Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Finally worked up the nerve to de-sticker my 4003SW/5. What's the current favorite method for removing the residue left on the pickguard?

Naphtha

I use oliveoil for that without joke

HOLD THE BUS!!! Before you risk damage to the pickguard using whatever solvent, there is a specialty product just for the goo. Goo-Gone. Yes, that is the name. I have used it on many occasions, and it does not damage whatever you are removing goo from, which other solvents can do.

^^ The active ingredient in Goo Gone is kerosene (petroleum based). It IS a solvent.

Telling you, just use naphtha, it's effective and 100% safe for the finish and plastics. Readily available and cheap (Ronsonol lighter fluid is the same stuff).

I really like thin nylon guitar picks for getting under the edge of stickers and then peeling them off. Consider taking the pickguard off before applying products to remove the gunk.

Either naphtha or Goo Gone should work fine on pickguard acrylic. However, do it carefully and try to keep it away from any screw holes. One strange thing about Plexiglas and other acrylic sheet products is that working them - cutting drilling, sanding, etc. builds up stress inside the plastic. If you get solvent inside a cut or drilled edge, it will sometimes cause it to form small cracks around that spot. The fix for this is to anneal the plastic after working on it, sticking in in a low oven to heat up and than allowing it to cool down slowly and naturally. This greatly reduces the stress and the chances that it will crack from solvents or even from being painted, like on back-painted guards. I don't know whether or not the factory or other custom guard makers do this, so just for extra safety, avoid getting any solvent-based products on the worked edges and in the screw holes in acrylic pick guards.

Thanks everyone!

As mentioned, Goo Gone. Works every time and does no damage.

Saliva, finger pad, and elbow grease.

This is why you remove the sticker immediately.