converting fretted to fretless ebony

[zazz]

my luthier says that he cant replace the rosewood neck with an ebony fretless on a black jack casady because the neck and fretboard are sealed together at present with a poly laquer. So he says he cant score a line on the finish were the fretboard meets the neck because the poly laquer will chip... which means the whole guitar will need a new paintjob.

any ways around this problem??.....the casady is the ebony finish.

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by zazz

my luthier says that he cant replace the rosewood neck with an ebony fretless on a black jack casady because the neck and fretboard are sealed together at present with a poly laquer. So he says he cant score a line on the finish were the fretboard meets the neck because the poly laquer will chip... which means the whole guitar will need a new paintjob.

any ways around this problem??.....the casady is the ebony finish.

I understand what your luthier says. He's (she's) being cautious (as I would be). Of course it is posible to do what you want, but the cost may be prohibitive. I would certainly charge 2 to 3 times the amount to replace a fingerboard where the neck finish extended from the neck onto the fingerboard edge compared one that didn't.

I think I would look for other alternatives if I were in your poisition. Like defretting the current fretboard. Sure the rosewood is not ebony, but it's still a resonable fretless fingerboard, especially if you are considering using flatwounds.

[zazz]

thanks for the info!!!!

just thinking out .....would some kind of localised sanding or paint stripping along that edge be feasible?

[PilbaraBass]

you should stick with the rosewood and look to possibly coating the board if you really want to use rounds.

Personally, I love the sound of nylon tape wounds on fretless, so I'd just leave the board "naked"