Chrome cleaning / rust removal on Fender amp straps and corners

Dodge

Any suggestions as to whether these can be salvaged in any way?

I thought about getting some auto metal polish and a rotary buffer type thing.

LastMantra

You'll not bring the chrome shine back, it'll look a bit dull, bare metal, but you should be able to clean them a bit. A brillo pad or something to take the rust and flaky chrome off and some oil to protect them. Would look much better than they do.

I'd use a wire brush wheel and take it all off. Then a buff with a polishing wheel. You might not have access to those though. 

Take them off first!

Dodge

Thanks mate.  I'm not expecting to bring the chrome back, it's 40 years old so new ones would look out of place.

ICBM

Those are too far gone probably. You're seeing a lot of the plating missing and a lot more lifting - if you use anything abrasive on them it will all just flake off. It might look OK if you get it down to bare metal where the rust is and polish that a bit - not too much, and you'll never get it to look like the original plating.

It will make a surprisingly big difference to take them off and clean the *tolex* though - the dirt around them makes them look a lot more unsightly than they actually are.

Dodge

ICBM said:

Those are too far gone probably. You're seeing a lot of the plating missing and a lot more lifting - if you use anything abrasive on them it will all just flake off. It might look OK if you get it down to bare metal where the rust is and polish that a bit - not too much, and you'll never get it to look like the original plating.
 
It will make a surprisingly big difference to take them off and clean the *tolex* though - the dirt around them makes them look a lot more unsightly than they actually are.

Cheers John.  That pic was pre-clean up actually, it looks much better now but I'd still like the rust gone.  I'm not expecting shiny chrome again.  Maybe some 0000 steel wool will do the trick.

It's shame really, the rest of the amp is in remarkable condition including the original valves.  Maybe I should just replace them.....

ElectricXII

But that's mojo! You'll take hundreds off the value if you touch those original chrome parts!

ecc83

The classic car bods get stuff re chromed all the time. If someone had given those parts the merest whiff of WD-40 once a month they would still be sparkling! That is not "age mojo" or "patina" that is sheer neglect.

Get 'em orf and take them to a plating shop. They will just chuck them in a basket with a score of other parts and charge you a few quid.

Dave.

Dodge

ecc83 said:

The classic car bods get stuff re chromed all the time. If someone had given those parts the merest whiff of WD-40 once a month they would still be sparkling! That is not "age mojo" or "patina" that is sheer neglect.

Get 'em orf and take them to a plating shop. They will just chuck them in a basket with a score of other parts and charge you a few quid.

Dave.

Cheers Dave.  Good shout.

ecc83

https://dougtaylor.co.uk/

Dodge

Ooh, they're not that far away.  Nice one Dave.

Interestingly, my Googling suggests the chassis straps are chrome plated, but the corners are nickel plated.  @ICBM ?

ICBM

Dodge said:

Interestingly, my Googling suggests the chassis straps are chrome plated, but the corners are nickel plated.  @ICBM ?

The corners are definitely nickel. I think I've seen both for the straps - definitely some/most nickel too, but I think some are chrome - those look more like nickel to me though. It can sometimes be harder to tell when they're very oxidised. What year is the amp?

Dodge

ICBM said:

Dodge said:

Interestingly, my Googling suggests the chassis straps are chrome plated, but the corners are nickel plated.  @ICBM ?

The corners are definitely nickel. I think I've seen both for the straps - definitely some/most nickel too, but I think some are chrome - those look more like nickel to me though. It can sometimes be harder to tell when they're very oxidised. What year is the amp?

82-3 Super Champ.

I'd guess the straps and the handle ends are chrome, but the corners look nickel and the rust is less flaky.  I'm not sure whether this is an indication.

ICBM

Dodge said:

82-3 Super Champ.

I'd guess the straps and the handle ends are chrome, but the corners look nickel and the rust is less flaky.  I'm not sure whether this is an indication.

Yes, I think that late on they may be chrome. Nickel does tend to flake less badly too.

Ironically, I've owned four Super Champs... and I can't remember!

Dodge

ICBM said:

Dodge said:

82-3 Super Champ.

