Most of the fluxes I use are either water soluble (bloody hot water) or will weaken with caustic solutions, so there's no real need to pickle. Prep before soldering would be something like a fine wet and dry, wash up and then acetone to degrease. You shouldn't need to pickle.
Just be super sparing and careful with acid flux if you use that. Bakers fluid is loaded with zinc, so it should be pretty gentle on the brass if you go easy.

