Remove old rubber?

[ICTGoober]

Someone is bringing me a 1969 Jaguar, and the rubber on the mute has dried out hard as rock. Any ideas to remove it without damaging the mute? I'd assume some kind of chemical to dissolve the foam or soften the old glue.

 

[idsnowdog]

I removed one with a razor blade and removed the residue with WD40.

 

[ICTGoober]

Cool. That will work. Thanks.

 

[Bill Dennis]

Yes, its always advisable to remove old rubbers.

 

[uOpt]

Acetone or Naphtha. But it will be very slow, so removing excess material mechanically will be beneficial.

Use breathing protection.

 

[magillver]

I'm glad someone made the requisite 'old rubbers' joke, my 12-year-old brain was dieing to chime in on that one!

 

[jeremy]

ive also used a razor blade to get the majority off, then a solvent to get the gunk off

 

[ICTGoober]

I applied the Exacto blade and the damn thing practically fell off complete, glue included. Guess it was ready to depart. The new replacement part from Fender went on easy-peasy. Took less than 5 minutes. NO CHARGE.

 

[idsnowdog]

I applied the Exacto blade and the damn thing practically fell off complete, glue included. Guess it was ready to depart. The new replacement part from Fender went on easy-peasy. Took less than 5 minutes. NO CHARGE.

That was my experience with a Rickenbacker bass mute.

 

[80's_Metal]

Yes, its always advisable to remove old rubbers.

There it is!

 

[jeremy]

glad it went so easily!

 

[ICTGoober]

Yeah, my flabbers were gasted.