Looking for advice cleaning off a synth

[Big Wheel]

Hey all -

I have a Roland XP-80 that dates back to 1997. The synth was affected by the "melting pink glue" problem that's affected a lot of Roland instruments of that vintage. Basically the epoxy that fixed the keys in place broke down or melted and leaked all over the thing while it sat in my old room at my mom's house in Florida, sometime between September 2000 and 2008. I didn't notice the problem until late 2008 when I finally decided to start playing the instrument again.

The good news: Roland replaced the whole key assembly for free and the unit seems to work fine.

The bad news: they didn't go all out in cleaning up the unit and there is still some goop on the exterior, especially on the power cord but also some under the keys and on the top. (Probably didn't help that I stupidly have been storing the keyboard in the old goop-soiled gig bag until I can buy a new one.)

How do I get this crap off? The general consensus on the web seems to be that using a hair dryer will help heat the glue till you can more easily wipe it off the metal. This seems to be working a little...but it's going to take a lot of time with the hair dryer I've got. Any ideas if anything will work better? Also, is it safe to heat the power cord or do I need to try a different approach for that? Goo Gone seems to be useless in this case, plus it's not recommended for use on rubber.

Edited November 22, 2009 by Big Wheel

[Jim Alfredson]

Man, I never heard about that issue! Yuk!

Can I use this opportunity to state that the Yamaha SY77 my dad and I bought in October of 1991 looks like its brand new on the inside? The outside is a different story since it was gigged hard.

[Big Wheel]

Roland's repair department's advice: don't heat it, that'll make it stickier. They suggest using one of those electronic freeze sprays (some kind of hydrocarbon) to make the goo cold and brittle, then chisel it off with a screwdriver. Yuck...