I was intrigued by this topic a few months back and have been reading/thinking a bit about it. I know some of these are mentioned above, but here are the things I have been thinking of on this illumination situation:
1.
Luminlay side markers as mentioned above. Downside for me is too paranoid to drill in the the Luminlay recommended levels and too cheap/insecure about hiring anyone around here to do it for me. Aside from that, has anyone tried these and if so, has anyone used a depth level shorter than they recommend from Luminlay?
2. Luminlay also makes glow in the dark fret lines. They say they are for fretless bass guitars, but I would imagine they are for any fretboard. Point is, if these shallow strips were laid on the body side of each fret you want marked, they will not be interferring with any of the strings. Downside here is, YIKES, $92 for "0.5 or 0.6mm fret slots, 83mm*5mm*12pcs and 95mm*5mm*12pcs/set (
Liminlay fret lines ). Would not even need to use them all the way across the board, so one set could go a long way, but still, with an entry point like that, I think there are better options.
3. Luminlay also makes
Top inlay material as well as
Top dots. Those top dots could be cut in half or strips and put on the body side of frets x, y and z to mark them but it seem a bit too intrusive to me. Inlay material could be used I guess inside current inlays, in new inlays or as replacement material for current inlays. Too complicated for me to want to take on, but for others well within their commitment and skillset!
3. Glow-On, as mentioned above. Here I can think of a few ways to use this.
A. Put it on top of each sidemarker dot you want marked. Of course, this is not going to last long but is the least invasive procedure.
B. Drill out just a very shallow bit of the side dots you want to have glow. Put a bit of the glow-on in there and wait for it to dry. Then put a layer of clear coat on top of it to protect it, and sand down to level of the boards edge or binding. Could put the glow to the top, buy I figure having a clear poly layer of protectant over the top can't be a bad thing when it comes to longevity, which is why we are drilling into the board rather than just putting it on the surface.
C. Like the Luminlay fret lines above, you could just use a bit of glow on to paint the body side of each fret you wanted to mark. I think with the right brush, like a fingernail polish brush, you could paint just a 1/4" spot of the fret on the body side and it would glow, would not interfere with the strings in any way. Vibration would probably be the culprit in the glow paint falling off over time as the strings and your fingers would be having very little if any contact with it. One downside that comes to mind is, if that glow paint gets down in fret channel, would it affect the wood in there and/or the glues holding the frets in some cases? If carefully applied and with no excesses left to seep in there, should not be a problem, just sayin'!
4. Have led fret markers installed!
5. Attach a battery operated light to the headstock pointing down the fret board so that when the lights are out, it lights up your neck!
6. Make friends with the lightman and let him know that you need the neck of your guitar to have lighting at all times!
7. Get some glow in the dark fingers so that they illuminate the fretboard wherever they go! Perfect for the Halloween season!
Gonna go play in the light now!