Thanks all for the input, a friend of mine told me cantilever brakes are finicky and most people don't like them, and I'm seeing where he was going with that statement. That being said, after watching the videos, I think they probably take getting used to but are then loved.

I'm going to start with new pads and this just makes sense since they are 30+ years old as mentioned above. The owner will not be doing any mountain biking so won't need performance quality stopping but just to make them safe. I really like the bike and if the opportunity is there, will probably offer to buy it from them.