Any tips on painting necks?

[Gust0o]

I've managed to kick the wife out for the weekend, armed with one of my old credit cards and my mother for company - it's a risk; they're expensive creatures; but it buys me some quiet time.

Quiet time to get some work done, at any rate.

I've been tinkering with a bargain BCR ST Bass I picked up from Ebay. Some of you have been kind enough to lend advice when I've asked, and we're stripped, wired and almost ready to go... but I still have to paint the back of the neck!

I'd thought this would be relatively easy, through the haze of naivety - now I'm not sure.

My big question is: should I remove the fretboard for painting?

I'm a little too novice to do such, with any real hope of reattachment, so it would need to go somewhere. But, I had thought I'd just be able to mask the fret board then paint the back - before finally applying clear laquer to the rear of the neck and the side of the fretboard, leaving the body of the board untouched.

We've still a few days before I get into this, but any help or tips would be more than welcome.

[Al Heeley]

mask it and paint carefully, removing the fingerboard is a huge nasty job which may end up damaging the neck if you don't get it done properly.