Yeah African is pretty red, which is why I'm worried about the stain i use. Like i said, i want either a Tobacco or Amber finish (check out the stewmac stains), but i dont know how they would look over the red wood. But now im thinkin the mahogany aint a great idea. I'll be using a few old Teisco pickups, and i finally got to test them out, and theyve got some real bottom end to them, so i need something that'll add a little bit of highs or pinch off the lows a bit.