Amateurs can get excellent professional results from lacquer without a great deal of investment. For appearance and durability, nothing else comes close other than polyurethane, which actually exceeds it but is difficult to do well without good equipment and controlled environments. All the various polymerized oils can be made to look good, but it's not a trivial task and isn't durable enough for a guitar, at least not in my opinion. On the plus side, they're inexpensive and easy to apply even indoors. But, you'll notice no professional/commercial instruments come with it.
The whole trick to lacquer is time and patience. There's no shortcutting the process without subsequent evidence that's often quite obvious. But, if you follow the rules, you can get something that'll rival anything you'll see hanging in a showroom.
Be aware that a DIY finish is not really much of a money saver, per se. Counting filler, sandpaper, dyes/pigments, sealer, reducer and the lacquer itself, you can easily have $75-$100 into one by the time you're done, and at minimum wage you'd need to be able to pull it off in less than 20 hours to break even, spread out across about 4 to 6 weeks. Unless you already have a body that's still in the raw, you're usually much better off letting the supplier finish it. In Warmoth's case, for instance, they charge roughly between $200-$250, which seems like a lot but it's a catalyzed polyurethane finish that's perfect in every way. It really does not get any better than that, and you'll never get that same job for less anywhere else. It really is a bargain, but they're set up for it. Few others are.
I know it sounds like I'm trying to talk you out of it, but I'm not. Doing your own finish is a very satisfying thing, and it'll keep you off the streets and away from the TV. I'm just warning you about the reality of it.
There's a ton of information in written and video form on the 'net, but
the single most useful article I've ever read on it is at Luthier's Mercantile. Follow their schedule/recipe (pay attention to the material instead of brand names; there's blatant product placement) and you almost can't fail.
I ended up with this finish on the L5S in my sig right in my garage - the only "special" thing I used was a relatively inexpensive
HVLP sprayer...
For a single finish, it might not worth buying the sprayer, but you'll get better results and materials will cost less. For what pro finishes cost, it'll pay for itself in 2 finishes. Faster still if you use it for other things, which you can easily do. It's possible to shoot heavier material than lacquer, so you can shoot latex in the house, sealer/stain on decks/fences, etc.
