I have a Kurtzmann upright piano that I am turning into a bar. I have two questions  that are somewhat related.

First, In picture one, the top is quite stained/discolored. I was to sand it down and refinish. But it seems to have a very thick finish (not just stain and poly) that I’d like to duplicate.

Second, the rest of the pieces have the same finish. The dark stripes are finish that is “proud” of the wood surface. I am, of course, not going to sand these areas. But I would like to protect them from further wear, so I was considering either poly (for vertical surfaces) or epoxy (for surfaces that were horizontal, ie shelves), or combo of both.

The other option was to do nothing and put glass over the horizontal surfaces.

The goal is to protect the patina, but also maximize and/or highlight it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.