Thanks for the terrific comments.
I really appreciate them.Chris - for the color I use 4 oz. of alcohol, 60 drops of Tobacco Brown, 36 drops of Vintage Amber and 36 drops of Red Mahogany.
I really like the Waterlox. It is not speedy, but I can get it done in the time I let my KTM SV on the body cure, usually 2 weeks.
I sand to 220 and use a small square of t-shirt material to pad on a couple of coats then I fill the pores by applying with 400 grit wet or dry paper and wiped with a cloth after the application. I may need to do that a couple more times to get the pores filled. After that I apply 5 or 6 more coats and buff with 0000 steel wool to get a satin matt finish. I dispose of the cloths after each application.
At the same time I French Polish the headstock veneer. In future I will also FP the heel cap.
Waterlox is commonly used as a durable finish for floors and it is dead easy to repair.