Cab was pretty decent, mostly scratches and nothing too deep. One or two tears were in the Tolex, but a dab of medium CA got the frays down.
Corners are new from Conrad, and I polished them with white compound on a dual buffer. Large rubber feet are also new from Conrad.
I always replace all my fasteners (screws, washers, nuts) with stainless steel parts, also polished to a chrome-like gloss on my buffer.
Handles are original, and I polished the caps after treating them with Naval Jelly to remove most of the surface pitting. The previous owner had already replaced the casters with common 2-inch parts. I just cleaned and polished them.
The grille was dirty, but otherwise in great shape. It didn't match the material I got from Conrad and I want all my pieces uniform, so I installed new cloth. If anyone out there is that much of a purist, I have the original grilles for the 415M, 215 cab and two accessory horns available. The 200S grille is here too, but it had been painted black. I got the paint off, but the cloth underneath the paint is dull and lifeless -- not very good as an original replacement.
Here is my Tolex cleanup procedure on a pretty rough Coliseum Slave case.
1. Remove the chassis, and strip the case of any hardware and fasteners.
2. Remove any paint, nail polish or other markings with lacquer thinner and a toothbrush.
3. Alpha-cyanoactrylate (CA) adhesive and accelerator are ideal for nailing down any frayed cloth.
Good CA is like Crazy Glue that actually works.
4. Orange One is a commercial cleaner. Wet the surface with Orange One. Fantastik or similar cleaners are also okay in a pinch.
5. Scrub deeply in all directions. Work the cleaner into the crevices.
Rinse off the cleaner with plain water, and dry with a lint-free towel.
5. Coat the entire Tolex surface with Kiwi Liquid Shoe Polish. Use a very wet coating, and rub the polish in with a soft cloth.
6. When the polish is dry, use Meguire's Protectant to seal and gloss the surface.
Use the soft cloth again to smooth and spread the sealant before it dries. My advice is to NEVER use Armor-all (sp?) on anything you value.
7. This is my rejuvenated Concert Controller 1. The Tolex was restored using the described method.
8. My 1974/5 Fender Twin Reverb received the same treatment, but the covering is new Sunn Tolex.
The Armstrong 6-string is made from genuine vintage-60's Armstrong parts. An original guitar body was unavailable, so I used a bass body.
