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