You guys probably saw this one on eBay a few weeks ago. I really don't like buying boxes from non-member sellers on eBay, but the description of the physical condition, combined with a "peanuts" price sold me. I have liked the look of the model for a while, so I rolled the dice. It was described as "non-functional," but it was so cheap I figured I'd have a parts unit at worst.
I was surprised to see the condition wasn't as good as described, and the seller did a great job concealing the acrylic damage in the photos using creative lighting and slightly out-of-focus pics. I avoid buying from eBay sellers because of the sleezey tactics a lot of sellers use. I didn't leave negative feedback because I'm really not interested in getting into a pissing match. So, I sucked it up and did the best resto I could with what I had to work with. I'm quite pleased with the result.
You can see someone tried to re-attach the aluminum trim with JB Weld. They did a pretty sloppy job and, as many know, JB Weld doesn't bite plastic very well.
You can also see some of the acrylic damage on the deck door in this pic.
In these next two pics you can see the extent of the damage to the acrylic. I'm sure it was the same guy who thought the JB Weld was a good idea. He obviously went rogue with a tube of super glue, which I believe was the initial attempt to re-attach the aluminum trim.
So I got to work. My first priority was to see how far I could take the acrylic. Unfortunately, the damage from the super glue goes beyond the surface. I wet-sanded and polished the deck and tuner windows. Considering the extent of the damage, they came up really well. I also had to repaint the deck door cover, since the offending agent took a lot of the paint with it that sits behind the window.
Once I cleaned the JB Weld off the back side of the trim and plastic, I used 3M black RTV sealant as the adhesive. I'll be using a lot more of that for the same application in the future.
Like I said, I'm happy with the result. It's a pretty neat little mono. Not the easiest to service, but not the toughest, either. It has a really clean sound and the deck works great. This will most likely be a regular "carry box."
What do you guys think?
I was surprised to see the condition wasn't as good as described, and the seller did a great job concealing the acrylic damage in the photos using creative lighting and slightly out-of-focus pics. I avoid buying from eBay sellers because of the sleezey tactics a lot of sellers use. I didn't leave negative feedback because I'm really not interested in getting into a pissing match. So, I sucked it up and did the best resto I could with what I had to work with. I'm quite pleased with the result.
You can see someone tried to re-attach the aluminum trim with JB Weld. They did a pretty sloppy job and, as many know, JB Weld doesn't bite plastic very well.
You can also see some of the acrylic damage on the deck door in this pic.
In these next two pics you can see the extent of the damage to the acrylic. I'm sure it was the same guy who thought the JB Weld was a good idea. He obviously went rogue with a tube of super glue, which I believe was the initial attempt to re-attach the aluminum trim.
So I got to work. My first priority was to see how far I could take the acrylic. Unfortunately, the damage from the super glue goes beyond the surface. I wet-sanded and polished the deck and tuner windows. Considering the extent of the damage, they came up really well. I also had to repaint the deck door cover, since the offending agent took a lot of the paint with it that sits behind the window.
Once I cleaned the JB Weld off the back side of the trim and plastic, I used 3M black RTV sealant as the adhesive. I'll be using a lot more of that for the same application in the future.
Like I said, I'm happy with the result. It's a pretty neat little mono. Not the easiest to service, but not the toughest, either. It has a really clean sound and the deck works great. This will most likely be a regular "carry box."
What do you guys think?
