In case anyone else is wondering, it's not too bad to remove a bamboo back. This one splintered on me a couple months ago and I put it on the side. Picked it up this weekend and figured I would give it a shot and see how bad it would be, thinking there's no way that it would take as long as starting a bow from scratch.
I tried a rasp, sure form, draw knife, belt sander, and then I tried the spoke shave. That's where it's at. The spoke shave made quick work of removing the bamboo, then I did the finishing touches with a block sander. About an hour to remove completely like it was never there, and then I glued a new backing on.