Hi Klegacy, suggest sanding to no more than 240 grit on maple as it is a very fine and tightly grained timber where higher levels of grit will polish it so smooth there will be very little colour penetration from the stain. Pabs is right in that you want a super smooth neck but I tend to do that in the final wet sanding and polishing stages if trying to get colour into the back of the neck.

Cheers, Waz