Reply To: Patina vs. restoration

[squierka39]

I agree with mumbles in that you will get many different views on this. There are many who like to see as much original finish as possible just for preservation sake and future viewing. If they all get restored we won’t know which color is the correct red.
Personally I like to clean what I have and only refinish if it’s really bad. To me dirt is dirt, not patina, clean it off. You can get more dirt while running them.
No matter how you do it someone will love it and someone will hate it.