Hey everyone

I just got a new Highway 1 Strat for Christmas and I put a vinyl sticker on it (Kid A's bear face thing, whatever you call it), but I decided it looked stupid today so I decided to take it off.

It was kind of hard, peeling it up was easy but it left residue so i used a combo of an eraser, some guitar polish, and Goo Gone (with some trepidation, it was fine) to get it off. Now however, there is the very faint image of the sticker left in the finish, like the area around where it was is more polished and the area underneath is a little dull.

Has anyone had experience removing stickers? Any idea how I can get rid of it or am i stuck with my mistake?

In the future, WD-40 works great for removing that sticky glue residue.

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2010 American Deluxe Strat Sunset Metallic - Lindy Fralin Blues Specials in the neck and middle, Dimarzio AT-1 humbucker in the bridge.
PRS Custom 22 with solid rosewood neck
Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne 1x12 combo
DRRI

I do not recommend using WD-40 anywhere near a guitar.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Certainly not on a guitar with a nitro finish! Good way to destroy your paint.

Highway 1 guitars have a flat "unpolished" finish. If you rub it with a polish cloth you basically rub off some of the paint and it created a glossy spot. You get the same gloss on the areas of the finish that make usual contact with your hand, arm, pick, etc. The paint on the Highway 1's is thin too - I wouldn't go trying to dull it up again otherwise you may end up with a bare spot. I think you're stuck with your glossy spot. Unless of course you rub down the rest of the guitar in the same way and polish the whole thing up.

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Your best bet is to not put stickers on your guitar.

automotive wax safe for clear coats is best

I have a ghost spot on a used tele. I think its due to a chemical reaction and maybe sunlight that has left its spot there. I've polished the guitar a few times, but can still see it, at close inspection. Maybe a professional buff job might work, but if its not that bad, I wouldn't chance making it worst. I treat my ghost spot as part of the guitars character. good luck.

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2012 American Vintage Telecaster 1958
09 Fender american deluxe strat.
97 Gibson les paul special P90's double-cut
65 Princeton reverb re-issue
2010 Guild Gad-F40e

When I read that you'd put a sticker on a Highway's nitro finish, I physically flinched.

That finish is just so damned delicate. For me that's a good thing because I wanted it to wear quickly and show the life it's getting. But for others it's a real problem.

As said earlier, as the finish is now hand polished around the sticker, you're rather stuffed. Eventually the spot where where the sticker was will polish up too, and it will start to look better. But I guess you'll probably always see evidence of it.

Perhaps it's just me, but sometimes I get the impression from posts like these that we spend too much time looking at (and fretting!) about our instruments and not enough time to playing them. I love all my guitars, but never forget they are tools to do a job. But that's just my 2c worth.

Actually a thought occurs..

Put the sticker back on, practise really hard and become a world famous player. Then in years to come, the Fender Custom Shop will have to go through agonies trying to replicate the sticker for your £20,000 strictly ltd edition signature guitar..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Not on a Highway 1 finish it's not. There is no clear coat on these guitars.

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Is nitro color any different than nitro clear? I have used it on two guitars I have with nitro finish with no ill effects.

I'd go over the whole body lightly with the Fender/McGuire's swirl & haze remover. Emphasis on the lightly. You've lost the dullness of that area forever and if you want to rescue the look, your best bet will be to go over that area (and the rest of the body), with the very fine cleaner/polish. Use a cloth (moistened with a touch of guitar polish) rather than a sponge polish applicator to reduce the amount of cut and you should see an even finish without much effort at all. That, or leave it alone. The main point of the nitro finish is to wear-in and show the mojo a lot easier than waiting 40 years for a poly finish to start to wear thin.

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60th Anniversary AD Strat, Deluxe Nashville Tele, Player's P Bass. Mesa/Boogie Mk IV combo, Marshall JCM800, 1960A cab, Genz Benz El Diablo 60, Genz 2x12" cab, too many neat little practice amps and kit projects!

You are trying to back on an outer layer of finish that come off with the sticker not going to happen.

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