Clear coats are done. I'll set the bowl aside for a couple of weeks and concentrate on the neck.

First job is to remove the frets. Plenty of heat ensured easy removal with no chip-out.

Next, remove the white binding. I did damage the finish slightly during the process, but it will be invisible once it's done.

I decided to conduct some tests on removing the fret board inlays. I have a junky Balladeer of very early vintage, whose neck is thoroughly thrashed -- IOW, a perfect medium for testing.

Knowing that Ovation highly favors the use of epoxy, it occurred to me that the fret board inlays were probably glued using epoxy. The normal process for removing an inlay is to route out the center, then use a chisel, etc., to separate the shell from the fret board. I've seen a Stewmac demonstrating this on a Martin D-45. I thought that would be pretty difficult on these inlays.

Instead, I thought I'd drill out the center of the inlay using a Forstner bit, then heat up area using one of my small modeling irons to soften the epoxy, then gently pry out the inlay using an Xacto knife.

In this photo I've already removed one of the inlays at the 12th fret.

Hole is being drilled in the other 12th fret inlay. Sorry about the lighting. MOP is really difficult to photograph.

Hole is drilled until I just touch the ebony.

Heat being applied. This is the smaller of the two irons. I found that the larger one works better as it doesn't lose heat as fast as the smaller one.

Inlay being pried out.

Part of the inlay broke. You can see the thin layer of glue holding the inlay into place.

Final result: a nice clean hole ready to receive a new inlay. I had done four of the inlays on this fret board. By this time, I was comfortable enough to move onto the CL neck.

First job was to remove the dots. The CL dots are smaller than the Balladeer dots, so I had to be extra careful to drill them as close to center as I could. Abalone is softer than white MOP, so when the drill broke through to the ebony most of the dot crumbled leaving behind a clean hole.

First diamond. It, too, came out cleanly.

Holes drilled in all the diamonds and squares.

And, all the inlays are out. To be honest, I was more than a little nervous about this step, but it wasn't too bad. It only took me about 90 minutes to get all the inlays out cleanly.

Nice clean holes with no chip-out of the ebony. Ready for the new inlays. One thing I noticed was that some of the inlay holes are deeper than the back MOP replacements. The inlays will need to stand slightly proud of the fret board so they can be sanded level. I'll buy some ebony veneer from Rockler's to make spacers under the inlays.

Most of the old inlays came out in one piece.

New inlays are set into place so I can decide which one goes where. I'm really digging the look of the new inlay pieces. These are only available with the notches cut into them. I wasn't sure whether I would like them, but after seeing them all together in the fret board, I've decided that I do like them.

The black MOP pieces seem to have a darker side and a brighter side. I'm kind of leaning toward the brighter side. The diamonds are a little bit different shape than the old diamonds, so I'll need to sand them a little bit so they fit into the holes.

After looking at the inlays with the light side out I decided to flip them all over to see what the fret board would look like with the dark side out.

I also sanded the diamonds to fit into the holes and spaced out under the inlays where necessary so they all stand slightly proud of the surface. I was going to buy some ebony veneer, but at $32 a pop, it's a little too rich for my blood. I only needed about 2 square inches. So, I used 1/64" plywood that I dyed black using a sharpie.

One of the things I like about the light side out is that the inlays really stand out against the ebony. What I didn't like was they really stand out against the ebony. They reminded me of white MOP, not black MOP. Plus it had a blue tint that clashed with the color of the walnut on the head stock.

The dark side out is a lot more muted, which is what I liked about the black MOP purfling in the first place. You can still see the iridescence of the inlays, but you have to be at the right angle.

There are a couple of dots, such as the two at the 12th and 15th frets that are slightly mis-matched in color, so I'll see if I can find something a little closer. Once that's done, it'll be time to glue the inlays.

I sanded down the inlays. They're not perfect. I made a few mistakes. But, on the whole I'm happy. So, I'm pressing forward.

Moustache binding made and being glued into place.