Seal the wood with a thin coat of shellac and let it dry.

Smear on some grain filler to fill up the pores!

Wipe off excess filler before it dries. You won't get all of it off.

I like Timbermate. It has a tacky old-timey looking label and it's pretty darn good.

The bottom/right half is filled with black filler. The top left half is still unfilled.

After drying, the final haze of excess filler is cleaned off with 400-600 grit foam-backed sandpaper. In this photo, the control cover has not been cleaned off yet.

Notice how much better the cntrol cover looks after cleaning?