Neck finishing: Making flame maple pop without coloring the neck?

[electric__steve]

I picked up a swamp ash Tele body that's finished in clear satin nitro, and now I've got to find a neck. I was considering a flame maple neck, but I'm wondering if a clear nitro finish isn't going to get the flame to pop. On the other hand, I don't really want to color the neck. I want the hue of the maple to be close to the natural hue of the ash.

I guess I could try a very light application of amber transtint and then sand it back, so the surface wood is back to natural and the flame still has some amber in it.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Hodgo]

How “popped” is popped? Even a clear will give you similar results to what you see when you wipe the wood with naphtha as the finish soaks into the end grain differently

To your point some people dye and sand back, but I’ve never seen an amber dye under clear. Definitely a “test on scrap” scenario.



Here is clear gloss nitro over 3A flame maple for reference.

 

[u.9]

I have a Warmoth 3A flame maple neck in clear satin nitro that pops a fair amount. Took about a year for it to change from white to blonde and the figure has continued to deepen over the past 20 years as the finish has burnished to a soft gloss. Does it pop like 5A in Tiger's Eye Dye under clear poly? Certainly not, but I'm very happy with it. First pic was A/B from new to 1 year old (2004-05), second pic was taken just now.

I'd love to see the body you got (was it a Warmoth finish?) as I'm planning a build with a swamp ash cap in clear satin. I'm curious how much darker it gets from unfinished state.