OK, Dale, that helps. A couple of things to consider, there are really two ways to get a satin or matte finish - either apply something that dries satin or use a very mild abrasive to knock the gloss off of a shiny finish. In the first category you have what I call the furniture finishes - tung oil, various varnishes and finishes that are intended to not be shiny (automotive primer is the best example but there are clear finishes that might work for you). The big problem with any of these is that your final coat is what you get - if you have any flaws like brush marks, wipe marks, orange peel, dust, runs... they are there to stay. (well, sorta, we'll come back to that)
Second way to do it is apply something that might come out glossier than you want and then knock that back with steel wool, scotch brite pads, automobile rubbing compound, etc. The advantage of this is that you can level sand the last coat if there are any flaws, then do the satin pretty much to the degree that you want. Obviously this would work with a satin finish material too. This is actually pretty common for people who finish with a glossy material but still want the satin on the back of their necks - a little 0000 steel wool will take that gloss right off (but it does come back with play).
One issue you will need to deal with is that mahogany is an "open pore" wood - it has tiny little pores that look like lines about 1/16" long and a few thousands wide. Maple does not have these pores. Most of us who deal with porous wood will fill them with a paste filler - you may decide that you like the look and want to keep them.
Your desire to do the staining also opens some potential issues. There are two kinds of stains - water based and alcohol based. Basically they soak into the wood and in many cases highlight grain. Often they soak into end grain much faster than cross grain and make it much darker. They can be used to pop the figure in woods like maple, and are frequently used to create sunbursts and shaded finishes. Traditional Gibson 'bursts were done by wiping stains directly into the wood, then clear coating over the top. Big problem here is that once you apply stain you are pretty much committed - if it does something unexpected its hard to back up. The other way to get color (and do sunbursts) is to add the dye to the finish itself - that is much easier to control the color (and can be sanded off if it doesn't look right) but doesn't have the depth that stained wood has.
There are a bunch of material choices and I have experience with only a few so I'll only talk about them. I do use tung oils and various varnishes when I do wood working, build a book shelf or an amp cabinet, but I don't use them on guitars. I want my guitars to look better than a book shelf. I build a class of guitars out of salvaged barn wood and use Tru-Oil on them - that gives me a nice warm organic glow, I can get a moderate gloss without looking "show car" wet look. It seems to look right on the barncasters and I use it on bodies and necks. Tru-Oil is very easy to apply - many very thin coats (I do two a day for 10 to 15 days), you can sand with 400 grit or 0000 steel wool each day. Let cure for 3 or 4 weeks and buff (or satinize) and its done. Here is one made out of 100 year old pine (by the way, pine is not a porous wood) with Tru-Oil lightly polished
My big concern with Tru-Oil would be applying over any stain and pore filler - I've never done it and think it might not work very well.
That kind of brings us to lacquer - it is the traditional finishing material for guitars, Gibson still uses it, and its honestly not that difficult for a home builder. Best is to apply with a compressor and gun but rattle cans are an acceptable method. You can get lacquer that is designed to dry to a satin finish and you can get tinted lacquer. Reranch and Stewart McDonald are good sources.
http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Su ... cquer.html
If I was going to finish a guitar like I think you are describing, here are the steps I would take. I'm guessing your kit has a removable (screw on) neck - if so do the Tru-Oil thing as described above. If it has a glued on neck then I wouldn't try Tru-Oil at all, I would finish the neck on the guitar and then use 0000 steel wool on it
- sand to 320, mask the top and fretboard, pore fill with a paste filler (StewMac)
- pull the mask from the top, do whatever stain you want (I like Colortone stains in denatured alcohol)
- scrape bindings, seal with 2 or 3 coats of vinyl sealer (StewMac)
- scuff sand with 320, shoot 6 to 12 coats of satin lacquer, 3 coats per day, sand to 320 each day
- if you like the finish stop here. If you don't like it consider adding 3 coats of gloss lacquer
- let cure for 30 days (truely)
- sand out any imperfections with 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grits. Choices now might be 0000 steel wool for a little softer finish or hand applied automobile rubbing compound for a little more gloss. Don't use a buffer and don't use any product with silicon or wax
I'll add that the old rule of practice on scrap really applies here but if this is a kit you probably don't have any scrap. I happen to have both mahogany and flamed maple cutoffs - I would be happy to send you some pieces to experiment with (gratis)
I know this isn't exactly the look you are trying for but here is a LP that I build a few years ago and my "ice tea" burst
http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/for ... 33-/page11
Also if you look at the Tribute series of guitars that Gibson is making now you might get some ideas. They are finished in satin lacquer, some with 'bursts and are pretty good bang for the buck guitars.
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric ... ibute.aspx
Hope this helps
