stain between vinyl sealer and lacquer

[jartzh]

what kind of stain can I use on the neck that has been vinyl sealed and will be lacquer finished?
I thought I wanted it light but now I want it as dark as the rosewood body.

Getting close to being a guitar!

[johnnparchem]

Brian is really the guy to answer but given that the wood is sealed you would be using the dye as a toner instead of a stain. You can add a TransTint dye to your lacquer and spray enough coats to darken the wood. You can follow up with some coats of clear as well.

Here is an excerpt from the TransTint page.:
One of TransTint Dyes most unique features is their compatibility with a wide range of finishing mediums. Simply add the dye concentrate directly to shellac, water-base finishes, solvent lacquers, and catalyzed varnish or lacquers. Add any amount up to 1 oz. per quart. All 19 dye colors (10 wood tones & 9 accent colors) are intermixable to produce custom shades.

I used it as a toner when I did a burst on a Les Paul style guitar.

[B. Howard]

Typically any stain would be applied to bare wood prior to the first coat of sealer. John's advice on using dye to make a shader and applying color that way is spot on.

There is a difference in how the wood will look when finished when comparing something that has been stained versus something that has been shaded, especially when going for darker tones like rosewood from mahogany. Stain under clear will still let the grain of the wood show through the finish. The darker the shader and the more coats necessary to achieve the desired shade will tend to make the finish more opaque and paint like with less grain showing through.