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Technically zinc will plate directly on electro-cleaned brass, but in some environments a secondary atmospheric reaction may cause a dark brown/blackening of the finish in a few months.
The best result will be a cyanide copper strike on the brass (acid copper will not bond to most brass alloys) followed by a low current density acid nickel without brighteners. Again electro-clean and it should then plate well with zinc not suffering any secondary alloying interaction with the underlying copper. As to the final zinc being bright (shiny) like modern hardware or dull will depend on the additives to the zinc bath.