Removing Soundhole Label ??

[duluthdan]

Didn’t realize that asking a rather simple “how-to” question would kick over a hornets nest. Sometimes you just get an itch and you want to scratch it. Or a guy shows up to a funeral in a black suit wearing brown shoes, and though that’s not wrong, it sometimes seems a bit out of place. Same with this orange label to me.

 

So, three ideas came forth, and let me tell you what I have found out.

 

The factory has used 2 methods to affix labels. Sometimes it’s a “peel-n-stick” affair, and sometimes its Tite-Bond. Reportedly they are both much easier to remove when new. The one in my J45 TV is 8 years old, and is a bit on the dry side, almost brittle, so removing it without destroying it, or the guitar would be a rather delicate procedure,

 

Because of the Tite-Bond also being used to secure the back strip and seam, I am reluctant to experiment with any sort of solvent, ie Naptha. The risk-reward thing is just not worth it me thinks.

 

The next idea is the application of a gentle heat – a damp hot cloth, or perhaps a medium heat with a blow dryer. I tried the blow dryer. Did not work. So it goes.

 

I am mindful too that this particular guitar has a bit of legacy to it. David Hidalgo used it on the Los Lobos acoustic album – David told me the story of how it was stolen from the studio and later recovered, uncased, in the back of a pickup truck on the LA Freeway, having sustained an 18 inch crack in the side – now since repaired and is stable.

 

You Can’t Always Get What You Want…

 

Smile Fierce !!!

 

[blindboygrunt]

Get a photo of a guitar with no label

Print it out , cut around the shape of the label and stick it over the top of the orange one !

[sbpark]

I think the D'Addario tuner and volume wheel on the lower end of the sound hole is more unsightly than the label.

[Boyd]

Does not look the least bit out of place to me from your photo. But of course, that's none of my business.

[E-minor7]

Ahaa, , , , no guard either - forgot that. A pattern tells me you want the 45 stripped, naked and raw and why not.

The body-shape of these slopes is so well proportioned and I know from my guard 1953'er.

But here's an idea :

Put on a glove and hold an almost boiling hot piece of cloth 'gainst the paper from the other side of a plastic bag or some other waterproof protecting membrane.

press - lift - press - lift - fiddle - press - lift - check - fiddle etc. .

 

[Lars68]

I would not worry for a second about using naphta. The amount needed is very, very small. It took me seconds to remove the label from my guitar using it. Should it not work, no harm will be done. It won't leave any marks, neither in the wood nor on the label. Just make sure to apply it with a damp cloth in a controlled manner.

 

Lars

[QuestionMark]

Didn’t realize that asking a rather simple “how-to” question would kick over a hornets nest. Sometimes you just get an itch and you want to scratch it. Or a guy shows up to a funeral in a black suit wearing brown shoes, and though that’s not wrong, it sometimes seems a bit out of place. Same with this orange label to me.

 

So, three ideas came forth, and let me tell you what I have found out.

 

The factory has used 2 methods to affix labels. Sometimes it’s a “peel-n-stick” affair, and sometimes its Tite-Bond. Reportedly they are both much easier to remove when new. The one in my J45 TV is 8 years old, and is a bit on the dry side, almost brittle, so removing it without destroying it, or the guitar would be a rather delicate procedure,

 

Because of the Tite-Bond also being used to secure the back strip and seam, I am reluctant to experiment with any sort of solvent, ie Naptha. The risk-reward thing is just not worth it me thinks.

 

The next idea is the application of a gentle heat – a damp hot cloth, or perhaps a medium heat with a blow dryer. I tried the blow dryer. Did not work. So it goes.

 

I am mindful too that this particular guitar has a bit of legacy to it. David Hidalgo used it on the Los Lobos acoustic album – David told me the story of how it was stolen from the studio and later recovered, uncased, in the back of a pickup truck on the LA Freeway, having sustained an 18 inch crack in the side – now since repaired and is stable.

 

You Can’t Always Get What You Want…

 

Smile Fierce !!!

 

 

So let me get this straight. The guitar was once lost or stolen and then found...and, then identified as the lost or stolen guitar (now with a crack that has been repaired), and it would have had to have been identified as the lost or stolen instrument presumably by the label that is now in the guitar (with its model number and serial number)...and, now despite that you now want to remove the very label in it that caused (or significantly contributed) to it being identified. Whew....so much for preserving its unique history and identifier.

 

One can't make this stuff up.

 

Perhaps I am not reading the story, correctly?

 

I suggest leaving the label where it is because it is an essential part of the unique history and story behind this guitar. Plus, it looks just fine!

 

But, of course it is your guitar to do as you please with. Keep us posted with what you decide and actually do with the various feedback you've received.

