MIM Fender Standard Stratocaster Overhaul

Life is full of surprises indeed. I'd worked on this black Made-in-Mexico Strat way back in 2010, and seeing it again was kind of bittersweet --- it was good to meet an old friend; but painful to see how years of abuse and neglect had taken their toll. The frets were still had lots of years in them but the lone string tree needed de-rusting. It was shocking to see that both strap buttons were missing. In their place were deep, over-sized holes. Makes you kind of wonder why anyone would have done that, and for what reason.

For this overhaul, the hardware, body, neck and fretboard were cleaned with naphtha and given a good polish. Besides this, all the rusty screws and springs, no-longer-adjustable string saddles; and worn-out electronics were replaced. The gaping strap button holes were filled with wood dowels, re-drilled; and new strap buttons fitted. The final phase was re-stringing and setup. I sincerely hope that this guitar will be well cared for from this moment on.