Unwanted Signatures

[Matt Haugen]

Hi all. I have a 1975 Guild F-30 with a collection of 2 year old signatures on it (black sharpie). I don't want the signatures and have started removing them. I've tried naptha, mineral spirits and polishing compound to no avail. I dug into my sandpapers and soaked a piece of 3000 grit and gave it a try and with some careful polishing I've removed 1. I think this is the only way to finish the job, but was wondering if there are any other options out there. 

[Frank Ford]

Alcohol based sharpie ink can migrate into nitrocellulose lacquer, so I suspect there's not much alternative to sanding it off.   I'd probably go at it with 400 grit with the expectation of using some Cellosolve to promote good adhesion for  spray coats  of clear lacquer, followed by block sanding and buffing.

[Len Biglin]

Hijack alert , does retarder work like celusolve ?

[Matt Haugen]

Thank you Frank. I ended up going to 2000 grit with a good result. Now to bring the shine back and then convert it to a right  handed guitar. 

[jbbancroft]

Unless you really like the guitar, I’d sell it. Probably someone that would like the signatures, maybe?

Jim

[Matt Haugen]

Hi Jim. I probably will end up selling it because it's a lefty and I am not, but I figure the chances of finding a lefty who is a fan of a bunch of relatively unknown musicians decreases my chances of a sale : ).