RaleighBG

Honestly, it's what I have most of.... I usually shoot Nitro Lacquer in a ApolloHVLP gun so I've got Lacquer thinner stacked to the ceiling  I started using it way back in the day and never tried anything different.

so take a sample piece of wood and give this a try :

Get some Transtint BLACK. fill a little mixing cup with about 4-5 oz of Lacquer thinner. Then add about 20-30 drops of Black transient to it. You want it BLACK BLACK BLACK. Stain the cedar till it looks like Ebony. Jet black. let it dry. 

get a sanding block with some 220 grit and sand it back till the natural cedar starts poking through again. Keep going a little further... The stain penetrates deeper into the grain so at some point you'll have it looking like just the grain is black. Now put your grey stain on. That will make that boring grey look amazing. if you really want to experiment, play with different colors for the pre stain. deep purples or reds. try stopping the initial sand back at different points. Stop before you think its ready on a test piece see what you get, Take it beyond where you initially think you should stop a time or two. Do a gradient sand.... like this PRS eagle grey finish :

So glad you found the info on cobwebs. Its the Bain of a nitro finisher's existence and will flat out ruin a nice job. The Vinyl sealer is the absolute RIGHT thing to use first before shooting nitro. It is itself a nitro cellulose lacquer with some vinyl solids added in. It seals the wood and gives the subsequent coats of nitro a familiar surface to stick to. But remember it sits on the surface it doesn't really penetrate. I've found it also is the place to start a nice transparent color as well. It's fully tint compatible, so your transients or mixologist pigments can go right in. Just don't sand the wood too high or it will chip easy, and when it chips it will go all the way to natural wood. There's a million ways to skin a cat with finishing but I'd stick to the vinyl. If you run into a challenge where cutting the pressure to avoid cobwebs isn't enough pressure to move the material just thin it a tad. I use an HVLP gun and turbine from Apollo and it still cobwebs real easy. I usually have to go real thin coats at first with the vinyl. A little secret with the Belen's/Mohawk.... They make a secret sauce that the big brand custom shops use as a secret weapon. It's confusingly called Piano Lacquer. It's a special high build formulation of the same nitro finish as Classic Instrument Lacer you are likely already using, but it's designed to shoot thicker coats without the off gassing bubbles. If your looking for a DEEEEEEP THICK glass finish its just what the doctor ordered. I use JUST Piano Lacquer, but you could use it as your final clear coats instead. I can shoot a finish that looks like 10-12 coats in just 3-4.