How to remove dark stain from end grain?

I have an alder body without much grain to it. I want to do a finish that is a tinted Mary Kaye to look like a transparent Sonic Blue. I thought I should see if I could darken the grain and sand it back to make it pop a bit more. No such luck. The effect was negligible, and now all the end grain at the body's tail and in the cutaways looks terribly streaky. I have sanded the hell out of it, and I don't seem able to return it to it's natural state. Short of going down to 80 grit and shaving off a 1/4" of the body, any suggestions as to how to get this looking better? I used a dark Trans Tint, FWIW. Should I try bleaching the ends, or something similar?

Maybe try some good ole "Strip Ease" stripper. Just apply heavy with brush, let stay on for half our or so and rinse with lacquer thinner. Repeat again if it doesn't get it out 1st time? Only a guess. Maybe even OXYCLEAN, as seen in TV commercials would work??? Or you could stain all the sides dark and leave the top and back natural, for a nice contrast...