Hi dbeltrami,

Basswood is fine grained and does not grain filler. I would probably treat it the same way as the maple. The body would still need a good sanding.

For sanding sealer: I have not had any success with sanding sealer and then staining - maybe it is the brand of sealer I used! I'm not sure if there is an advantage in using the sanding sealer after the stain as you will not be able to sand it smooth in fear of sanding through the stain. For my AG-1 build with a basswood body I stained and then applied tru-oil finish.

Flamed maple - I have not heard of others using a sealer.

My understanding is that sanding sealer is great to use on open grain timber as it fills the grain, and then you can then sand it flat, then stain, then add finish coats. My problem is that for my tests, my sealed timber does not take stain (water or spirit) well.

Maybe it is worth trying/testing on some offcuts!

Hopefully others will add more.