Ok. So I'm getting close to finishing time on my first two builds. Now, I definitely had an idea of how I thought I'd finish these once I had completed the design concepts, and I'm not sure that seeing the guitars in physical form has really swayed me in some new direction (although I'm more sure about one than the other). But, I thought it might be interesting see what all the people here gravitated to, without any bias of knowing what my concept was. So go ahead and say what you'd do to finish these guitars, and maybe you'll say something so brilliant I'll have to change my mind. Note: it's a little hard to see, a non moving picture doesn't do it justice, but the second guitar is a roasted curly birdseye fretboard, and the body sides are also maple with some fairly aggressive curl.
My spraying options are limited so I tend toward the wipe-on finishes. I also prefer the look of a rubbed on oil to that of a high-gloss finish. I think a wipe-on poly or an "antique oil" would bring out the look and feel of the wood.
Just my 2c. On the one closest to us in the pic, I'd shoot clear on that beautiful wood. On the lighter one, I'd play with some tints on the scraps that you saved to test with. You did save them, right? Something that would bring out the grain you describe. Another thought. I've used a cheap Badger $25 "airbrush" with a pancake compressor sucessfully. It may take a little more time than if you had a nice touch up gun, but it gets the job done. In the pic I attached I finished a neck decapitation using, you won't believe this, Minwax wipe on poly black, thinned with naptha, in the set up I just described. It goes on smooth and lays down well. And you won't have to wait a month to buff it.
I concur with FumbleFingers. I would propose a darker finish on the light one, maybe red-brown toner coat and then if you want to create a star burst effect use the airbrush.
