Remove the paint but not the logo?

[glebert]

Picked up a Fender Mark Hoppus bass, basically a MIM J bass body with P bass pickup and a P bass neck, that someone went all Jackson Pollock on, with a thick coat of black and then splatter on top of that. I got most of the paint off the body using pure acetone, but haven't done the headstock yet. I'm thinking acetone will also remove the painted on logo and serial number. It may not be possible to save those, but does anyone have any thoughts of a best approach? Mineral spirits and turpentine softened the crappy paint as well but were less aggressive so I wonder if one of those would be a better choice. TIA Greg

[The Dude]

I can't help. I'm presuming this has the natural finish headstock, so no poly over the decal? Our resident painter Chuck H might have ideas. And, ........... really? They found it necessary to paint the headstock, too?

[nosaj]

Acetone is fairly agressive or maybe the commercial stuff we use at work is why its aggressive for us.
Do you know the type of paint ? latex , oil, etc .
We used a waterbased latex on our cabinets and after their painted if we get something on them we use Naptha(lighter fluid for your zippo) to wipe marks or stain off.
I also bought some stuff from goof off that removes paint. I use it on the arm rests in my truck that transfers from me .

Those decals are similar I think to waterslide decals. They will be destroyed. How about calling fender before you do the work and see if you could get a replacement decal for the serial?
nosaj

[glebert]

I don't know what type of paint it is, but I can test with alcohol to see if it is oil or water based.

You gave me a bit of an idea about naptha. I don't think it will effect the decals, I just used it to take tape goo off a MIM Squier strat the other day and the letter stayed perfect. I'm thinking maybe I can remove the paint from the edges of the headstock with acetone, and then try to peel off the entire layer of paint from the front and back by getting some naptha underneath the bottom layer. It's worth a shot.

[nosaj]

Ok tell me about the alcohol test. I'm curious.

nosaj

[glebert]

According to Glidden:
Dip a cotton ball into a small amount of denatured alcohol. Rub it over a small area on the surface. If the paint does NOT come off, it is oil-based paint..

[nosaj]

oooohhh.... the guys that do granite use denatured alcohol and when they splash it and it gets on the cabinets it ruins the paint. Our boss had to have a sit down withe the granite guys, He had to take a sample door and show them how THEY were damaging our cabinets by being careless with the denatured alcohol.

nosaj

[glebert]

Granite guys always think it is all about them...

[glebert]

Luckily for me the alcohol test showed it was latex paint. I was able to use just a rag with hot water and elbow grease and get all the paint off the front of the headstock and not disturb any of the logo or serial number. Wish I had tried that before the acetone, I really could use those brain cells...

[glebert]

Pic mid cleaning.

[Enzo]

So granite guys are rock stars?

[glebert]

So granite guys are rock stars?

Took me a second to see what you did there.

[Mick Bailey]

The alcohol test doesn't always work to distinguish oil-based paints. It's only indicitive of petroleum-based oils. Vegetable oil paints with soya or other non-petroleum oils are often affected by alcohol and some have alcohol added as a solvent. I have a few spray cans of coloured enamel that use soya oil and it softens with alcohol.

[J M Fahey]

1) you were lucky, very lucky.
Using Latex was lazy but in this case helped you.

2) problem with acetone and similar strong solvents is that they make paint very liquid and may send it deeper into natural wood pores.
And then itīs full sanding down time, talk about removing evertything in the path (including, of course, any kind of decals)

3) that said, if needed I would first take a few sharp an detailed pictures of that decal, including serial number, do whatever is needed to return instrument to pristine condition and then plain clone and reapply it.
No need to bother Fender about that which to boot would not interest them.

You are not faking anything, of course, just repainting a damaged object.