It is not trash, unless the pitting is so deep it would make holes right through the blade or not leave enough metal.

The violin blade had rust spots when I got it. Once the rust was cleaned up the spots showed up as heavy pitting. It cleaned up nicely.

Take a look at my latest post on PSA discs and you will see that it is possible to bring back a blade finish from the beyond.

It all depends on how deep the pits and where they are and how much of the metal are you willing to give up to get rid of them.

Do you have a picture?

I know what you mean about being gun shy. When I butchered a blade trying to get rid of the pitting it took me a few months to give pit removal a new try. The sooner you get back into and get good results the less traumatic the experience.