Hi Locrian, typically its recommended not to sand the veneer tops as they are perilously thin.
You can try reapplying, this may give you some evening out of the stain or it might make things worse. You could re-apply across the entirety and then use a damp rag to wipe off from the areas that already have good coverage to see if this then evens things out.
In both cases i would experiment first on some scrap.
What grade sandpaper did I you sand the top with? If you go much higher than 320 then what you can do is “Polish” the timber in spots so that it doesn’t really take up stain, and this may be what you are seeing. The very prominent border at the lower rear of the guitar looks to be glue smear from where the binding has been applied and where factory hasn’t really done a good job of clean up.
We (the regular lurkers here on BYOG) recommend wiping down before you do any work with something like gum turpentine, this will highlight areas compromised by glue smear, and you can deal with these by using Goo Off glue remover and judicious use of small wire brushes. This usually breaks the glue enough for stain to penetrate, if it doesn’t remove it completely.
I’m sorry that this is all after the fact, its information you probably could have used before starting. I think you can still get a good result with a very, VERY careful sand back. Probably with a soft sanding pad and really light pressure, no more than 2-3 strokes with the grain at a time in one spot, and re-checking after each go. You only want to break the polish and rough the surface up a bit. Once youve done this, you need to deal with that glue smear again very carefully, apply some Goo Off, a couple of strokes with a clean, small wire brush and then check with a wipe down of Turpentine to see if you’ve lifted it off. If it is working then just work along that smear until you are happy that it is under control or reduced to your satisfaction.
I hope this helps and good luck with it, post up your progress and ask questions where you need, the collective here is pretty good at lending assistance and advice.
EDIT: Just to Emphasise, the sand back should be a Last Resort, those veneer tops are really thin and you may be really close to breaking through already if you’ve sanded back. If you do break through then you’d need to go with a solid colour, which would be a shame as that one is a lovely looking top!
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