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| Clear pickguard removal methods? http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=21356 |
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| Author: | Todd Rose [ Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Clear pickguard removal methods? |
I'm going to have Addam Stark refinish one of my guitars. It has a clear pickguard. On Frets.com, Frank Ford demonstrates removal of a pickguard using a hair dryer, but he's not doing a clear one, and I believe the adhesive is different. Do you think a blow dryer (or heat gun set fairly low) is my best bet? Any fine points on technique you can offer me? Should I be trying to soften the adhesive to the point where I can just peel the guard up, or should I plan to work a spatula under there and get it up that way? Heat the whole thing evenly, then peel it right off? - or direct the heat to one edge and move the heat as I work my way across peeling it up? Even though the guitar is going to be refinished, I'd like to get the pickguard off without damaging the finish - which is French polish, by the way - just for the practice. Thanks! |
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| Author: | StevenWheeler [ Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Todd, I pulled a clear one off using Frank Ford's hair dryer method. Warm up one edge, get a putty knife or the like under it and work your way to the other end. When I pulled mine (LMI material), all the adhesive stayed on the guitar. I won't profess to know which chemical to use to remove the adhesive from french polished shellac. I used MEK to remove the goo from polyurethane. Steve |
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| Author: | Josh H [ Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Todd, I use a heat gun, but a hair dryer is probably safer (not an issue if the guitar is getting refinished). What I found is that if you get it hot enough then the sticky stuff will come off on the guard instead of staying on the guitar (I use StewMac clear material). It is a fine line so you need to be careful. Once you've done it a few times you begin to get a feel for it. Hope that helps Josh |
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| Author: | Josh H [ Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Another thing is that since the heat gun is always very hot (even on low) I never leave it pointed at the guitar for more than a few seconds at a time. I apply some heat and then pull a bit. Keep repeating this until you have the guard off. |
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| Author: | Todd Rose [ Sat Mar 07, 2009 6:53 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Thanks, Steve and Josh. Do you guys bother to mask/shield the surrounding area of the top, or have you found that unnecessary? Josh, do you use a knife/spatula, or are you just peeling it up with your fingers? Thanks again - |
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| Author: | Cecil [ Sat Mar 07, 2009 7:58 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Todd, As sated above the hair dryer will work very well for loosening the pick guard. I did mot need to use anything but a finger nail to start lifting mine off. My finish is KTM 9 and naptha removed the adhesive. I took a while but it worked well. Cecil |
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| Author: | StevenWheeler [ Sat Mar 07, 2009 8:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
I didnt mask. I figured the hair dryer wouldn't get hot enough to hurt any thing. |
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| Author: | Mike K [ Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
I've pulled a couple of clear pick guards off of french polish and found that WD-40 works best. Get a corner lifted, drip some WD-40 underneath and very slowly pull the pickguard off adding more WD-40 as needed. As long as you go slow enough you should be able to pull it off without damaging the finish. Hope this helps. -Mike |
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| Author: | Todd Rose [ Sat Mar 07, 2009 3:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Thanks, Cecil, Steve, and Mike, for the additional tips. Much appreciated. |
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| Author: | Todd Rose [ Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:05 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Here's how it went for me. I used my Milwaukee heat gun, which goes from no heat at all on it's lowest setting to extremely hot at its highest. I adjusted it so that I could hold my hand about an inch from the nozzle for several seconds before it started to hurt. I aimed it near one edge of the guard and warmed it until it felt very warm, but not really hot, and started peeling. I used a palette knife to initially get under the edge, then just peeled with my fingers. Right away I saw that the guard was coming up quite easily, but the adhesive was staying on the guitar. As I slowly worked my way across, I increased the heat setting little by little, and gave it more time to heat up before peeling, trying to see if I could get the adhesive to come off with the guard, but it never did. I was probably being overly cautious with the heat. Anyway, the guard came off fine, no spruce pulled up at all, and a few minutes of rubbing with naphtha on a rag cleaned off the goo. Most of the underlying shellac is very dulled or "etched" looking. No problem, in my case, since the guitar is going to be refinished. If I were going to maintain the french polish, I could just re-polish the area and it would be good as new. Still, I wonder if a nitro finish would have been similarly affected, and if the finish might have been completely undamaged if I had used more heat to release the adhesive. I suspect the shellac is so susceptible to this kind of damage, though, that it wouldn't have mattered. I also removed a strap button which had a felt gasket under it. No adhesive on that, of course, but, even so, under the felt gasket the shellac is similarly dulled. |
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| Author: | Todd Rose [ Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
On the other hand, maybe if I'd have used Mike's WD-40 method, the shellac would have come out looking pristine. I'm guessing that the shellac was somehow chemically etched by the presence of the adhesive on it for a few years, and that the removal method didn't have anything to do with it, but I could be totally wrong. 
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| Author: | Josh H [ Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Sorry for my slow reply, I don't mask the guard and I just use a fingernail under the corner of the guard to get it started. If I can't get my fingernail under it than I carefully use a razor blade to get it started. Glad to hear that you got the guard off. It is better to be same with the heat gun. Having to clean off some extra sticky stuff is a lot less of a mess than dealing with a damaged finish. Josh |
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| Author: | Todd Rose [ Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:23 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Clear pickguard removal methods? |
Thanks, Josh - |
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