My Combo Amp is Baked--Please Help!

[Dunadan]

About a month ago, I purchased a used combo amp (a solid state Fender) on evilBay. The amp is in perfect working order, but it reeks to high heaven. The smell? You guessed it. The previous owner certainly enjoyed his herbal refreshment.

Does anyone have tips on getting rid of the smell? I've used Febreeze on the grille cloth, and that helped some. I've also set the amp outside to let it air out on several occasions. But it still smells, especially when it's on for a while.

Any suggestions on defumigating my "420" combo?

Thanks,
Spencer

[bpd111]

You could re-tolex it, but I would think wiping it down with a good (safe) cleaner would remove whatever residue is there. Your grille cloth and other soft materials (speaker cone) is where those smells are going to live. A good cleaning of the grille cloth should help more. I would...

*Coyotes near my house... Man, those things still spook me!*

...probably leave the speaker cone alone. It should get better over time, or you'll just get used to it.

[Algiman]

I'd take the chassis out and give it a blast with compressed air to get rid of any particles. If you are very careful you can get away with vacuuming the circuit board.

Furniture polish works well on dirty tolex - and usually has a scent so it will freshen things up a bit.

[Petie]

You could always get it to eat an orange and light some incense, that's what my stoner flatmate used to do when her mum came over.

[jim777]

Strap it to the roof of someone's station wagon and drive it around for a day, show it some sights.
Or, as a joke, you could put thin parallel lines of crazy glue across the top and put some baby powder or confectioners sugar in it, to give it that permanent lines look
Or, you could just stick one of those miserable gas station pine tree thingies in it until it smells like pine.

[Miata1476]

Did you take it apart to make sure that there isn't some left that is "cooking" when the amp is on? Maybe that is where he used to hide his stash. Just a thought.

Ryan

[Dunadan]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions!

The station wagon thing actually isn't a bad idea, but Ryan's posting also makes a lot of sense. I can't imagine anyone going to the trouble of using an amp as a place to hide his stash, but I guess that weirder things have happened. I'll get the screwdriver out and see what's what.

If I still can't get the smell out, I'll definitely try the orange thing. But should I place the orange in the back of the cabinet, or just set the fruit on top before I go to bed? Is feeding an amp like leaving cookies for Santa?

Regards,
Spencer

[ukwan]

who leaves santa cookies.. u leave rudolf a carrot man!

[screamndemon69]

i second the "cooking" idea about the amp being his stash "keeper-safer". it sounds like you might catch a contact buzz if you play too close to it during gigs.
this is kinda funny....

[bammbamm]

Originally Posted by Miata1476

Did you take it apart to make sure that there isn't some left that is "cooking" when the amp is on? Maybe that is where he used to hide his stash. Just a thought.

Ryan

LMAO, I never would have thought of that !

Hey, you smell that, somone's 'cooking' ?
Dude, ITS YOUR AMP !
SWEEEEET ! ! !

LOL

When I was 16 I bought a Kustom stack that had the smell of smoke and I must've wiped it down daily. Took a LONG time before it went away, but I never cleaned the grill cloth on that one.

My Mesa Studio .22 was a bar band's amp and resided at the bar. THAT thing I completely disassembled and cleaned every componant. I used dish soap on the tolex and then armour all to give it a lustre, hit the grill with compressed air and let it sit outside for a day in the sun and wiped out the whole chassis a couple times with some wood soap.

They will come clean, it just takes some doing.
Compaines will completely clean out cars that people have died in (and sat for a few days/weeks) and noone can tell that there was the stench of death residing there, I think your amp can be fumigated of it's aroma.

Good luck,
Bamm

[vaijem777]

I've heard that butter actually removes certain residues left by resins. A former bandmate had to move out of his rental house and the living room walls were coated in pot resin. Bought a few tubs of margarine and the scrubbed the walls with it. Took the stuff right off

[mike777]

Originally Posted by Miata1476

Did you take it apart to make sure that there isn't some left that is "cooking" when the amp is on? Maybe that is where he used to hide his stash. Just a thought.

Ryan

I guess the next question would be: "Do you get rather hungry after playing?"

I learned that Spray Nine's Total Look works great on Tolex and other vinyl surfaces. I like it a whole lot better than Armor All. It's a little harder to find in my area than Armor All but I love it. I'm thinkng that maybe the oils from the Total Look might bond with the existing residue which might reduce the smell or make it easier to clean later on after it dries out more.

Mike 777 Haug

[bammbamm]

Originally Posted by vaijem777

Bought a few tubs of margarine and the scrubbed the walls with it. Took the stuff right off

Of course he lost his security deposit due to a strange amount of 'cooking stains' throughout the apartment...

Landlady: Why the hell is there butter all over the place?
Tennant: Ummm....deep fryer explosion?


hehe

Funny stuff.

Bamm

[vaijem777]

The strange part is that he actually got the full deposit back. It still baffles me as to how a landlord can be THAT dense, but it cleaned up pretty well. Took a lot of work, but it turned out pretty nicely.

One of the oddest endeavors I've been a part of! LOL

[Drew]

Um, alledgedly THC is fat soluable...

...that's still WEIRD, though.

-D