electronics and how magnetic pickups work and are made.

This is an Epiphone Les Paul Pro in alpine white. Judging off the tuners and truss rod cover this guitar is from around the early 2000’s. This doesn’t have “years” behind it.

Back to the oxidation on the gold pickup covers. That is super common with any style of gold pickup covers. Oxidation doesn’t cause any issues with sound from a pickup.

It is okay to be wrong even with experience because you are misinformed about the basics of guitar electronics and how they function.

This guitar won’t short anything out. A guitar with passive or active pickups for that matter will never short out an amplifier or pedals. If there is a short in the guitar’s wiring, no sound will be produced. It won’t cause any damage to whatever device it is plugged into.

I would suggest learning about how guitar pickups and wiring work before helping anyone else out with their rigs.

You said a guitar could electrocute someone or blow an amp. I corrected you. The whole thread I have said a guitar cannot shock you or destroy an amp.

So far I’ve only been proven right. A guitar cannot shock you without an outside source that is already faulty and or not grounded correctly. No outside source, no shocking no damage.

No examples of amps being blown have been brought up from scratchy pots or switches. Speakers were mentioned but it also required amp volume at 100% for the speaker to break. Which any manufacturer will tell you is within normal operation.

If you are feeling bothered, you can choose to not reply to me. That is an option! From this exchange I did learn one thing. You probably have bad toan.

That isn’t a brag. I’ve joined the 240 club once.

The guitar also has closed back pickups. So say OP takes them out, how will they see the coils? You have no clue what you are talking about.

I’m glad you admitted to being wrong about the guitar shocking someone or shorting out an amp.

A crackle isn’t going to short out an amplifier or blow a speaker either. This again speaks to your fundamental lack of understanding around guitar electronics or amplifiers.

The guitar itself can’t be from older than 2006. The sticks on the guitar are both from bands who started around 06/07. This production for this model stopped in 2012. If you think things that are 12-17 years old have “some years on them” maybe avoid school zones.

Can I buy you and boba a beer?

"I don't fuck around!" hahahahahaha I know you don't. I love that you keep dropping your credentials to "backup" your wrong claims. How many years have you been doing guitar center repairs?

StOp BoThErInG mE!!!

Hahahahaha! So it isn't the instrument shocking the damaging the equipment. It is the equipment being setup or used incorrectly.

So the story is nice but you are talking about speakers and this has been about how @Over_clox wrongly stated that plugging that guitar into an amp would blow the amp or shock the player. The guitar itself can't shock anyone or destroy any equipment it is plugged into.

If a faulty amp with a bad ground causes a shock through the guitar, it is from the amp and passed through the guitar. So the cause of the problem and the shock is the amp. Not the guitar.

If an amp is dialed to 10 and you plug in a guitar and play a chord and blow the speakers, did the chord you play come through so loud that it blew the speakers? Nope! The amp is driving the speakers past what they can handle. Again not the guitars fault. Same could be said about scratchy pots, switches, etc.

But let's bring this back to the thread, OP was given an Epiphone Les Paul Pro. Someone assumed it was wet and had corrosion. The oxidation on the pickups and parts are normal for gold hardware from Epiphone. Having a 5w practice amp to test would be more than enough. Cause again, the guitar isn't shocking anyone or destroying any amps!

Can amps shock you or break speakers? Yes. But in in your speaker example you didn't get shocked. The amp didn't even break. The speakers did and it was due to human error. Those crackles didn't damage anything until it was at full volume.