Ian,
I am sold on one product and one brand alone for all my finishes. It's called Waterlox I used it for my maple j-bass neck and j-bass alder body, 7 coats body and 5 coats neck. The product I used is called Waterlox Transparent or Orginal. There is nothing in the market for ease of application that protects, seals, and brings out the natural beauty of wood. As for application, I followed StratnTele's suggestion on his website, check out the links on the usacg website for Assembled Axes.

If you don't believe me, check out my finished product on my website:
My Finished USACG JBass

I am using it now to build a swamp ash USACG S-body. I put a Mary Kay white stain on it and finishing it with Waterlox. It's just as beautiful.

Eli