need some help with glue

many glues are water based. they can safely be removed w
ith water and cloth and elbow grease.
epoxies are different. but they can be removed, but the solvent is more aggressive and could hurt a finish.
the trick is determining what kind of glue was used.
see if somehing damp removes the glue. if not. you could be facing difficulties.
does it chip off? a thought.

Try a guitar pick,

Very carefully try scraping it with the edge of a sharpened pick, there will be less chance of damaging the finish.

Also, and this sounds strange but bear with me, try licking it! or a little saliva on a clean towel, then try a little olive oil, then a little lemon oil, then lighter fluid, then, very carefully, the last two, alcohol and nail polish remover or acetone.

the idea is to go from the weakest solvent to the strongest, I do this on guitars that I can't figure out the finish on. Most modern guitars have a catalysed polymer finish that's pretty hard to damage, but a lot of good Gibbys still use lacquer, alcohol and acetone will take it right off, so be careful. Try going to the Gibson site or a dealer and see if you can find out what's on it.

by the way, you would be surprised what scraping with a pick can do, I once scraped off ALL the finish off an SG when I was younger with one!

Also, and this sounds strange but bear with me, try licking it!
:shock:

at first I was a little nervous where you were going with that one :D :D lol

Thanks alot for the info dogbite, racetruck. The one problem that remains is that i have not bought it yet. I don't want to fix the guitar for them8).

I have been in there to play it 3 or 4 times, but am hesitant because the price is greatly reduced from market value (it is a 98 though), the glue on the back of the neck, and the damaged nut.
The guy couldn't tell me which model it was, but i found out after researching a bit (got the serial#), so I feel they just don't know what it is they have and marked it accordingly.

I will check into the finish.

Good luck with it,

If it's just a nut, that's no big deal, I've bought far worse than that, redoing a nut is actually a good way to get into fixing your own stuff.

The biggest part is reshaping a new nut to fit, a good general rule is to use the old nut as a guide. Glue is only used to keep it from shifting, and to keep it on when you take the strings off. So, therefore only a little is needed! Also , as a general rule for me, I only use white glue, it's easy to clean up and remove if needed, very little chance of damage.

Get the top profile right, cut the right slots in the right position, and adjust the height by removing material from the bottom. Sounds harder than it really is.

If the price is right, you could end up with a really good deal!

Hello Racetruck,

I found out it is Super Glue...now what?

would the same techniques you mentioned still apply??

Acetone or nail polish remover cuts Superglue.

I would still try to scrape off the runs,

Good thing, super glue is hard and brittle, I can usually scrape it off pretty easily, sometimes the back of a Xacto blade held at a right angle and CAREFULLY drawn along the glue will flake it off, sometimes cleanly!

Bad thing, if you have to use the acetone, you have to be careful with the finish, find a small inconspicuous place on the guitar and see if the acetone affects the finish. A lot of poly finishes won't be affected, in fact, nothing I've found will affect these finishes. If it's lacquer, the acetone WILL ruin it.

Another idea is to wet sand the superglue down and polish it up, I've used superglue as a "drop in" fill for chips in finishes, it actually works very well but it does take some experience to do. any of Dan Erlewine's books give instructions on how to do this, actually, his books are really great for anyone who fixes their own stuff. I highly recommend them. It also gives you instructions on how to replace the nut that's broken.

If you can, give me more info on the guitar, model, year, serial number and I can do some research on it, depending on the price, I still think it might be a good deal, how much do they want for the guitar? You said below market price, how much lower?

What I've found out is the more time you put into something, the less it will cost, if I can figure out the finish, I can give you a better plan of operation.

again thanks for the reply.

Its a Epiphone Les Paul Plus w/cherry sunburst, as far as I can see. I believe from the serial it is a 98. The asking price is $240 dollars including gigbag. In my estimation( and i could be wrong) it is under 150. A new one runs anywhere from 500 and up.

The glue is sounding easier to take off, but that leaves the question of the super glue that may or may not be under the nut itself: I am just not sure. If it is will it create problems refitting a new nut?? Does super glue absorb into the pores like other glues?

btw, the wife and I nearly choked on our tea in laughter at your signature there at the bottom:))))

The glue under the nut is the easiest thing to deal with! Take a thin File and sharpen the tang into a slant across its thickness, then take and, keeping the bevel opposite of the direction you scrape and keeping the edge perpendicular to the surface, carefully scrape as much of the glue out. It doesn't take much, like I said it's pretty brittle. A little patience and it will come out pretty easy, besides, after the new nut is on, you won't see it!

I'll start looking into the finish, there's a chance that it has a lacquer finish, but probabily not, (poly).

Glad you like the signature, it's on my Buckel's case! My pap had a bad habit of falling asleep a lot at the drop of a hat. :lol:

If I can put a smile on one face a day, my job is done!