Welcome!

There have been many threads on this subject, try searching for them.

My personal experience is pretty much what your doing only I would spray lacquer thinner to soften the glue then remove it with a putty knife. It is a sticky gooey mess but it is what it is. After I get the glue off I wipe the shell down with a thinner rag to remove any last bit of residue. I like the shell to be completely clean, dont want to risk the chance of old adhesive reacting to new adhesive in a bad way.

I don't know for sure what type of glue Sonor was using back then. If it is indeed contact cement, jc nailed it with lacquer thinner and scraping. It sucks but it's about the only thing that works. If it isn't contact cement, try steam.

Personally I prefer sanding. Course paper, yes it's messy too sometimes, the old adhesive melts and gums up the paper but it's still the fastest and easiest method I've tried.

I was stripping an old shell once and encountered the same issue. None of the chemical concoctions I tried would cut the stuff at all. Even sanding it was slow going. What eventually did work was hot soapy water, steel wool, and LOTS of elbow grease. Turns out that the glue used for the wrap on this particular drum was some type of hide glue. So the chemicals wouldn't effect its organic nature but good old mild mannered H2O would slowly eat it away.

Not saying that's the answer in your case but it might be worth a try to rule it out.

Thanks all for the advice. I definitely think it's contact cement. Will try sanding but will persist with acetone and/or lacquer thinner too.

Acetone in a spray bottle and a really sharp paint scraper, it will make quick work of it.

You should clamp the shell to a bench so you can use both hands.

I saw this in my local hardware store yesterday. I haven't used it before, but it might be worth a shot?

Didn’t work for me

So, now that we know many great ways how to remove glue from a shell, how about from the back side of the wrap?

I just stripped off the wrap from a Rogers FT (courtesy of Mike mchair303, THANKS Mike) using a heat gun and putty knife. I will be using it to re-wrap another shell.

Any hints or advice so I don't destroy this beautiful very hard to come by wrap?

Michael