software

OK, so, i'm workin on an old ibanez destroyer from the 80's, one of the smaller-bodied ones with the extra cutaway. I've been stripping the black paint off of it, and have just noticed that it's got black binding all around the top of the body.

thats a good quot;?????????quot; inducing design right there. Why make the binding black if the guitar is black? anyways...

So, i need to figure out a good way to get rid of the old black binding (cause its kinda melted now, used some insane paint stripper to get rid of the polyurethane finish ) without damaging the body of the guitar. Can anybody suggest a good solvent or somthing? I'm open to anything really, as long as its cheap.

Thanks in advance guys.

Here is a post made by someone replacing neck biniding. Assuming it is the same material, you may be able to soften it with a heat gun. That is what he did. I'm sure people here will give you ideas, but if not ask Charlie at the SG forum. He's a moderator over there and a really nice guy. He does refins all the time.

1st thing I can think of is some more of the paint stripper that melted it?
Then a razor to skillfully/carefully remove the rest from the channel
without destroying the channel. Hopefully Zerb's or JohnJohn will chime
in with the way the Pro's remove binding.(maybe a heated blade or just
route it out?)

Hmmm.... I know how to install binding but, I cant think of the best way to remove it. I dont think routing it out will be a good idea at all. It will melt it and gum up your router bit in a hurry. It will also whip around and possibly damage the body also. To reinstall the new binding, make sure the channel is in good shape and free of any glue. As far as the binding being melted, paint stripper or acetone will destroy binding like that in a heartbeat. The heat gun may work. I use a heat gun to install binding. I use it to lightly bend the binding before I glue it up so the binding will not be under tension when glued. If it is, it may come loose quickly.