How to Remove Stickers from a Guitar or Bass

Removing stickers from your guitar or bass is a simple enough task once you have the right tools! I tried rubbing alcohol, finger nail polish, water, and picking at the sticker but after no luck and searching around the internet I found Goof Off. Goof off is a sticker removal liquid. I’m sure any of their competitors work just as well, but for now I’ll vouch for them.

Tools:

Remove guitar stickers
  • Goof Off or other sticker removing product such as Goo Gone
  • An old broken guitar pick
  • Damp paper towels or micro fiber cloth and guitar polish
  • Some gloves, I didn’t wear any, but I really should have…
  • Also maybe some eye protection, you never wanna Goof Off in your eye!

Steps:

  1. Put on your gloves and eye wear. Gotta protect yo neck!
  2. Test the Goof Off on your guitar finish to make sure it doesn’t harm it. Proceed if you’re happy with the results.
  3. Pour a small amount of Goof Off onto the sticker and around it.
  4. Scrape at the sticker with the pick, attempting to remove it in as big of chunks as possible.
  5. Apply more Goof Off as needed until the sticker is completely removed.
  6. Remove any additional residue with more Goof Off.
  7. Wipe the area clean with a damp towel.
Remove Guitar Stickers
Much cleaner!

Removal was as simple as applying Goof Off to the sticker and scraping at it with the guitar pick and wiping off the residue with damp paper towels. I will note that by time I was finished getting the sticker off, the Goof Off dissolved a portion of my old pick. My pick and guitar are both black so I’m not sure if this could discolor your guitar paint. Make sure to test.

*No offense to The Living End. I’m sure they were a great band…I wish they had better stickers. 😂