Wood like ash? Angelus Leather Dye

[rogerV]

Hi collective wisdom,
I am getting close to starting on my JMA-1 kit, in which the A refers to, an "ash" body.
I am pretty sure that I am going to use Angelus Leather Dye and I would like to do some experiments to learn how to apply it and how to mix two colors, etc.
But, ash boards are hard to find around here and I wonder if ya'all can suggest another sort of wood that would be similar to ash that I can start sloshing dye on to learn what I am doing, before I try it on the guitar. I have cheap pine boards in my basement, but is there anything more similar to ash?

Also, after sanding, should I clean the dust with something like mineral oil or distilled water? And similarly, I have also heard that one should wipe down the wood with water before dyeing to open the grain? Is that a good thing to do? And if so, how long before applying dye and does one need to start soon after, before it dries?

Is any of this the right thing to do or are there any other pre-dye things that I should know about?
Or should I just sand, then dye?

Thanks in advance.

rv