Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I attempted a pigmented lacquer, using lacquer thinner, dye stain, and lacquer, but my attempts were unsuccessful. I ended up with a finish that wasn’t consistent, couldn’t get the mixture right to get the tone wanted, and my cheap HF sprayer kept leaking leaving drips on the test boards. I ended up tossing the idea of using a pigmented lacquer, and used gel stain instead. I just posted the project, and I think it turned out pretty well.

thanks again!
David