MIMF

I'm not hip to the do's and don'ts of electric guitar repair so, quick question.
I have a repair customer with a nice 1998 Fender Strat, and the screws on the MOTS pickguard and pups are really rusty.
My first instinct is to replace them, but then I though ... maybe that is forbidden.
Is it??

Thanks

My take is that if it is a working instrument, it needs to be kept reasonably serviceable and rusty screws don't help with that.

I do work for a guy and tease him about being Acid Man because his sweat can strip the lacquer off of a neck in one gig. Six months of gigging and anything that is not Stainless steel, is corroded beyond use. I have replaced as much of the fasteners as possible with Stainless steel. At the other end, I have a guy I do work for on occasion that complained of poor playability up the neck of his 90's Strat which I discovered to be caused from the end of the finger board going slightly uphill, it needed the frets leveled. He is a player but also a collector and declined the work because he felt the instrument would no longer be completely original.

Ultimately, it's up to your customer. One cannot predict the future of collect-ability, so you have to choose. Is she a case queen, or do I play and maintain it. I personally would have no compunction about going with a Stainless Steel screw swap out and never looking back.

Just ask the owner and then put the old screws in a baggy in the case. I've gradually gotten used to rusty screws so that it doesn't bother me much now. I always replace the screws with stainless ones.

thanks guys - let's see if the customer has a preference...

glad i asked!

Hard to imagine that anyone would have an emotional attachment to rusty screws.

yea, that was certainly my thought - but i thought i'd ask.
ss screws are on their way here now.

They are SCREWS. Replace them, put the old ones in a envelope stick it in the case or in the trash. Now if they are 150 year old handmade screws that would be a different story.

ok ok i get it!!
jeez.
heck, i don't know what people are going to think has some mystical mojo. paul's customer wouldn't even let him dress the frets!

Put the old screws up on Ebay and some nut will come along and pay $75 for them...

David King wrote:Put the old screws up on Ebay and some nut will come along and pay $75 for them...

Psh, well, of course, that all depends on the alloy.

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