When I got mine I pulled the whole thing apart and cleaned every pot and switch and it has been working great for me for over a year now. It has a couple funky switches but mostly it treats me really well. I was going to do the exact same thing that you are talking about, the totally pimped out vinyl or leather but a builder buddy of mine decided he wanted to do something fancy and replace the vinyl covered pressboard with hardwood. I am so glad he talked me into it, it really makes the board look 10 times the price, and the wood sounds much better
I had him try to match my Jule Amps guitar head.
