My experience is that a lot of the finish is in the prep, and don't worry if it looks crap along the way - the intermediate stages often look a bit dodgy but it comes good in the end.

Staining worked out ok

Full build on my youtube as usual, NSJGuitars, mahogany neck through. Final assembly and try out vid will be up soon.

Staining often doesn’t always look good on the first coat. Sometimes you have to rub down and apply more. Repeat until you get an even stain.

One trick is to make a solution of gelatine and warm water in the proportion of 30 g Gelatine to 1 litre of water. Paint on while still warm and let it dry, then sand lightly to take off the raised grain. This will allow stain to be even.

I suspect I might not have used enough for the first coat, think you're meant to be pretty liberal with it till the wood stops absorbing but hey ho, I'll just add more coats if need be.