Mesa 4x12 Mold on grille, corrosian on magnets, how 2 clean?

[mrmega]

Hey everybody.

I found your forum while trying to google some of the information I am asking about.

Out of the 15 or so amps that I have, I own a 3 channel Duel Rectifier that I just LOVE!

I got a Mesa Boogie 4x12 cab today for $400 that I found from a craigslist post late last night. My drummer went to pick it up for me. The seller played through it and my drummer said it sounded awesome.

Evidently it was stored in a garage in the Philadelphia area suburbs for a long time.

There is mold on the grill cloth and some corrosion on the either side of what I think are the magnets. The corrosion is on one speaker more than the rest, and there are little traces of it on all 4. It reminds me of the corrosion you see on car batteries. There isn't any corrosion on the rest of the speaker housing or whatever its called.

We tried to google the information I am asking for and couldn't find out anything. Can you please help us answer the following questions?

1) How do we get the front grille panel off?

2) What is the best way to get the mold off the grille? I don't want to bring it in the house until it is thoroughly cleaned.

3) We opened the back and there appears to be corrosion on the edge of the back of the speaker magnets or whatever. How should we clean this?

4) Would being stored in a garage that would enable mold and corrosion actually hurt the speakers? Do I need to ditch them and replace them or can I clean them and use these?

5) What can we use to safely clean the entire outside of the cabinet so its clean as well as rid of any potential mold etc we night not see?

6) Does anyone know what the model name/number of this might be? We don't see a reference to it anywhere on the cab.

I see no rust anywhere and nothing else of issue besides what I have described. Other than being a little dirty the cabinet looks PERFECT. It looks like it has never traveled. The seller says he bought it, used it to record for a short time and that it has sent ever since.

I want to clean it cosmetically of course as well as eradicate the mold and corrosion so it never comes back.

Can some of you guys please advise?

Here are some pictures:

 

[JimAnsell]

i'll bet that thing stinks!

i bought a marshall cab that had been stored in a garage or a swamp or something. it had mold all on the inside walls, and the same corrosion on the speakers.

it sounded great, but i ended up selling it.
it would seriously stink like mildew when i'd play it loud and have it pushing stink air from the speakers.
:lol:

i think to get the grill off, you have to unscrew all those phillips head screws you see on the inside baffle.
at least thats how it was with my recto 2x12 i just took apart today.

i have no idea how to get that off.
maybe a sponge and some kind of bathroom cleaner?

 

[JamesD]

Not really sure either, i would think for the grill if you get it off, that like jim said i would try using some type of mold and mildew cleaner and scrub like there is no tomorrow. I would also imagine there is some sort of corrosion remover that could be used on the speakers, but not positive.

 

[mrmega]

Thanks guys!


Some of my friends on The Gear Page knew, I think one of them is an amp builder.


Here is what they said.

"The grille frame is attached from the back, through the baffle, with short drywall screws (I can see their heads in the pics)."

"You could probably take some warm soapy water and wet the grill cloth and with a soft bristle brush, lightly brush the grill cloth and get as much mold off as possible. Of course the speakers need to be out. Put a towel on the inside to capture any water, or better yet, lay the cab flat on it's back with the back off. . When you;re done, use a hair dryer or air gun to blow the excess water out, You can touch up any parts you couldn't get to by fogging the grill cloth with some satin or flat black paint. Good luck."

Also vinegar will kill the mold...


"Take emory cloth and lightly sand the corrosion off being careful not to get the dust and particles down in the cone (I lay a rag at the area I'm working on). Then take a can of Tri Flow Teflon Lubricant and spray some on a clean dry rag then wipe it on the speaker frame areas that are corroaded being careful not to get any on the paper cone anywhere.

While your at it clean the Cab good with some windex top to bottom.

Put it all back together and then armor all the outside of the cab top to bottom.

BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


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I hope this info helps someone at some point

Thanks again for the reply guys. I will frequent the forums and help when I can too.

 

[mrmega]

i'll bet that thing stinks!

Actually, surprisingly enough, it doesn't smell at all!!!! After I clean it and stuff it will be back good as new. I will post before and after pics when we are done

 

[JamesD]

That is good that is doesn't stink. I could imagine how horrible that could get. Good luck with getting it cleaned!

 

[CudBucket]

I would just take the cab apart and pull the grill off. Then ditch that jute and buy new jute from vibroworld. There's no way you're getting that mold off without messing up the jute.

 

[mrmega]

I checked out vibroworld, and they arent doing business right now.

We got the job done though!

I was pretty worried about the mold, so we did NOT bring it in the house. Once you get mold in a house, well thats just TROUBLE. You do NOT want mold in your house!!!!!

We cleaned it outside. When cleaning the mold a body suit and mask was worn (like you use when you install insulation) and used the following to bring the cab back to life:

Soap and water
Soft bristle brush
Emery cloth (for the corrosion)
Simple Green (cleaning solution) for the Mold
Tape and paper (to protect the speaker cones)
a Hair Dryer
a can of Tri Flow Teflon Lubricant (for the corrosion)
Armor-All wipes

There was NOTHING, not even dust on the speaker cones, or inside the cabinet itself. There were no tears or marks on the cabinet!!!

The only problems we found:

It was dusty on the outside, there were also some dirty stains on the top of the tolex, the mold on the grille cloth, the corrosion on the speaker magnet backing plates and also on the castors. There was no rust anywhere and nothing else was wrong with the cabinet (not like this wasn't enough!)


A special shutout to the following members of "The Gear Page" for their very appreciated help!!!!

AdmiralB
Dr. Tweedbucket
Red Planet
FFTT


Here are the updated pics:

 

[JamesD]

awesome..glad to hear you got it cleaned up..It looks great!

 

[mrmega]

Thanks JamesD!! Now I just need to find a straight cab to complete this stack !