WH1 found: pedal cleaning advice?

[jerrytrey]

Hi fellas,

I was hoping you guys might have some advice. I came upon an original Digitech Whammy 1 (Dimebag, Morello, etc) from a friend who didn't know what he had. It's sort of in mangled condition in terms of dirtiness all over the housing -- but the paint is all there underneath. I'm helping this guy fix it up, get it working (I need to obtain power supply) and in return I get to use it on my board as long as I want and eventually, if sold, split the sale.

Problem is, it's got some serious dust, dirt, and just what looks sort of like this black smudgy crud in spots all over the red paint. From the looks of it, it should be cleanable, but I want (obviously) to be careful of the paint as I'm doing my best to get this thing back to very good condition.

Have any of you guys ever polished up pedals that have this kind of dirt/heavy grime stuck to it? I'm figuring I'll need more than just windex and a paper towel here. I'm thinking something like dry wool or a stiff toothbrush, but I worry about stripping. Is there a solution that might be made to loosen up hard dirt on paint I might try? A loosening solution on the paint that would allow me to toothbrush off the black would be perfect but I'm nervous of making the wrong move.

Any help is greatly appreciated! I can't wait to try this thing....I've been using my Whammy 2 all these years and never even tried one of these.

-Jerry

 

[Guitar Josh]

I use rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. Then rinse with mineral water and a lint free cloth. Clean the electronics with compressed air and electronics cleaner.

 

[gururyan]

Careful with the rubbing alcohol, you can take of more than just the dirt. I remember the first (and last) time I dabbed a cotton ball with alcohol and wiped an old, pulled Amperex Bugle Boy off to get the years of dust off. Yep, the dust came off...but so did everything else! I was left with a shiny, clear tube with no identification left on the glass. No biggie as I had no intention of selling and it works great. But, still...something to consider.

 

[Shon Kornfeld]

yea, maybe look for a good adhesive remover, or an overall "grime" remover from a hardware store or the like. and yea, pickup a can of compressed air too to clean out the electronics

 

[jerrytrey]

Thanks guys. I have the compressed air ready to go. At some point I'm going to have to take this apart to get inside to clean the guts anyways. I couldn't use or sell this unless I know its brought back to life properly.

Josh - did you use the alcohol on the paint whenever you've used that? It sounds like a good idea but scares me with the paint issue. Once I take off the original red paint, I'm screwed.

 

[John Phillips]

Careful with the rubbing alcohol, you can take of more than just the dirt. I remember the first (and last) time I dabbed a cotton ball with alcohol and wiped an old, pulled Amperex Bugle Boy off to get the years of dust off. Yep, the dust came off...but so did everything else! I was left with a shiny, clear tube with no identification left on the glass.

It may not have been the rubbing alcohol - just rubbing an old tube will often take the screen print off. Moisture (ie breathing on the tube and rubbing it) certainly will in many cases.

WD-40 works pretty well for shifting oily grime and is fairly benign on paintwork.... but check first somewhere it doesn't matter, if you can.

The paint on this sort of pedal is probably some sort of automotive-type 2-pack stuff, it should be fairly immune to solvents.

 

[Guitar Josh]

Thanks guys. I have the compressed air ready to go. At some point I'm going to have to take this apart to get inside to clean the guts anyways. I couldn't use or sell this unless I know its brought back to life properly.

Josh - did you use the alcohol on the paint whenever you've used that? It sounds like a good idea but scares me with the paint issue. Once I take off the original red paint, I'm screwed.

I didn't just pour it on. I dipped the q-tip into the solution and gently worked the dirt.