 

Just my two cents.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

[AnneS]

Get a photo of a guitar with no label

Print it out , cut around the shape of the label and stick it over the top of the orange one !

Okay, Mr. Knicker-twister is also a sly genius. 😅

[mojoworking]

"Union Made". I wonder if they even have unions in China? Probably not. Our demand for cheap goods has made sure of that.

 

After 53 years, all I can say is I'm so glad no one tried to remove this label

 

[QuestionMark]

 

I wonder if they even have unions in China? Probably not.

 

 

 

Uh...the whole country of China is a labor union. China is ruled by the Communist Party of China. You know, workers of the world unite. Karl Marx, Chairman Mao's revolution. Have you forgotten your world history? China is not a democracy or capitalistic country. It is a communist country where the whole nation is a centrally controlled communist labor union.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

[mojoworking]

Uh...the whole country of China is a labor union. China is ruled by the Communist Party of China. You know, workers of the world unite. Karl Marx, Chairman Mao's revolution. Have you forgotten your world history? China is not a democracy or capitalistic country. It is a communist country where the whole nation is a centrally controlled communist labor union.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

 

Yes, but soul-destroying sweatshop labour and a job for life is not the same thing as basic human rights and decent working conditions. The suicide nets around the Apple iPhone factory to stop over-worked and stressed employees leaping to their deaths is evidence of that.

[QuestionMark]

Yes, but soul-destroying sweatshop labour and a job for life is not the same thing as basic human rights and decent working conditions. The suicide nets around the Apple iPhone factory to stop over-worked and stressed employees leaping to their deaths is evidence of that.

 

All true and I totally agree. But, you asked if China has unions and then you said probably not. It does, but their union is not like the unions in the US where they are formed to protect its workers and increase their wages and actually do that. Although, conceptually China's communist revolution claimed it would do that, but doesn't do that except to the degree that it only provides a job, usually with low pay and bad conditions. But, it is a labor union in China none the less albeit not a labor union in a capitalistic or free market economy.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

[mojoworking]

All true and I totally agree. But, you asked if China has unions and then you said probably not. It does, but their union is not like the unions in the US where they are formed to protect its workers and increase their wages and actually do that. Although, conceptually China's communist revolution claimed it would do that, but doesn't do that except to the degree that it only provides a job, usually with low pay and bad conditions. But, it is a labor union in China none the less albeit not a labor union in a capitalistic or free market economy.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

 

As you say, the unions in China are not like the unions in America, which was exactly my point, although perhaps I didn't express it as clearly as that.

 

When I saw the "union made" label inside my 1964 Epiphone Texan, it conjured up an image of proud, well-paid American craftsmen creating top quality instruments which would be cherished for a lifetime.

 

That's not the mental image I get when I think of factories in China and the far east.

[QuestionMark]

As you say, the unions in China are not like the unions in America, which was exactly my point.

 

When I saw the "union made" label inside my 1964 Epiphone Texan, it conjured up an image of proud, well-paid American craftsmen creating top quality instruments which would be cherished for a lifetime.

 

That's not the mental image I get when I think of factories in China and the far east.

 

Agree, again. Except, I do have to say that in very recent years some of the Epiphone instruments coming out of China (and Indonesia) are surprisingly beginning to be (or are already) high quality instruments, especially for the money. Now, its true that they are instruments that are partnered with and designed by Epiphone in the US, but, the quality of those overseas made instruments is significantly better than it used to be. Although, I have no idea of the working conditions or the wages in those factories. Now, I am not saying all of those instruments are high quality, but some of them certainly have reached that level or are pretty darn close to being pretty high quality. Especially for the money. That is a radical change from the quality they used to be. Can or will the US influence China

to upgrade its working condition and wages and human rights awareness...that remains to be seen. (Although I would hope so.)

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

[Boyd]

Excellent.... it only took 64 posts to get from removing a label to "basic human rights"!

[QuestionMark]

Excellent.... it only took 64 posts to get from removing a label to "basic human rights"!

 

With a stopover in China history and a Jimmy Hoffa reminder to boot...

 

One can't make this stuff up😄

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

[Boyd]

Hopefully we can cover racial injustice and nuclear proliferation on page 5.

[Victory Pete]

"Union Made". I wonder if they even have unions in China? Probably not. Our demand for cheap goods has made sure of that.

 

After 53 years, all I can say is I'm so glad no one tried to remove this label

 

 

Yes many Americans are Hypocrites, they want "Made In USA" but then run off to Harbor Freight and Wal-Mart looking for something for "Short Money" or "For The Cheap". I am proud of paying "Tall Money" for something well made that I really want and will have for a while.