LeatherCaster resto: removing glue residue

[Pacafeliz]

Hey folks!
Long story short, yknow I've been hunting a cheap old Tele Deluxe for quite a while now. Found a '74 for used AVII money - with a repaired headstock crack, changed neck pickup (original WRHB in case... but not working, more on that later) and, well, a leather "refin" - even the pickguard has been covered in leather. Well done, actually.
The correct thing would've of course been to put a WRHB in the neck and just play it... but I was dying to know if there was the original finish underneath... or what.

So here we go.


Outta the box





Swiss army knife can opener worked perfectly for that!


White leather front and backs




So it had been painted white before the glue.
There's some patches with shiny black paint, also in knicks etc. So I guess the original black (or sunburst) is still underneath!

So here's where i am now:



...fucking nasty half-sticky mess!

Now how do i proceed best?
Tried GooGone and isopropyl alcohol - not really working. Start sanding would also be a mess, as the rubbery glue is sticky.

...any ideas??? Thnx

[JSett]

Have you tried the usual choices of Naptha or Acetone? Both of those are pretty good at sticky stuff. Or mineral oil?

Leaving acetone to soak in for a few minutes then scraping with a razor or scraper should take it off and seeing as it's a 70s Fender, it won't remove any original finish.

[Pacafeliz]

Have you tried the usual choices of Naptha or Acetone? Both of those are pretty good at sticky stuff. Or mineral oil?

Leaving acetone to soak in for a few minutes then scraping with a razor or scraper should take it off and seeing as it's a 70s Fender, it won't remove any original finish.

Thanks, that's great advice!
My wife's nail polish remover is acetone free but it's what's been working best so far.
10am and I'm already high on fumes.

Thankfully i have an old WRHB laying around so I'll put that in for now. The original one was massively rusty or something (lots of green-blue-ish sticky stuff) and the metal shielding of the lead has somehow rotten away. Weird. Pickup is dead. Will send it to some pickup make to have it checked or rewound.

If i can't save the original finish I'll have it stripped and refinished something fun.
Considering leaving the leather on the guard.
I'll try to reassemble and play it today, even if sticky. Acetone and razors tomorrow, then.

Stay tuned!

[Pacafeliz]

Man had i known...

[raphaël]

Oh wow, to me that's the definition of a perfect winter project
I would go with an iron to "project" its steam. I had great results on massive and oldy and sticky glue on furnitures

[Pacafeliz]

Ok so this is where I'm now:







Well the nail polish remover managed to remove most of the actual stickiness, but it looks - well, like - shit.

The pickup selector has the prob that it often jumps back from treble to the middle position... any tips there?

It sounds great but I'll have to do some adjustments on the truss rod etc but all in all I'm happy
Now off to Christmas tree decorating and then rehearsal!

ANY MORE TIPS ON HOW TO GET TO THE ORIGINAL FINISH IS WELCOME

[Dr Tony Balls]

ANY MORE TIPS ON HOW TO GET TO THE ORIGINAL FINISH IS WELCOME

My wife's nail polish remover is acetone free but it's what's been working best so far.

Try acetone-FULL or something a bit stronger.

True story: the contact cement that I use for amp tolex is supposed to be soluble in mineral spirits but it never really was. It wasnt a HUGE deal as I just use one crappy brush and applying cement to tolex doesnt require precision...the brush can be stiff. At some point I ran out of mineral spirits and bought a new can and HOLY CRAP the bush cam clean like it was brand new. After some figuring out I realized that my original can was ODORLESS mineral spirits (aka weak mineral spirits).

[JSett]

Yeah, go grab a bottle of actual acetone-based remover and watch it come off many times faster!

I buy it by the litre off eBay or Amazon but you can get small bottles at cosmetics places or a local chemical outlet.

[Milkshape]

Here's a long shot Idea, YMMV, it hit me from the ether idea
https://tecnu.com/
I use it when my hands get pine sap on them or when I think I might have encountered poison ivy, but tonight I had old gunky residue from carpet tape (super double sided sticky tape) on a router base and it got it off.

Just a thought, and if it doesn't work and you get sticky hands from moving a conifer around or find yourself with poison ivy you, well you got something to help with that.

[andy_tchp]

Any hardware store should sell you proper acetone (>99%) in small to medium sized bottles, forget nail polish removers even with the acetone based ones a lot of them will be diluted with stuff you don't need for this purpose.

Work in a heavily ventilated area and avoid contact with your skin.

[GilmourD]

Just make sure you're nowhere near an open flame, too. The fumes will catch if you're not careful. Was fun/funny back when I was a teenage pyro but always be careful. Fortunately it evaporates pretty quickly.

[Pacafeliz]

Thanks y'all, will do that.

If i was to remove the leather from the pickguard too, could i use the acetone on that as well...? Thnx

Oh and any idea on how to remove the white paint without excessively damaging the original finish underneath...?

[JSett]

If i was to remove the leather from the pickguard too, could i use the acetone on that as well...? Thnx

I personally wouldn't. Acetone is pretty harsh on plastics, and roll totally melt old celluloid guards.

I always get glue off guards with Naptha/Lighter fluid, but that's normally sticker glue, not leather.

[GilmourD]

If i was to remove the leather from the pickguard too, could i use the acetone on that as well...? Thnx

I personally wouldn't. Acetone is pretty harsh on plastics, and roll totally melt old celluloid guards.

I always get glue off guards with Naptha/Lighter fluid, but that's normally sticker glue, not leather.

Oh, yeah, pure acetone is what we needed to take my high school girlfriend's fake nails off after prom. She HATED them since she's an artist and couldn't do anything with them on.

Naptha and some elbow grease might be what's needed. Just make sure you work at a good angle so you don't cause any RSI.

[B.T.]

Man had i known...

Looks like it clocked time on stage at GG Allin shows