| I defretted a graphite-necked Steinberger bolt-on. I used pretty much the usual defret technique and had moderate chipping of the phenolic.
The trick was to go back and resurface the board with black dyed epoxy. Overall, I was very impressed with how well it turned out.
From a Sporting Goods (gun-type) store get "Brownell's Accra-Glass liquid (not gel) which comes with black dye. It's an expoxy designed to have minimal shrink for inletting rifle stocks. About $13 for a box was enough for my neck (2 coats). I built a dam around the edges with masking tape and poured on the liquid. When it was all setup, I sanded it back with a radiu sanding block and findally 0000 steel wool. I went to a hobby store and found some 1/8" white plastic rod used by model railroad folks for something; made perfect white side dots on the old fret lines.
I played it for a year or so, ground roundwounds, with little marking; pretty hard stuff, and great tone I thought. | 
