body refin and stain question

[deepestend]

I have a question about something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I have a Warmoth Dinky J body on my bass. It's a flamed maple top on an alder body. The previous owner put a light oiled finish on it, however, when I sanded a small part on the back of the bass, I sanded through to the bare wood very easily.

I'm not wild about the natural/amber color of the wood and would like to stain it a dark, almost walnut color and then give it a matte/oil-like finish.

What's the easiest way to do this? Just sand the body, use some kind of rub on stain (again, I'm pretty sure the oil hasn't gone very deep, and then a wipe-on poly finish?

[Greenman]

Flame maple is light to start with. If you want a dark color I would strp or sand the existing finish and dye the flame top and bburst a dark color from the back.