stand skin staining supplies?

[phishphood]

How's that for alliteration. I'm looking for a way to get my eventually skinned stand to have a finish similar to this:

I don't need the grain to be exactly like that, but the color and the minimalist way the grain can be seen is what I'm after. Of course finishing with a topcoat of something as well, but haven't figured that out.

So any ideas as to birch vs oak vs maple ply for that and also how to go about staining/dying it? I'm looking into how a dark walnut stain looks on real oak, and will try out the vinegar-iron ebonizer tomorrow hopefully. Other than that I'm open to lots of suggestions.

 

[xcaret]

I painted a stand black with oil based enamel then applied a Minwax product Polyshades and the color turned out great, a really dark brown "Espresso", it hides the wood grain nicely.
Working with stains is tricky at first so try a piece of the material you intent to stain paint. A wood conditioner is a must for a nice finish when staining. Spar urethane is a good choice for a clear coat and there´s a wide variety of marine application stains if you need to water-bullet-proof it.