So I was thikning about my first Mesa Boogie amp that I ever had, the Dual Caliber 50 watt 1x12 combo, and it got me thinking. The first thing I did was pull the entire thing apart, and cleaned it from top to bottom. I pulled out the speaker, the 'verb tank, the amplifier, and went to town on it. I actually enjoy doing this BTW.

So Iwas thinking, would I have spent more money if it looked like it was in great condition? Of courrse I would. I have seen that amp go for >$800, yet I paid only $350 for it cause it was a piece of crap, or at least looked like it. I figured I'd share some tips on how I clean and fix things.

First of all, the speaker. I went to my local salon and picked up a shaving cream brush, it's what the barber uses when he shaves customers with a knife, it was like $4 - I use this to brush away the dust that gets on the speaker and in the folds of it. Really simple, and can actually make a speaker sound bright again [you know those old crusty speakers... yuck.]

The reverb tank - a can of compressed air is all you need to clean these out. I don't dare stick anything inside of them because the leads are so thin, but blow out all the crap and shine up the outside with whatever you have around the house.

The cabinet itself - Armour All is your best friend when it comes to cleaning Tolex and Vinyl. Wheels get the WD-40 treatment, either take them off or protect the tolex with some cardboard or someting. And use the straw to help you aim. If it's a furry cab/pa speaker/etc get one of those lint shavers. Brush the crap off of it first, shop vac it, and then shave down any stragglers. A white tolex or vinyl cab should get toothpaste [white toothpaste, not nessasarily whitening, but white in solour] to clean it - armour all will leave a greasy look on those, but in my experience that's the only colour it does that on that's noticeable. You can rub it off of course, but I like to use lots of armour all so it's like a black mirror. Or orange. Or whatever colour it is.

The amplifier - compressed air for the inside, and the outside/controls: a very lightly damped rag and some q-tips. If it's REALLY nasty, pull the knobs off first and throw them in some hot soapy water while you clean up the rest of the amp.

Input/output jacks - if the jacks are staticky, open'er up and push the contact pieces back into place. You can do this even if they're not the open kind - look on the internet, the info is real easy to find.

Other controls - if they crackle, turn them like a madmad and try to get the knob working: if that doesn't clear it up get some pot cleaner and spray it in. If that doesn't work, replace it. It's easy it you can use a soldering iron.

Metal parts - anything will do to scrub them clean, I usually use a sharpie to hide scratches in it, but touch up paint works for every colour, including black.

Obviously tighten any loose stuff, put it together again properly, and let the buyer know of any issues - I have had people lie to me about some problems I havent realized at the time of purchase and it burns my soul.