Cleaning rusty saddle screws

[tomssy]

The saddle screws on my Strat bridge is pretty rusty. Do you think it'd be okay to just spray some WD-40 and try to get rid of the rust? Will it do any harm to the bridge or the steel block?

 

[Cagey]

WD 40 won't hurt anything there, but it's not going to help anything, either. Plus, you want to keep that stuff far away from your finish. That it may not be kind to. If nothing else, it'll leave a nasty residue.

If it was me, I'd be pulling those screws out and replacing them, as they're very inexpensive. There's nothing unusual about them, so there's no point in investing any labor in them at all.

Just pull one and take it to the local hardware or fastener supplier, have them identify the thread, and get a handful. I'll be surprised if a box of 50 costs much more than a few bucks.

 

[tomssy]

Thanks. I'll see if I can find some replacement screws for this.

 

[anorakDan]

While you're replacing the screws, why not pay a little bit more and get stainless steel screws and this won't happen again! Any parts that you can't directly replace from the hardware store you can clean with CLR. Which is a product you should be able to find while you're at the hardware store.

 

[Alfang]

you know some people would pay good money for that rusty crap

 

[stubhead]

We should all go buy some $5000 custom shop Fenders and bury them in the yard for a decade, because surely the bottom will never, ever drop out of the "relic" insanity....

 

[Alfang]

LOL stub, your probably right, but I sure wish it would bottom out soon.