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I recently acquired a 1984 Fender Stratocaster (USA) from my father who played it for 20+ years and sat in its case for about 6.

I’m much more familiar with acoustics than electrics and was wondering if you all could provide me with some info on cleaning it all up as the metals have corroded some And setting it up as well as pick-up adjustments.

Any info is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance y’all.


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Once I'd gone over the thing and made sure there are no glaring issues acoustically, (weird action, string buzz, all the usual suspects) I'd plug it in and check the electronics, make sure each pickup and pot is working. Its not unusual for a guitar that's been sitting for a while to get dirty electronics which result in crackles and pops when switching or rolling the knobs. If you find that you're getting those pops and crackles, then take the pickguard off and spray some contact cleaner into the pots and onto the switch and move those parts back and forth a bunch to take care of any corrosion.

After that I'll usually take the bridge assembly apart, removing every length and height adjusting screw in the saddles. I'll put all those little parts along with the saddles in a cup and spray some wd40 into it and let them sit for a bit. Then I'll clean them all up with a tooth brush and reassemble.

Once that's done proceed with set up as you would an acoustic guitar. On a strat I like about .008 - .010 relief, with about 4/64's action at the 17th fret, about .020 clearance at the nut for the low E to about .010 - .012 on the high E. For pickup height I'll start at about 1/8" on the bass side, and 1/32" on the treble side, then raise or lower slightly to adjust for evenness as it needs it.

The last thing to consider is the whammy bar. Does this guitar have a typical strat bridge? If so, some people like to have the bridge float a little bit, so the wobble goes both ways . But I prefer to have my bridge sitting down on to the top of the guitar so it only goes forward, but it is a fine balancing act that you want to get right so as to avoid any weird tuning issues.

Thank you for the numbers. The first thing I checked before taking the strings off was the relief. There was quite a bit of forward bow in the neck. I tried to straighten it out but it feels like I’m running out of truss rod room. Any suggestions on if I do?

Also, I noticed that the high E string was coming off of the bridge and running right over one of the screws of the bridge. Any fix for that? I can attach a couple pics when I get home.

It is the original whammy bridge. I checked the wobble when I got it and it only went one way (tension off) didn’t float the other way at all.

I’ll send pics in a bit.



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In the last picture here you can see where the high e string was resting on that screw. I haven’t tried screwing the screw in more...I don’t even know what it does lol


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I'd take the neck off the guitar, clamp the heel in a vice (with some protection) and then tighten and loosen the truss rod to see how much movement you get. In my experience I'd be surprised if there's anything actually wrong with the neck or rod, probably it's just stiff from disuse. Don't force things though. When setting things up I'll usually set the truss rod flat with no tension, and then see what I've got once the strings are up to pitch and adjust from there. In the case that you actually can't make the neck go straight, then you may have an issue, but it might be close enough to flat that a good fret level could get you the rest of the way there.

The two screws that the bridge is pushing up against adjust the actual height of the whole bridge. Allowing for a floating bridge if that's what you want. They'll have a little notch at the top of the post that the notch of the bridge rests in. If the bridge is seated well in those notches, and your e string is still resting on the actual post then it seems to me that the saddle on the high E is too low. Which may mean that the neck angle needs adjusting (back to that in a moment). I usually set these two screws so that when the bridge is seated firmly on the posts it is resting flat against the body, which means the bridge will not be floating.

As a side note, you've probably noticed the springs in the back of the guitar, in case its not obvious these springs are pulling against the tension of the strings, and are what make the whammy bar work. Its a balancing act. I've seen anywhere from 3 - 5 springs in the back, I have 3 in mine. I've attached a picture. You can increase or decrease tension as necessary by adding or removing springs, but also by screwing the claw further into the body. You want only as much tension as necessary to bring the bridge back into a neutral position, too little tension the bridge will tip forward causing high action and tuning issues, too much tension is less of a problem but can still cause weird tuning issues.

Back to the neck angle thing. On the neck plate there's a small hole. Inside this you should find a set screw with which you can adjust the neck angle. It's really common to have to shim bolt on necks. The set screw on these strats mitigates the use of a shim, if you find you need more angle you can just drive the screw in further which will push the butt of the neck up, increasing your angle. I'd do that by loosening the string tension, then loosening the 4 neck screws, then adjusting a little bit, put it all together again and see where you're at, a little tedious but not too bad. You know you have too shallow of an angle, when the saddle is sitting flat on the bridge (or on the bridge post in your case) but your action is still high. Conversely if your saddles are extended as high as possible but your action is still too low you probably need to back that screw off some. If the angle is good your action should be good and the saddle height screws should have a some play both ways.

Fender guitars are fun to mess around with, they can be a little overwhelming (strats especially) because of the amount of different adjustments possible, but I don't know how many times I've been setting up an acoustic guitar and just wishing the adjustment I needed to make was as simple as it is on a strat or tele.

Thanks Conor. Yea I’m having fun working on this guitar. Right now I’m just getting everything cleaned up but I can’t wait to dial it in and hear how it sounds.

This was my dads guitar. He recently passed away and left it to me.

He and I were both musicians. Him for about 55 years with a great deal of success.

Me for only about 25. This guitar means a great deal to me. It’s a little bit tough wiping away his gunk from it and finding his hair in it and such. Lol

I can’t wait to noodle on this thing. Thanks again.


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That's awesome Jonathan. Keep us posted on how it turns out!

Jonathan, this sits on the back of my work bench and gets referred to often.

https://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Books/Gu ... Guide.html

Has very good information about almost any aspect of repairing and setting up guitars - it would cover everything you've asked about on your dad's strat and much much more.

ps - I'll add one comment that is probably too late, before I start work on any guitar I measure everything the way it comes to me and write it all down. Condition of the guitar and frets, structural things, neck relief, action at the first and 12th frets, intonation. I even measure and write down the gauge of the strings that came on it. That way before I start any work I can tell what needs to be done (and what can be left alone). I have a little spreadsheet that forces me to write everything down - I can use that to discuss work with the owner and it becomes a record of what I do.

I also work in the order of dealing with structural issues first, then get the frets perfect (from your pictures yours need work). Then I can do the neck, nut and action (in that order), the tremolo (if applicable), intonation.

Yours is a little different since you want to clean up hardware which will mean dissassembly and since I think you've started work before taking these measurements.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Freeman you've given me this advice too, and I can't stress how useful it's been. The biggest benefit is it helps me keep perspective. When I started out, my lack of experience meant that it was so easy to lose perspective in the midst of a set up. I'd constantly start second guessing myself about whether or not a buzz was there before, or whether I had even done anything. Which would leave me putting way too much time into a job and feeling super insecure when I'd send it back to the customer. As my experience has grown I've eased up on how anal I am with my measuring, but I still like to keep a record of what instruments are like when they go out.