I hear that transparent finishes aren't recommended for basswood...why? Are there any other cool custom finishes that I can apply myself, apart from boring solid colour?

From Warmoth: The only basswood bodies Ibanez has ever done with transparent finishes are the JEM RB, JEM BSB and the JS1000 BTB. They've all been burnt and/or stained to bring out what little grain basswood generally has.

It can be done, but you need to do a lot to make the wood attractive enough for it to give you a nice result. But feel free to experiment!

Weirdly, I just thought the same thing. Burn baby, burn!

Just one question...is the woodstain applied before or after burning?

Stained basswood can give a rather good plain colour finish with just a stain, but it is plain. As folks have said it's just for cosmetic reasons that more is done to enhance the grain.

Light sequential stains alternated between rubbing down could probably bring out the grain to a sort of swamp ash style finish.

Well you can also do like this:
A friend of mine bought an old Ibanez RG550 L with an aweful bodypaint so he removed all paint and then he had the body repainted with a burgundy see-through-colour. It looks fantastic!!! *

I'm currently working on a basswood body thats acting like a spong in just one area.

Most all of the Ibanez Basswood Bodys that are on the market (even the solid color tops) have a thin veneer over the wood on both the front and back. I'm thinking the reason is just as stated above (finishing problems).

Sorry 'bout that, Brian. *;-)

Would they use veneer on the rounded radius/JS models, though?