I bought it new. With heat and sweat and Tiki hut gigs on the gulf coast of FLA it's doing better than some. That new style Poly paint is pretty tuff. I change strings - wipe the neck and that cover - and make sure there's no gunk building up on the frets or fretboard but rarely clean the white painted body unless there's sweat marks. The other option would be to remove it but the bridge itself is kinda weird looking underneath that cover. Here's a pic dated March 28, 2019 just before I changed the pickups to passive. The real problem was the switching jack was intermittently cutting out so I just swapped the whole pickguard with new everything when I changed the jack.
My understanding about chrome plating is that it only sticks properly to brass or nickel - it will stick to steel but over time it will flake off. Remember how old cars had chrome flaking off their bumpers?
I'm guessing that dry climate you live in is good for some things and not for others. We live in a salty sauna.
Bob, we've been through this with you before. Chrome will plate very well to steel. Music Man, and most other electric guitar makers, have been chrome plating steel for many decades. There is no problem with chrome on steel. I do not know why your guitar is the way it is but in all the years I have been on the forum, and my decades as a musician and guitar tech, I can quite categorically assure you and anyone reading this thread, that issues like yours are extremely rare.
