mahogany options

[swarfrat]

My body is enroute. I'm waffling between various permutations of clear, red, brown, oil, poly, gloss and matte.

It's on the light side with a very light stripe down the center. Fortunately the stripe runs right through the bridge plate, so I can test both regions.

I'm thinking I'd like to really pop that stripe as much as I can. I don't expect it to absorb dye/stain at the same rate as the rest. I could be wrong. If I go this route, I'd like to leave the stripe as close to the color as it is while making the rest look "like mahogany" or darker with red/brown tint.

I'm also thinking that clear matte with no grain fill will probably look the closest to unfinished but wet as I can get.

Suggestions?

 

[TBurst Std]

Initial thoughts.  I’d grain fill it with a clear filler. Then true oil it. 
If you look closely, the pores in the striped area are about the same color as the pores elsewhere. I think if you lose that continuity, the strip may appear as something contrived rather than revealed.
Again that from a photo. Wait till you have it on hand.

 

[rauchman]

On this build, I had hit it with black and red dye, and then sanded back the surface.  Compared to the back of the guitar, the front has much better popping of the grain.

 

[swarfrat]

Spamming the naptha pics from the OTB thread:
I think red could work but I'm leaning towards clear fill/matte at this point. And probably sticking with the tort guard.