External pickup residue

[Blueglass]

I would like information on how to remove the black residue left on my mandolin from a Macintyre external mount pickup. It is this black gooey stuff used to stick the pickup on. It has left this black dot on my mandolin and I would like to get it off. Scraping it doesn't seem to work.

[Rob Grant]

I think they use double-sided tape to install these. Usually a small drop of mineral turps will help remove the residue. This, of course, will depend on whether the person who installed the thing used the factory adhesive. Also, check out your finish. Mineral turps shouldn't affect nitro or f.p., but may soften oil based finishes... be careful!!!

[El Rey del Mando]

You should be able to get that stuff off with WD40. Believe it or not.It will not hurt the finish either.Be sure to use a very soft cloth when you rub on it.Put the WD40 on the rag first.This stuff will remove almost all of that kind of glue residue.Try it !

John

[Nolan]

Dude, Lemon oil.
They sell it in music stores for fret boards and stuff, it takes it right off and is safe. Probably any of the citrus oils will work though. I use some kind of orange stuff to take the wax off my surfboard and that stuff is about as sticky and gross as anything.

[mandodude]

Blueglass,

Use a little ball of the black McIntyre putty itself to "pick" it off. Just sorta dab at the black dot with the putty ball and little by little it'll lift all the residue off. Worked like magic for me!

[Greg H.]

I asked a local repairman the same question and he recommended Naptha (lighter fluid). Worked like a charm! (If you have a varnish finish ignore this suggestion!!!!)

[mandodude]

Blueglass,

PLEASE! Try my method before you go attacking your axe with any chemicals. I'm tellin' ya, man... it works! As they say - I've "been there, done that!"

[Blueglass]

Thanks for the comments. I did try mandodude's idea first. However, there is still some stubborn stuff left. My mandolin has a matte finish on the top. I think I'll try the citris oil first before getting out the toxic stuff. IF you guys wnat I let you know how it goes.
blueglass

[Nolan]

Ooooo, matte finish?
Is it a F-9 or MT? You may polish up the area while removing the residue....

I had the residue problem on my MT2g and the Lemon oil worked really really well but it has the shiny finish.

[Greg H.]

With a Nitro finish the naptha is a fairly standard method of cleaning an instrument (among the repairmen I spoke with). I was doing this on an Apitius F5 so you can bet I asked around before doing it, but it proved quite effective and did no harm to the mandolin (other than clean it up for the first time in months).