What should brushes look like?

[joeRS4MT]

What should brushes look like after a run? Should they be shiny? I have a 2 month old 13x2 speedgems motor, and the brushes have always come out looking dirty, scratchy, and black. I clean and oil the motor frequently. I have another old, misused and abused motor (Duratrax, on-road don't know the turns but I know it's a triple) this motor is way faster than the speedgems, and the brushes come out looking shiny, their is very little comm wear, (The speedgems is showing a lot of wear). I'm using the same gearing for both motors, but I think I could be gearing the speedgems higher (lot of torque, little speed).
Is their anything wrong with this motor? or does this sound normal?
Thanks,
-joe

[XXXER]

with a 13x2 you should be rebuilding OFTEN! I am guessing every 6 runs would be good, your motor could very well be toast i am sorry to say, and when you rebuild(often, your LHS does it) you should replace the brushes wiht "stand up" type brushes. the brushes can get dirty, use buggy blast to clean out the ARMERATURE, not the brushes, motor spray dries them out, clean brushes with a q-tip