Help! - How to remove headstock inlay?

[Crusher]

I stripped my project Soloist of all paint, the headstock appears to have a glued on inlay with the Jackson logo. When I bought it, it was already peeling and in rough shape. I used a bunch of paint stripper but it's not taking the inlay off. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[sully]

sandpaper and a really good sanding block if you're dead set on removing it.

[Crusher]

D'oh! I was afraid of that....How do I not put too much pressure on the headstock though? I'd really hate to snap it

Thanks!

[DonP]

To avoid putting pressure on it, get a powered hand-held sander. Let the power do the work with light pressure. Make sure to support the headstock from underneath.

[thetruthguy]

I thought there was a way to lift the whole thing off. Wasn't there a thread about that here somewhere?

[rjohnstone]

I thought there was a way to lift the whole thing off. Wasn't there a thread about that here somewhere?

That would be the thread I posted.
The headstock caps are glued on. A little heat and a razor blade is all you need to lift the cap off.
You need to start from the tip and work your way back.
When you are done, it will look something like this.

Be careful not to dig into the wood and use as little heat as possible.




You will need to hand cut the last bit as the cap goes under the fret board.

[Crusher]

Thanks guys! I actually just used some old fashioned elbow grease and carefully sanded by hand starting with 60 grit, then 100, then 150, then 220. I held the guitar upright by the neck with my left hand and sanded with the right. Took about 30 minutes, but I got it down to the bare wood and the surface is nice and smooth

[mm2002]

They don't all have the phenolic overlay, some are painted.

[rjohnstone]

They don't all have the phenolic overlay, some are painted.

Yep... I was gonna mention that.
The painted ones are soo much more easier to deal with.
The problem with the overlay (cap) is that it goes under the fret board, as you can see from the last two pics.
So when you're done removing it, you're left with this little 1/16th inch thick piece under the board. Not a big deal really, but you have to remember to score and cut the cap at the nut before you start pulling it up.
Otherwise you risk seperating the fret board from the neck at the nut.
You can see in the third pic that it started to lift on one side.
Nothing a little glue can't fix though.

[RobRR]

Now I had a bitch of a time getting the painted style off... whats the best way to go about that? For future refrence of course...

[rjohnstone]

Orbital palm sander and a flat bench to rest the head stock on.
Takes about 10 minutes.
Use 80 grit to break it and then go straight to 220 to finish it up.
You will need a sanding block about the size of a pack of smokes to clean up by the fret board.