paint!

Hi guys, I've been given a guitar to fix this week and theres two massive problems that I'm not sure about.

The first is removing enamel paint that the kid has used to paint pretty pictures onto the body with. I don't want to destroy the original finish but I'm not sure what to do without scraping.

The other is the neck. He accidentally decapitated it. It's a fairly clean break and both pieces are intact, its just the actual re-attaching I'm unsure about. Is PVA glue a good idea and will it stand up to string tension? Will it set nicely and smoothly or am I likely to need to sand it?

Any help on this I'd really appreciate. The poor kid's been in tears all week!

If your not an expierienced luthier, mabey you should give it back and tell him to take it to one. I don't want to sound like an ***hole, but its better its done right than having the neck come undone while the strings are tuned and tense. Unless it a bolt-on, then its cake.

As far as the paint, the clearcoat finish isn't a good surface for any paint to cling to, so you could probably just use some warm water and a rag, or use a plastic razor blade to scrape away the paint, leaving the body un-scratched.

Hey, thanks for replying

I've never done a neck job before so I've offered to do it for free as long as he realises it may not be perfect (which he's fine with). I need the practice, he needs the job doing so it's fair. Luckily its a bolt-on so if it fails then he can get a replacement.

As for the paint, I'll try that thanks :)