Lots to respond to. First off, thanks for sharing your thoughts. It takes a while to put everything to writing and I appreciate the time you put into your post.
For the dying, I tried it both ways; letting it soak or wiping it in then sanding right away. I knew I had plain vanilla maple, but I was hoping to get more from it than I did. I used water, too. But in the end, I'm happy with what I got.
The blotches are either not enough sanding, or left over glue, which means not enough sanding. I could have sworn I sanded the fuck out of it, but maybe not. Before dying, I only used 150 grit. Then I used 220 after to remove color in an attempt to pop the grain.
I'm up to 220 grit. I don't see a need to go further until I start with a clear coat. Then I'm only going to use 320 if it needs it.
The honey amber and the red were applied with alcohol and tint and paper towels. As I said, I tried it a few different ways. The black is applied from a spray can. The template was to allow a small portion of the spray mist to find its way towards the center and create the fade. It's a good trick and works if I don't go back and try to 'adjust' or tweak by hand.
My next step is to work on the zebrawood. One option is to use tung oil, which really brings out the contrast. The downside to that is the long wait before the lacquer coat. It could take months to thoroughly dry out. At least that's the word from the internet. I'm not sure I want to do that. I just might apply lacquer to the whole guitar without touching the zebrawood and call it good.
If I don't redo the black, that is....