How can I strip a Poly finish from a neck and retain the decal?

[Soloshchenko]

Hi, at the minute I'm stripping down and re finishing a rather nice 70s Columbus Jazz bass  and am a bit stumped on what to do with the neck. I'm going for a nitro finish on the body and neck.

I've removed the body's Poly finish and am just about to start on the neck and while orginally I was going do a custom decal I'm now swaying towards retaining the original. My question is, how would I do this without it looking sh*t? I'm removing the neck poly with sand paper, should I just leave the top face of the headstock with the poly on? Or would it work to sand off all of the poly finish apart from just on and around the decal?

If it's too much of a pain in the arse I'llgo down the custom decal route as I have a nice idea but just wondering if retaining the Columbus decal is feasible.

Cheers in advance for any tips.

 

[bagman67]

I'm no refinishing professional, but I think you're probably unlikely to be able to save the decal.  What are you using to strip the rest of the neck?

bagman

 

[Mor Paul]

Leave the headstock face how it is.