Permanent Marker

The problem will be - anything powerful enough to remove the marker could potentially hurt the finish on the guitar.

I would whatever you use on an inconspicuous spot (under the pickguard?).

Acetone will almost definitely take it off... that is nail polish remover. But, it could easy mess the finish on the guitar.

You can also try a Mr. Clean magic eraser. Those things are amazing.

One last would be gasoline...

Again, try everything on a safe spot first, let it sit overnight to make sure it doesn't affect the finish, then clean it up.

None of these comments are based on personal experience - other than cleaning up after the kids.

Vaseline is known as a good makeup remover, and will also remove camo makeup like hunters use. It seems safe enough, I would give that a try. Some other "safe" cleaners might be;

Baby oil
butter (believe it or not) butter works excellent on removing adhesives...

Try google for some ideas - it's probably been done before. And, go easy on the little guy - he was just having fun! :lol:

Before the computer and laser printers era I used to write the slides with permanent markers by hand. When I made a mistake I erase the wrong part with alcohol (and sometimes cologne if I didn't find alcohol and I was in a hurry).

Be careful if you use acetone, it is very, very strong. I hurt a telephone by trying to remove some adhesive from it.

Anyway, as Lue said, you also could hurt the finish on the guitar. Although it is plastic and not wood, you could try first on the pickguard, you always can change that part in the guitar.

Welcome to the boards, and a couple of thoughts-

Alcohol WILL take permanent marker off, if the surface it's one is non-porous. Test it someplace inconspicuous, though- depending on the finish, it may do damage.

That's where I would start, actually- what is the finish on this guitar? If you find that out, you may get better info about which solvents won't, or will, damage your finish. COuld even ask the manufacturer.

My experience, though- if the surface on this is more porous, and a lot of good finishes are, nothing short of a belt sander is taking it off. If it's "in" the finish (and good permanent markers do their best to get in; it's what makes them permanent) then this is not going to end the way you're hoping. Repainting/finishing could be an option, though costly to have done and difficult and labor-intensive to do.

Which takes me to my final thought- I think the guitar looks as cool as heck with the scribbles on it. Sort of funky, sort of road-worn, sort of real life, real rock and roll, real this axe has been around the block and still singin kind of thing. What kind of music does your hubby play? I play in sort of an alternative/indy/punkish kind of band, and I would LOVE to perform with a guitar looking like that.

Kids leave their marks. To me, anything that doesn't damage the way a guitar plays, just makes it cooler.

Best,
Ande

PS- if my wife is reading this, NOT the one with the natural wood finish. If you get the idea that it might be fun to decorate guitars with the neighborhood kids, either bass is cool, but leave the neck-through alone!

try lighter fluid....unlit.

wd40 will not harm finish,can be used on white board also,and on glue after a sticker has been removed,and lots of other uses

I'm serious- Don't take it off! get other colours. Get some orange and green on there, and play PUNK with it!

Or throw on random silver paint splotches, and white-out. Then it's for alternative rock.

For nu-metal, stay at it with the black permanent marker, but keep going until you cover almost all the original colour.

Or maybe...maybe I have no taste, and my idea of what makes a cool looking guitar is out of line.

But the finish here is probably finished. Maybe the owner wishes it wasn't (and I hope it works out) but permanent marker that doesn't come off right away, often doesn't come off at all. Whiteboards and whatnot are a different story- they were built to be totally non-porous, to make them as erasable as possible. But most guitar finishes will absort tincture in alcohol or other solvents, which is what a permanent marker is.

Most likely, this isn't coming off.

So I'd recommend that the guy learns to like the look.

How about this- It's a reminder that you've got a great tele, and you have a SON! You are blessed, even though there's magic marker all over your guitar. Now go rock out.

Best,
Ande