All good stuff, but do you know exactly what standard of the grit numbers of the sandpaper/wet'n'dry grits are that you're using? They sound like they may be EURO/FEPA standards, as there doesn't appear to be a 2000 grit on the ANSI standard - though that's only from the table I linked to and there may indeed be ANSI 2000 grits available.

There are obviously Pitbull guitar assemblers in the US and Canada on this forum, and it's not obvious that there are different grit standards in different countries, so unless it's pointed out, it can be easy for someone to under-sand or over-sand by mistake if following someone's recommendations if they are from another grit 'zone'. Luckily at the critical areas for staining (around 320 grit), the difference isn't huge, but for finer grits, there is quite a large difference.