Removing Rust Spots from Aluminum

You probably won't want to read this. It's really just me reminiscing. More accurately, it's my reaction to an inability to find information about how to remove the little rust spots that form on chrome and aluminum. It's not really rust per se. Google sez, "The orange or brown spots are usually external iron particles from nearby steel screws, tools, or dust that have landed on the aluminum and rusted." Regardless, I'm writing to let everyone know that Mother's Aluminum Polish and steel wool helps get rid of them. 

There. . . You can stop reading now if you're here to discover how to remove rust spots from aluminum. 

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I started playing guitar at 16. You'd think by now I'd be a much better player than I am.  

Actually, I had a guitar before 16. My Uncle Butch gave me a nylon-string guitar when I was nine or ten. I think it was an attempt to distract me from bothering the adults while they partied in the next room. It worked. That evening I tried to get as many sounds as I could from the "Chess" guitar (a manufacturer Google says never existed). Soon, the novelty wore off and my fingertips were aching. I lost interest. I didn't really play again until I thought it was time to learn to play "Long Distance Runaround" by Yes. I saved my money and ordered a $250 Ovation Ultra from Sam Ash. 

I'm not sure if it was Keith Partridge or Glen Campbell who made me think Ovations were cool. Really, I think it was the lack of a pickguard that I liked. Acoustics with pickguards looked like the ones in the Sears catalog that had strings that hovered three inches off the fretboard. I didn't want anything to do with that. 

I still have the guitar. It's been sitting in its case, untouched, for a very long time. I mention the case because that's really what I want to tell you about. 

I bought a cheap chipboard case for my Ovation. I used the flimsy case to tote my guitar to my first, and only, lesson at a local music store. Somehow, the owner of the store tripped and crushed the cheap case. He felt bad enough to give me a slightly damaged hardshell case. It was a significant upgrade from the case he destroyed. 

The case is really nice and it's done a great job for many years. I didn't think I needed to make a change until I found an OEM case on Facebook Marketplace. The seller wanted $60. I offered $50. The seller said the case was in a trailer parked behind a house that he "had no affiliation with." 

I found the trailer and I didn't get shot by the non-affiliated property owners. When I went into the trailer, the door slammed shut on me. For 1.2 seconds, I was sure the trailer was my new forever home and that I would die of thirst in the darkness. Fortunately, the door had latches on BOTH sides and I was able to continue life in the sunlight. The case looked like it wasn't offered that option. In fact, when I found out it was built in 1996, I could have been convinced it had been sitting in the trailer for 30 years. It was faded and dirty and, yes, there were tiny rust spots on the metal bits. 

I Venmo'd for the case's freedom and when I got it home, I gathered my tools: 

Mother's aluminum polish, some 409, plastic restorer, fine steel wool, paper towels and a microfiber cloth. The latches cleaned up nicely.

The case itself looked much better, too. 

After about an hour and a half of scrubbing, it was time to see if this case from 1996 was a good fit for my 1983 guitar.

I'm hoping that this new case will inspire me to start playing again. My guess is that, right now,  it's more of a sarcophagus than a case. But who knows, maybe in the near future Debbie will hear, "Anyway, here's Wonderwall."