Hi Buddy, just caught up with this thread and was curious to see how the chemical wash worked on Ash.

On my Alder Tele the first stain coat looked more olive green than grey/black and I completely freaked out but shouldn't have panicked as it still keeps oxidising for several days. Stupid me grabbed some cheap black ink pad ink to darken it up and oh what a disaster.....best to avoid that crap as it has a very sticky oily residue and makes everything look crap.

Ended up sanding most off and thankfully had left the steel wool in vinegar solution to brew a few more days so there was enough to do the job.

If you want more black/grey tones then a good quality India ink is the go and suggest trying to soak up as much as you can from the initial stain application, ie. dunk rag in ink and wipe on and then with a clean rag try to almost buff or polish off as much as you can before it completely dries. Using a damp clean rag works better but being water based and introducing more water watch out for Timber Mate shrinkage once it rehydrates and dries again. On my Red J Bass this left unexpected grain contours which I think now look great and retained them as a further grain feature.