Hello, and thanks for your time and knowledge!

I’m preparing to finish my son’s wedding gift.  It’s a small table made of QS Red Oak, with some Walnut inlay.  I was planning on using some of my General Finish (water based) stain for it.  I love what shellac does to the color (warms it up, and pops the grain), but it isn’t really compatable – lifts the stain a bit.

What can I topcoat the waterbased stain with, that will act as the shellac would?  I was planning on oil polyeurethane as a top coat, but am coming around to the possibility of the General Finish water-based poly.

I guess the best answer would be to just skip the shellac, but it changes the stain color and warmth just a bit…

Your thoughts?