Well...lacquer if applied, giving it time to cure before wet sanding:

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Hmmm...to stain the fret board black, or not to stain the fret board black...

So in the mean time, I followed through on my wife's suggestion and made a custom truss rod cover:

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Whatcha think? I think I need a cool decal...

Hmmm...lighting is sheite...I need to take some better pics...