I have been working away on my bass for about two weeks now.
I decided (bravely?) to try a challenging burst by hand. Red mahogany in the centre and a semi-dark black on the outside. I started by sanding for a few days. I never knew 320 and 400 grit for timber even existed before this project, although I've done mirror finish on steel by hand several times, most recently on an anvil of all things. Hey, don't get any fingerprints on my anvil! Anyways, I practiced with the stain on hardwood ply a few times before tackling the guitar. I found that with a mix of 1 part stain and 2 parts colour reducer you can actually move the location and blend of the burst with a reasonable amount of control. The mix of the black and mahogany even turned out to be a pleasant walnut brown colour. What I couldn't control at all was the parts of the timber that were too thirsty for the stain. These just stayed whatever colour you first applied. Overall, I think the final result is ok. Even if I just went with a single colour it would still look patchy because of the thirsty bits.
I'm going to leave the stain to dry for 4 or 5 days. I have gloss poly to finish the body later.
So, on to the neck. I'm planning on using Scandinavian oil on the back. It produces a fairly dry feel. Not sticky at all. What's the word on finishing the fingerboard? I'm assuming that I should leave it totally unfinished, particularly for a fretless beast. This being the first guitar of any sort I have owned I really don't know about these choices. Am I on the right track?