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removing my stickers from the bass...

May 29, 2006
2,348
33
ive been contemplating about removing the stickers on my bass. Its literally filled with em.

However, I have been told that there will be 'sticker marks' should i remove them...

Mine is a bass with a black finish, the stickers have been there for around 2years. Do u reckon the 'marks' would be obvious?
 
The paper bit of the sticker usually rips off (sometimes there is a clear layer over this).

After that its just a case of scrubbing! If you bass has a thick poly finish then no harm done. Its easiest to scrub with water and soap to remove the initial paper underlayer and this leaves a water-resistent glue layer which can be harder to remove but even bathroom cleaner will shift it.

The only problem would be if the finish had faded on your bass and left tanlines.:cool:
 
The paper bit of the sticker usually rips off (sometimes there is a clear layer over this).

After that its just a case of scrubbing! If you bass has a thick poly finish then no harm done. Its easiest to scrub with water and soap to remove the initial paper underlayer and this leaves a water-resistent glue layer which can be harder to remove but even bathroom cleaner will shift it.

The only problem would be if the finish had faded on your bass and left tanlines.:cool:

haha, that is my main concern... maybe id peel a small sticker to see if theres any 'tanlines' on the body.

I still have some denatured alchohol left from string cleaning, ill prolly use that to rid the sticker glue
 
If it's poly, you should be OK. Especially with a black bass.

I bought this Ibanez Ricken-copy with these vinyl stripes all over it the original owner put on the entire front and headstock, (they had probably been there for 10+ years) and cleaned the whole thing up - it was a lot of elbow grease, but I finally got it clean. Used nothing but my fingernails and a damp rag. Goo Gone is great stuff though, and you may have to polish it afterwords. If it's black, I wouldn't worry about tan lines.

before
IMG_4144.jpg


after
ricksmall.jpg


DSCN0001.jpg
 
There won't be any marks left on a black finish. If they were stickers on the seafoam green colour and they'd been on there for 30 years, yes, you'll have marks as the paint won't have faded under the stickers like the rest of the guitar will have.

Does that make sense?
 
Nail polish is pretty resilient, and nail polish remover removes it easily, so I'd be wary of that.

Nail polish is good for small areas that had things like permanent marker but it will mar some gloss finishes and ruins most pickguards

I had a sticker guitar that was nearly 16 years old
that had the "tanlines" after removal since it was a white guitar
They were not "obvious" but were there if you looked hard enough
I used WD40 to remove them one by one with a rag and old debit card
 

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