@theGleep: No worries on the time it took to get those loaded. I'll get on my desktop in the morning for a better look, but from my iPhone with the pics maxed out, it looks like it is probably alder, at least that's my guess. Alder's grain is usually rather plain, without dramatic color differences between the dark and light lines. That's not to say you can't get good looking grain, but the darker your stain, the more blended together it will be.

The strat build I posted pics of is an alder body. When I was sealing the wood with shellac, I noticed it had a nice flame pattern wanting to peek out, so rather than considering what color to paint it, I finished it in a satin French polish, and showed photos to the buyer, who liked it as it was. I wanted to put a high gloss on it, but he shot that down. It turned out very nice, especially under stage lighting. Before that build, I had always gone with a rather popular opinion that alder is no good for anything but paint.

If you want really dramatic woodgrain, and you have a woodworker's store like Rockler in your area (where they sell veneer), you can usually find a hobbyist willing to put a book matched veneer on the front for little to no cost other than supplies. That said, I think you will find alder has a bad rap as a paint only wood, but I've found that to be misguided.

I hope you don't forget to post pics here when it's done--I can't wait to see it!

@theGleep:  I know Rockler carries the General Finishes line (I'm fortunate to live in the greater Cincinnati area, which has a Rockler store, but they have a website as well).  De-waxed shellac has excellent adhesion properties, so you can use it over oil or water based stain, so you won't have problems using it with the stain. Be sure that you've lifted the grain of the wood by wiping the bare wood with a rag dampened with water or denatured alcohol (if you want it to dry faster), allowing it to completely dry, and lightly sanding it with 220 sandpaper. Do this about 3 times, also only handle the wood with latex or rubber gloves to keep the oils in your skin from affecting your stain coverage. Some woods take stain great, others are horrible.
I'm new at posting advice, so excuse my jumping around. I wanted to advise you to be sure you use DE-WAXED shellac--it's properties for hardness, shine, water repellence, and adhesion make it far more guitar-friendly!  As for wood preparation, Zinssler has a dewaxed version of their shellac, which is a wood prep. It may be what is in the Minwax wood prep as well.

The only fault you will find with shellac is, once it is in liquid form, it has a definitive shelf life. Commercial shellac cans should have a date on them, either when it was made or an expiration. I prefer buying shellac flakes and preparing about 16 ounces at a time, which I use up long before it begins to go bad. Rockler.com sells the flakes as well, and YouTube has great videos covering all phases of shellacking from prep to finish.

My experiences with Minwax has varied, and  as I used it at the start of my woodworking experience, I can just as easily blame my knowledge base at the time as I could the product. It's been so long since I've used their products I cannot give a fair evaluation.  I'll leave that to the many great advisors here.

Hats off to 40Hz as well, I can tell he has been helping pass information on to forum users for quite some time. Maybe in time mine will be laid out and as clear as his!

Thanks, 40!  It's probably more due to my methods being slower than using lacquer, but I'm not complaining. Premier Guitar is my favorite magazine, the only one I pay for a hard copy subscription.  I'll definitely give Joe's YouTube and tonefiend site some long looks, thanks.  I like Wait' s music, love the blues along with good old classic rock.

I'll throw some pics up here as I finish my builds, if you're interested. The tele is going to be really cool, I'm hoping.  I was just in the shop working on the bass body,  which I'm hoping to finish up in 3-3 weeks. 

Again, thanks for the info!