Putting Stickers On A Guitar (Should you, Is it Safe?)

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Many people want to put stickers on their guitars in order to give them a slightly personalized appearance, although they may be small.

However, it is very important to determine whether putting stickers on the guitar is safe in order to make sure that you are not damaging any component.

Stickers may sound pretty harmless and a fun way to accessorize a certain part of your guitar while at the same time expressing your personal style.

Key Takeaways


  • Putting stickers on a guitar can be safe if you pay attention to the guitar components.
  • Stickers will not cause a difference in sound regardless of where they are placed.
  • Excessive placement of stickers on guitar does not look attractive nor professional.
  • Damage can occur during the sticker removal process from a guitar.
  • Safe removal of stickers from guitars can be easily achieved by the use of suitable solvents and removers.

So, is it safe to put stickers on a guitar?

Placing stickers on any part of a guitar is safe, and I’d recommend to any artist or guitar enthusiast to place at least one sticker that gives off your personality in one way or another.

However, there are certain components where you can safely say you can put stickers, and there are certain areas where I wouldn’t recommend based on my experience.

In some areas of the guitar, it can be hard to remove stickers if they are in delicate or tough spots of the guitar where the guitar can easily be prone to damage while removing the residue from the sticker glue.

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Do Stickers Make a Difference in Sound?

Regardless of whether the guitar you are using is acoustic, electric, or bass, it is important to preserve its quality of sound. Many people may believe that putting stickers on some guitar parts may make a difference in sound, but is that really possible?

Luckily, any sticker you choose to put on your guitar will not change the sound that the instrument is known for producing. This allows you to be creative in expressing yourself by putting stickers on the guitar components of your favorite bands or TV characters.

If you notice a difference in the quality of sound after you have put stickers on your guitar, the problem likely stems from something different such as the requirement of replacing your strings or even changing some of the settings.

On which guitar components can you put stickers?

Although it is safe to put stickers on any guitar component you wish, there are certain parts that cannot be affected in any way by the placement of stickers and also will not cause glue stains.

The back part of the guitar is one component that will allow you complete of expressing yourself. This guitar part cannot be seen by many people and will not damage the appearance of the original guitar design.

Another component of a guitar where you can freely place stickers without any problems is the sides of the guitar body(the edge to be more specific). Instead of placing stickers directly on the body, the edges will get attention in a mysterious way, and show your personality in a mysterious way where people have to twist their heads to see it, and that’s pretty cool, right?

Tip: Don’t overdo it with stickers

For some people, putting stickers on many different guitar components may be very fun. However, using a large number of stickers and causing overcrowding can lead to a messy appearance that is not attractive at all.

Putting one or two stickers on the guitar body and five or more stickers on the back part of a guitar may just be enough because in this way you can show everyone that you are not drawing the whole attention to the accessories, but to the quality of sounds you produce.

Some people think that covering their entire guitar with stickers is good and entertaining, but this practice will only make your instrument feel cheap and old. In addition, the glue from the stickers can severely damage some parts of your guitar that are difficult to repair.

Also Read: Whether Guitar Is a Percussion Instrument?

Removing the stickers: Can damage be caused while removing?

Even though it is pretty safe to put stickers on your guitar, damage can occur when you are trying to remove them. Due to the fact that the glue of certain stickers is very strong, it can leave a residue that has to be scraped down in order to be removed.

If the proper solvent is not used for this purpose, the wood material from which a guitar is made will be damaged and difficult to maintain afterward. Apart from that, if your sticker has been placed on your guitar for a long time, it will cause color contrast after removal.

Although high quality instruments such as guitars are known to last a lifetime, their color may not be as long lasting. The wood material goes through a natural process of aging making it darker, whereas the area under the sticker is protected from losing color.

Tip: Do’s & Don’t Do While Removing

After some time of having placed the stickers on your guitar, you may become bored of them and get the urge to remove them. However, if you do not do this in a proper way, you can spread damage throughout the whole guitar and ruin its original quality.

There are special removers made for getting rid of adhesives that can be bought and used for the purpose of safely removing stickers from your guitar. While using these removers, you have to keep in mind that aggressive scraping can only cause further damage.

In addition, before using any type of solvent or adhesive remover for the stickers on your guitar, you have to test how this chemical works on the type of wood your guitar is made out of. Use the back part of the guitar to test this product in case it reacts in a bad way.

Also Read: Find Out How Long do Guitar Strings Last?

Final Words

Guitar stickers are a great way of expressing yourself and your music. However, you always have to be careful how you remove them in order to avoid making a mess of your guitar while removing them.

Although certain components allow safer placement of stickers in comparison to others, generally it is safe to put stickers on any guitar part you want.

Stickers that can be put on a guitar are also a great gift option for someone who loves playing this instrument and creating their own music. Finding a way to express yourself or your personality even through stickers is pretty interesting.

Whether you want to learn about guitars, guitar equipment or other instruments, Guitarsquid has all the answers.