I'd guess the straps and the handle ends are chrome, but the corners look nickel and the rust is less flaky.  I'm not sure whether this is an indication.

Yes, I think that late on they may be chrome. Nickel does tend to flake less badly too.

Ironically, I've owned four Super Champs... and I can't remember!

The amp had cleaned up really nicely, so I may just buy new hardware.  I don't think it'll look that bad with new stuff now it's tidy.

I don't suppose you've got any 6C10s kicking around?

ICBM

Dodge said:

I don't suppose you've got any 6C10s kicking around?

No, they’re hard to find. I solved the problem a different way when one of mine died…

Replace the 6C10 with a 12AX7 - the socket will mount across the hole, with a small gap around the edges - and use the two gain stages for the mixer gain stage and the phase inverter. Then separate the two halves of the 12AT7 reverb driver (which is just paralleled) and use the second half for the reverb recovery instead of the missing stage of the 6C10. You need to rebias the driver (1K5 resistor from memory) but other than that it’s just a case of moving the wiring.

It would have been better like that in the first place - designing an amp around such an unusual valve was a bad idea, and there’s actually no need to parallel the reverb driver, there’s still plenty even with only one half.

Dodge

ICBM said:

Dodge said:

I don't suppose you've got any 6C10s kicking around?

No, they’re hard to find. I solved the problem a different way when one of mine died…

Replace the 6C10 with a 12AX7 - the socket will mount across the hole, with a small gap around the edges - and use the two gain stages for the mixer gain stage and the phase inverter. Then separate the two halves of the 12AT7 reverb driver (which is just paralleled) and use the second half for the reverb recovery instead of the missing stage of the 6C10. You need to rebias the driver (1K5 resistor from memory) but other than that it’s just a case of moving the wiring.

It would have been better like that in the first place - designing an amp around such an unusual valve was a bad idea, and there’s actually no need to parallel the reverb driver, there’s still plenty even with only one half.

Thanks John, I'd seen a previous post.of.yours with this mod.  I'm also pondering making a compactron plug (impossible to find) out of a compactron socket (easy to find) with some soldered in pins, then building some sort of adapter box with 2 x 12AX7s.

bertie

the stuff we used to clean bicycle wheels with back when they were made of steel/chrome  or that "rust converter/remover" stuff you can use on cars


EDIT - but having now, just seen the pic  - I think new ones are in order 

De_Batz

Dodge said:

ICBM said:

Those are too far gone probably. You're seeing a lot of the plating missing and a lot more lifting - if you use anything abrasive on them it will all just flake off. It might look OK if you get it down to bare metal where the rust is and polish that a bit - not too much, and you'll never get it to look like the original plating.
 
It will make a surprisingly big difference to take them off and clean the *tolex* though - the dirt around them makes them look a lot more unsightly than they actually are.

Cheers John.  That pic was pre-clean up actually, it looks much better now but I'd still like the rust gone.  I'm not expecting shiny chrome again.  Maybe some 0000 steel wool will do the trick.

It's shame really, the rest of the amp is in remarkable condition including the original valves.  Maybe I should just replace them.....

0000 and four hours of elbow grease…

I got given an abrasive sponge pad that cuts a bit better but stuff can still be brought back to a shine with 0000 and one of those fret polishing micro abrading jobs. Bit less effort overall…

CE1

Getting parts rechromed well has gone up in price massively in recent years. And a lot of places won’t take small thin parts due to the process being quite aggressive. Personally I would use some of the silver plating solution you can buy. You clean back the metal and then cover it in the solution, leave a while and repeat.

thermionic

Scrunched up aluminium foil and a drop of water. I’ve used it to clean up chromed parts on old kids’ bikes and it’s verging on miraculous.

ecc83

On the point that some parts seem to be chromed and others Nickel plated? The finishes are often confused as Nickel looks very similar to Chrome when first done (Steel must be Copper then Ni then Cr plated) but Nickel goes slightly duller fairly quickly  whereas Chrome stays very bright. Perhaps to keep the 'vintage' look of the amp, get all the brightwork done just in Nickel? Not so 'in yer face blingy'

Dave.