Freshening up an older but not vintage guitar

Jack_

Where do people stand on this? 

Say you've got a Fender Strat from the 90s, it's almost 30 years old now, so lots of the hardware is tarnished/rusty, screws on the pickguard, saddle grub screws etc - it's nowhere near being vintage (in the sense of value).

Do you replace the little bits that you can? New screws etc, or do you keep it all original from the ground up until the day it dies?

stonevibe

Update and keep old parts.

Garthy

Jesus, just chuck it all in an ultrasonic bath.

bluechargeboy

Replace any bits that don't work properly but leave the rest, is the approach I have taken. Don't think it matters either way, but I suspect shiny screws have no mojo.

WezV

Same approach as if it’s vintage.   Fix it if you can, replace it if you can’t.

Patina and wear is not a fault to me... but if it’s full on rust then it’s getting there

ICBM

As bluechargeboy and Wez said.

I would clean it thoroughly - if necessary removing screws to get the rust off them - leave any parts that are still functional and replace any that aren’t.

If the bridge saddle height screws are too rusted to turn but are set correctly anyway, leave them in place.

I usually don’t keep original parts that have been removed because by that definition they’re knackered. I might if it’s pots from a vintage guitar that have date codes, but that’s about all.