Safely remove Technics decal how?

DCDi

Active Member
Hi guys,
I have good news and bad news;
Good news is i just bought a Technics SL1600mk2 in mint condition. Yaay!!
Bad news it is Japan model.
I already have a dead 1600mk2 with the european 220V Technics decal at the back and the multivoltage warning sticker next to it both in great shape.
I already protected the decals as i planned to repaint the old plinth. It came with many scratches.
I would like to move the stickers to the new table without destroying it because my old plinth looks terrible and needs repainting and the new one is perfect like new.
Yes i could leave it alone, but i'm a helpless perfectionist!

On the bottom plate i have 4 (yes four!!) stickers with the same serial number.
No idea why. I tried for test, heating it with a hot air gun but the paper is so old it just falls apart when i try to remove it.

And i have only one shot with the Technics logo sticker.

On my old 1600mk1 the Technics logo came off by itself. Talk about irony!

Any ideas??

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i've removed various stickers from cars, motorcycles....i saved the pioneer logo off of the original cover on my pl518 and transferred it to the new cover.........but there is never any guarantee.
So, i use a variable temp heat gun , that's a must.......and a brand new single edged razor blade......and then i cross my fingers.....I begin to work the blade under the sticker slowly....and i mean slowly.........understand that a razor blade edge has a bevel on it so i hold the blade at an angle that hopefully keeps the blade edge flat so that it will not cut into the sticker.........just know that sometimes, it just won't come off without damage....If you start to get the edge up, then a good pair of tweezers and gentle tugging along with the heat gun directed at the seam may work.
As someone else mentioned, I'd take good pics of it before i'd try to take it off.....
There are people out there that could reproduce it for you from pictures and measurements, but it will not be cheap.....
if the surface of your TT is " pebbly" ( like my Pl 518) and not smooth......It will make getting that sticker off extremely hard.....
WD 40 is a good dissolving glues....and not affecting the printing...but not a paper sticker...
If you use WD-40 however, it will neutralize the glue and require that to be removed so you can apply new glue to restick it...........catch 22's
 
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Just a thought - if you were to cover the sticker with a self-adhesive plastic sheet (good quality tape?), it would stabilize the sticker as you remove it with a single-edged razor blade.
 
If you are handy with a computer, you can go to a hobby shop and buy blank decals for several dollars. They come with a white or transparent backing, make sure you get the right one. You can copy the original decal or create one using MS Word or Publisher. You then print the decal on a printer. Voila! Brand new decal.

You will have to buy the white backed decal to print the black label. You would print the black background over the white to get whire text. You will need a high resolution ink-jet to print fine. The only issue I can see is that the ink may bleed from some printers.
 
Thanks everyone for ideas.
@TomInTacoma that is exactly what i did.
Anyways, i managed to remove both stickers really easy. They are not plain paper but some kind of aluminum foil?
They were taped over with yellow tape. You know the one you use to protect the door corners when you paint a wall.
This tape is great, holds on really good but does not leave glue residue on the sticker.
The black sticker is a little wrinkly but i can fix it with an iron :)
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I stripped the paint from the plinth down to raw aluminum. It is ready for painting.
Now, the hard part is to find spray paint as close as possible to original Technics color
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And this is how it was covered with tape before.
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