Monoprice Stage Right 15w combo owners. Got rust?

[Wound_Up]

If you own one of the Stage Right 15w combos from Monoprice, is your control panel starting to rust around the knobs at all? I had never noticed this on my amp until I took this pic of the Reverb knob and noticed the brown accumulating around it and others. It appears to be rust. Could be nicotine & dirt but my first guess is rust.

Is anyone else's doing this? How long have you had it? How often do you play?

I've had mine since September of 2020 and I play daily. Multiple times/day. Still, it's the first time I've seen this and it was only after I took the below pic. So anybody else got rust? How would one go about cleaning it without taking off the rest of the numbers?

Thanks!

 

[stormsedge]

No rust here...but, I rotate through my amps, so I do not play it every day. I think I got this one in early June '20.

 

[Dacious]

Where are you storing this? If it's in a garage or damp cellar with no slip cover I'd find somewhere else. Some Silvo polish should wipe surface rust off, take care not to remove the silk screened text and graduations - you could clear lacquer it to stop it coming back. Unfortunately real chrome requires several layers, low cost manufacturers use flash chroming which is cheaper which doesn't stop rust forming from underneath.

 

[JDRNoPro]

Remove the knobs for cleaning. After removing the rust, perhaps apply some automotive wax to the surface? May help inhibit re-occurence.

 

[MuddyWolf]

I got no rust on mine.

 

[Wound_Up]

So it apparently wasn't rust. The odd thing was it was completely, 100% invisible to the naked eye. I checked again before I cleaned it all, and it wasnt visible whatsoever. I thought maybe I just didn't see it. Oh, I didn't see it alright lol

So, I pulled the knobs and just lightly hand rubbed it with polishing compound. Took it back to a mirror finish and no more "invisible rust/nicotine/dirt/whatever" anymore.

I did take off part if the 7 on the Treble control, though There's also a 7 missing from the Reverb control from when I accidentally removed it with a Dremel polishing wheel when I was removing the part number below "Stage Right"

 

[hucklecat]

Nope no rust

 

[The Angle]

Dude, wash your hands more often!

 

[BB]

Well, I heard somewhere that rust never sleeps. Apparently, it may take a quick, cat-nap from time to time.

I've had my MP 15 for 3-5 years now...no rust! Oh yeah, still got the stock tubes and much hated Celestion speaker. Still sounds real darn good as it is.

 

[Wound_Up]

Dude, wash your hands more often!

Its not dirty hands. I wash before I play. Every time. I can't stand dirty guitars and funked up fretboards. And that's why I wash my hands every time without fail. Also because I have dogs and they get dirty which means my hands get dirty. I'm so, OCD about it that I got temporarily banned here last time somebody posted Mike Campbell's
nasty azz Telecaster because I made some pretty harsh Comments about people who don't wash their hands and play nasty instruments.

As I said, it wasn't dirt. Dirt is visible. That wasn't visible at all without a camera viewfinder to look through. Thanks though.

 

[Mark Twain]

Had mine for several years, still sounds great for the price with no rust but then I live in Las Vegas. What's rust?

 

[Finsnake]

If you own one of the Stage Right 15w combos from Monoprice, is your control panel starting to rust around the knobs at all? I had never noticed this on my amp until I took this pic of the Reverb knob and noticed the brown accumulating around it and others. It appears to be rust. Could be nicotine & dirt but my first guess is rust.

Is anyone else's doing this? How long have you had it? How often do you play?

I've had mine since September of 2020 and I play daily. Multiple times/day. Still, it's the first time I've seen this and it was only after I took the below pic. So anybody else got rust? How would one go about cleaning it without taking off the rest of the numbers?

Thanks!

View attachment 983554

Playing does not cause rust. Atmospheric conditions in the room do.

 

[Ben Bishop]

For stuff like that I'd be inclined to remove the knobs, spray some WD-40 on a paper towel and just give the front panel a light pass. I find it can lift a thin bit of oxidation. Of course I'd check if it'll lift the numbers ...

 

[SoCal-Alan]

So far, mine is the little Amp that thought it could. I use it a couple hours on and off everyday. I have NOS tubes and threw a Greenback in it. Only changed it because I bought a Blue speaker for my AC15. I did like the original speaker. But this is a little tank, 5 years now.

 

[Dorsal900]

Given that the discoloration is only by the knobs, and not by the input jack, I'm guessing that the oxidation is due to off-gassing of the plastic knobs. Wax should help prevent this from recurring, or changing to a better knob might help prevent it.

 

[V52S]

Have had mine since 2019 but keep it in the house when not using it.
Perfect condition, no discoloration or rust.
I wipe it down from time to time also.

-v-

 

[Maguchi]

If you own one of the Stage Right 15w combos from Monoprice, is your control panel starting to rust around the knobs at all? I had never noticed this on my amp until I took this pic of the Reverb knob and noticed the brown accumulating around it and others. It appears to be rust. Could be nicotine & dirt but my first guess is rust.

Is anyone else's doing this? How long have you had it? How often do you play?

I've had mine since September of 2020 and I play daily. Multiple times/day. Still, it's the first time I've seen this and it was only after I took the below pic. So anybody else got rust? How would one go about cleaning it without taking off the rest of the numbers?

Thanks!

I got no rust on mine.

I ain't got the Monoprice Stage Right 15 watt. I got the Monoprice Stage Right 5 watt a coupla years ago and I ain't got no rust on mine's neither.

 

[The Angle]

Its not dirty hands. I wash before I play. Every time. I can't stand dirty guitars and funked up fretboards. And that's why I wash my hands every time without fail. Also because I have dogs and they get dirty which means my hands get dirty. I'm so, OCD about it that I got temporarily banned here last time somebody posted Mike Campbell's
nasty azz Telecaster because I made some pretty harsh Comments about people who don't wash their hands and play nasty instruments.

As I said, it wasn't dirt. Dirt is visible. That wasn't visible at all without a camera viewfinder to look through. Thanks though.

This has me really curious now. It didn't show up anywhere but in the photo? Did you take more than one photo where it was visible?

Makes me wonder whether it might have been a very thin sheen of oil spreading from the pots. Oil film can cause weird reflections in photos, and it doesn't take much. Not that pots ought to have oil in them, but low-cost electronics often contain weird surprises like that. When you pulled off the knobs, was there any evidence of it under the knobs? If so, that's my top contender. But that's about the only thing I can think of.

 

[goldenhound]

Playing does not cause rust. Atmospheric conditions in the room do.

I'm afraid I'll have to disagree there. Chrome and especially, gold plate will rust / bubble / corrode badly due to acidic sweat. Personal experience.

I would rust guitar strings to the point of breakage, in two weeks, until I discovered stainless steel strings back in the 70's.

 

[Rick330man]

I've got two of them and there's no rust on either.