Advice needed - removing neck grip

[Riptide]

Hey all,

 

It’s been a hot minute since I posted here. Anyway, I recently aquired a Epiphone ES-333 Tom Delonge signature model and it has some sort of grip material added to the neck, I’m looking for advice on 1. What it is and 2. How to remove it without damaging the instrument.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

https://www.imgur.com/qFWTrHeh.jpg

 

https://www.imgur.com/PrF1h2Ch.jpg

 

EDIT: Fixed links.

[Dennis G]

Hey all,

 

It’s been a hot minute since I posted here. Anyway, I recently aquired a Epiphone ES-333 Tom Delonge signature model and it has some sort of grip material added to the neck, I’m looking for advice on 1. What it is and 2. How to remove it without damaging the instrument.

 

Thanks in advance!

First off, the links didn'w work (at least fmr me, but then again I am internet retarded);

Second, if the point is the finish on the neck of Epi guitars, thanks to Brad1 here, I have taken a grocery store scotchbrite pad to the neck (forewarned, not a lot of pressure is required) and that fixes the problem, and

Third, if this has nothing to do with your original postm then forget I ever responded, LOL.

[Riptide]

First off, the links didn'w work (at least fmr me, but then again I am internet retarded);

Second, if the point is the finish on the neck of Epi guitars, thanks to Brad1 here, I have taken a grocery store scotchbrite pad to the neck (forewarned, not a lot of pressure is required) and that fixes the problem, and

Third, if this has nothing to do with your original postm then forget I ever responded, LOL.

 

Thanks for the reply. Fixed links to work on PC, I had posted them on mobile.

 

I use scotchbrite for a lot of things, wouldn't work for this though as it is a glue like material. Need something more heavy duty.

[Yorgle]

I've never heard of any kind of "grip" material for guitar necks. It's either years of accumulated goop or gunk, in which case you can probably remove it by wiping it down with Naptha or lighter fluid. Or perhaps a previous owner refinished the neck and the finish didn't fully cure, in which case you'll have to strip it down to wood and refinish it. Are any other areas of the guitar sticky?

[Col Mustard]

I have never heard of any "grip" materiel added to the back of a guitar neck

by any player I know, or by anyone on any forum that I visit.

 

So I say: It doesn't matter what it is, or why the previous owner did this.

The only thing that matters is to get it off there.

 

I agree with the above post that you should clean the back of the neck well.

I would try Windex first. Then the Naphtha. Apply with a rag, and if gunk

comes off, throw that away and get another rag and continue.

 

Then I would work with the green kitchen scrubbie. These work very well.

If it gets clogged with goop, throw it away and get anther one. They are cheap.

 

Next I would use sandpaper. I would use 220 grit, and see if this does anything.

If not, go up a grade in coarseness and use 150 grit. Remove the gunk from the

back of the neck. Take it down to the wood. Then use the 220 grit again.

 

Lots of us do this, and then leave it that way. I have a Squier "rescue" bass that

was given to me in really bad condition. The back of the neck was all chewed up

like guys had been dropping the bass on a pile of bricks or cinder blocks.

 

So I sanded it down, smoothed it with 220 grit, and then with steel wool.

(do this outside, on a windy day, with the wind blowing all the little steel bits AWAY

from your pickups. The magnets will attract the steel bits and short out your

instrument faster than you can say Henry Juskiewitz.

 

The bare wood neck feels great (It probably still has some grain filler in it)

and has given no problems. Lots of players sand the back of the neck down

to bare, especially on instruments that are covered in plasticky polyurethane.

[Big Bill]

What in the hell could end up on the back a neck that would be that hard to get off. Was the previous owner playing at Texas BBQ's and not washing hands after eating a rack of ribs smothered in molasses?

[Lord Summerisle]

Taking a wild guess here (as you didn't say it was along the entire neck, and I can't get the photos to open).

 

A small number of people like to use wide strips of duct tape on the back of the neck as "markers" to feel where certain frets are. Personally, it would drive me crazy, but there are some who like to do it.

 

Could be tape residue? Duct tape is nasty, sticky stuff. In which case, I don't know - assuming the neck is poly finished - Goo Gone?

[mihcmac]

Hey all,

 

It's been a hot minute since I posted here. Anyway, I recently aquired a Epiphone ES-333 Tom Delonge signature model and it has some sort of grip material added to the neck, I'm looking for advice on 1. What it is and 2. How to remove it without damaging the instrument.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

https://www.imgur.com/qFWTrHeh.jpg

 

https://www.imgur.com/PrF1h2Ch.jpg

 

EDIT: Fixed links.

