a crying shame

[helliott***]

Reading marnold's post about finding a wonky pickup in his Tele brought to mind a problem I've been wrestling with. Advice welcome.
My son's turning into a pretty good player, morphing from basketball to music. He wanted a good guitar for a combined birthday Christmas gift, and I found one in a local store. This used PRS CE22 was pretty weathered, but played like a dream and came for a very appealing price.
When I gave it a thorough lookover I found out why. The guy who used to own it put whiteout on every single fret dot on the top of the neck. There's evidence people tried to take it off, but whiteout blends right into the finish, and the finish comes up when you try to scrape it off.
I asked a guitar staffer about history, and he said the guy claimed he was having trouble seeing the fret dots in darkened clubs, so the whiteout was added as a visual aid.
I'm not making this up. When I get a camera running I'll post a photo at some point soon.
Anyway, when I showed it to my son and he played it, he fell in love, warts, whiteout and all, and it's now his prize.
Anyone ever heard about anything like this, or potential solutions?

[Hogfullofblues]

Known white out removal methods (or so I'm told):
fingernail
citrus based detergents
If that doesn't do it, time for organic solvents which get pretty nasty to finishes (in order of strength):
mineral spirits
enamel reducer
paint thinner
acetone (fingernail polish remover)

Be careful and good luck!

[helliott***]

Thanks for the advice.

[Spudman***]

I was going to say acetone, or fingernail polish remover. They are about the same. Speaking of...

How could you tell that the blond was using the computer?

There was whiteout all over the monitor.

[r_a_smith3530]

How about Lemon Oil perhaps?

[Plank_Spanker]

Perhaps lighter fluid? I use it to degunk fretboards and it won't hurt the finish.

[sunvalleylaw]

I was going to say acetone, or fingernail polish remover. They are about the same. Speaking of...

How could you tell that the blond was using the computer?

There was whiteout all over the monitor.

Hey, stop talking about Swede like that!

[oldguy]

I think Hogfulloblues has it nailed down.
Here is a site that may help, but it says pretty much what Hog said....

http://www.wite-out.com/tips/

[Danzego]

Anyone ever heard about anything like this

I have, and it was a much sadder story. Back in high school (early 90's), we were going to a band practice after school, and this one chick who came into association with our group said that she played guitar and had her own. So we told her "cool, bring your guitar to school and come on over".

Now mind you, this is a 14 year old girl (freshman) that was just learning to play.

At practice, she lays down her guitar case and pulls out a sweet ***, old school Les Paul. I'm talking with PAF stickers on the pickups and everything. We freaked out, asked her where she got the guitar (her stepfather just up and gave it to her) and informed her that this guitar shouldn't be travelling around like that, but should be behind glass!! Of course, us guitarists in the crowd each made sure to give it a go 'round before the day was through.

Anyway, the point to the story is that the guitar was in excellent condition save for one thing: she had scrawled, in pen, the number of each fret position going all the way up the side of the neck, just like the white out on the PRS in this thread. We tried everything, but we couldn't get that pen to go completely away (though we didn't have any acetone or anything like that....not that I think I would use something like that on a Paul finish, but I don't know what that would do).

Now THAT'S a tragedy. Whatever the case, there HAS to be a way to get white out off that thing without leaving a permanent mark (or at least something very minor). At least I would think so.

[helliott***]

Lots of good tips, thanks. Let you all know how we fare. Thankfully, the PRS plays like a dream, regardless.