“Wanna buy a synth?”
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Brilliant! 
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Any bumming going on with a smaller friend is likely to cause injury.
Best buy I ever did was an ultracheap lot of Auralex MegaLENRD. Water damaged and smelled like cigars. Payed like 50$ for 1000$ of foam. Still bass absorbs just as good.
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Yeah, smoking kills…also synths.
I smoke cigars, but I do it outside. They go well with whiskey, but not with synths. I can’t stand a single dust speck on my gear.
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I buy used gear far more often than new. The main thing I see is a combo of dust and body grease. It’s usually an easy cleanup but I have done 2 mixers in the last year that were quite a chore. I’m always amazed at how much better something looks after a cleaning. I usually use it as a bargaining chip to knock some money off the price. Honestly some things I’ve bought could’ve gone for a higher asking price had it simply been wiped off.
I must admit I am guilty of having greasy paws when I play. Between my need of hand cream for my frequent eczema issues and beard oil from my righteous face moss, my gear can end up looking a bit gross. I try to stay up on cleaning them from time to time and I dust often.
If I am selling though the whole thing is getting a thorough cleaning before I even take pictures.
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Even if you don’t smoke, if your gear doesn’t smell like cigarettes and sweat, you either have an amazing rider or you aren’t gigging enough.
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Yeah, that’s the point here - it’s just common courtesy to clean your junk gunk off something before you sell it to someone.
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I actually have major gear OCD. It extends beyond just keeping them clean and in proper shape. (I’ve talked about the other aspects in other threads though… 
)
I actually won’t sell gear if it doesn’t look exactly the same as when I got it. I’d rather give it to a friend or family member as a gift if there’s even aesthetic issues. For some reason that sits better in my head.
I have sold flawed items (properly calling out the flaws) but I still didn’t like doing it.
Drives me even more crazy if someone finds a flaw/bug in one of the modules I’ve built. (I immediately have them ship it back, so I can fix or mod it to their liking.) I think maybe that’s where my thoughts on selling clean gear stem from actually.
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I ALWAYS wipe mine with either alcohol or light soap and water to get off the germs, dander, or other dust.
Anyone have perfect tips to getting them dust-free beyond shop towels?
I don’t use chemicals unless I absolutely have to, and then just alcohol.
For dust, I use a soft, wide, fine bristled paintbrush or cotton cloth. Occasionally if there’s dust in sliders or under pots I’ll use my air compressor to blow it out.
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Yeah like I said, solid gear in need of some TLC? I’m always happy to go there as I like to repair stuff and recondition. Some parts are made to be replaced after X number of years.
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I use my old shaving brush to dust. Pure badger!
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I’ve had mostly good dealing on clean ish gear second hand.
Except one, I ordered a volca modular and it was the most disgusting item I’ve ever unboxed. It looked like dude had shaved his entire body over it after having spread every ounce of grease humanly possible. It took an hour and a shower to get that thing cleaned. Gross!
I ended up giving it to my father as I could no longer even look at it.
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After a total disaster with a „white“ Arturia Microbrute SE that turned out to be a smoke stinking yellowish (ew!) sticky piece of shit (mint condition…NOT)I avoid s/h unless I can buy it locally. I hate grease, splashes, ashes and whatever on gear. Keep it clean and use decksavers, and stop smoking on your gear, appreciate what you have, damnit!
My fav dust killer, that I recently tried out, and found awesome (works great on notebooks too):
On the other hand I have to say that synth companies are not making it easy to keep gear clean, when they use a) high glossy surfaces (Roland JDxi booo) so you can see any fingerprint and dust or b) use rubbery surfaces that can’t be cleaned from dust properly (Ableton Push booo) or gets sticky after a few years of use (Push, Microbrute).
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After about two years of searching, I finally found a Korg Z1 at a decent price. What I found was a grubby synth that was functional, if a bit sticky.
In better light, it was clear that it had been coated in maple syrup or cannabis resin. I’m not sure what, but rubbing alcohol made quick work of the goo. I was left with a shiny Z1 with a slightly dim display. Great synth and I didn’t even need to open it up to bring it back to near pristine condition.
Soft bristled paintbrushes work well for me. I have a few chipbrushes as well, but the ultra soft 100mm / 4" brush I have from Daiso does a great job of removing dust and flowing around knobs and faders.
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I have few rules to avoid having dirty and dusty synths: my gear is all covered; if I plan to not use it for a long time it goes in the box; always wash my hands before starting a session.
Nobody smokes at home 
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Oh! How I hate this, way more than grease: you just can’t get rid of it! Metal cases FTW! 
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