 

**********I linked the photos into your post reply..**********

I have never seen anyone do this to a guitar.. I would carefully peel it off then cleanup with something non destructive like Goo Gone, maybe.. Like Lord Summerisle said..

[MikeRom]

That is really odd. And in a weird place. Could it be a patch for a broken/repaired neck maybe? I don't see any obvious evidence of a break but that was my first thought.

[Yorgle]

That is really weird, but it looks like it should peel off easily enough. Maybe hit it with a hair drier to soften it up a bit first. Epi poly finish is impervious to damn near every solvent known to man, so don’t be afraid to use chemicals to remove any residue.

[kidblast]

That is really odd. And in a weird place. Could it be a patch for a broken/repaired neck maybe? I don't see any obvious evidence of a break but that was my first thought.

 

same here, no other reasonable explanation comes to mind.

[Lord Summerisle]

same here, no other reasonable explanation comes to mind.

 

The previous owner had huge hands and only ever played open chords?

[NighthawkChris]

OMG get that thing off of there NOW!!!

[Dennis G]

Now that I see the pics, I can understand. I can't imagine this ever being a "factory" thing, only a preference by a prior owner (and who knows why, eh?). Almost looks like self adhesive bubble wrap. In any event, I think Col Mustard hit on a refinishing method after, of course, getting rid of that ugly whateveritis on the neck. Keep us posted, please

[Col Mustard]

yuck, that looks horrible.

 

what I wrote was talking about some thin coat of gunk that you could scrub off.

But this looks like you should try and peel it off by grabbing it with a needle nose

and getting your drummer to hold the guitar body and pull.

 

Maybe heating it with a hair dryer would help, maybe it would make it worse...

But I would try it. Heat it up, and try and pull it off.

 

Then you can scrub the neck according to my suggestions if you wish.

[dReit1]

That is strange. Looks like some sort of plastic compression bandage or similar.

If it can't be pulled or scraped off, I would try wetting a Q-tip with naptha and touching it to a small spot to see what happened.

If the naptha cuts threw it,carefully wash and scrap until it's all gone.

If naptha doesn't cut it, try the same procedure with lacquer thinner.

If neither of those work, I would try a Q-tip with a small amount of acetone.(VERY SMALL AMOUNT)

If it's plastic, acetone will dissolve it. And probably pretty quickly. So be ready with some warm water to flush and stop all reaction. The acetone will

pretty much ruin any and all guitar finish so be ready to put the brakes on as soon as you see wood.

 

I hope that helps.

D

 

P.S. I am in the group that thinks that someone put that on to cover something up. I hope I'm wrong.

[Big Bill]

That is really odd. And in a weird place. Could it be a patch for a broken/repaired neck maybe? I don't see any obvious evidence of a break but that was my first thought.

 

That's the only thing that make sense to me too. Looks like cotton gauze saturated in epoxy resin or something.

[kidblast]

That's the only thing that make sense to me too. Looks like cotton gauze saturated in epoxy resin or something.

 

 

My hunch is this is going to be one b!tch of an ordeal to remove it. There has to be something equally as nasty under it tho.. why else?

[Big Bill]

My hunch is this is going to be one b!tch of an ordeal to remove it. There has to be something equally as nasty under it tho.. why else?

 

Exactly, my gut tells me that thing will get worse if an attempt is made to remove it. I hope we're wrong.

[Col Mustard]

So here's another suggestion no one has mentioned, but which I always recommend

when somebody comes aboard with a "newly acquired' instrument:

 

Professional setup. Take this baby to the best luthier you can find/afford, and

get it set up properly. Pay the luthier extra to remove the patch, and fix the broken

neck underneath it. Then he can get the neck straight, check the frets for level,

check the nut slots to make sure they are cut right for the strings you prefer,

set the pickup height, radius the pole pieces, set the bridge height for best action

and set the intonation for your preferred string gauge. All this will cost you some money

but enhance your guitar experience so much that you'll wonder why you didn't do it first.

 

Sometimes ya need professional help. Sometimes yer plumbing backs up, and you

don't know where the problem is, and yer afraid to find out the hard way.

Then ya call for assistance from someone who's got the right tools and experience

to put things right.

[Lord Summerisle]

May sound strange, but I'm optimistic that stuff isn't there to cover up a poorly-fixed neck break. I was half joking before, but I still wonder if it wasn't some sort of improvised orthopedic aid for the previous owner.