A lot depends on the look you want. If you want the Ebony look, with grain showing then go the dye route, no question. If you want a completley covered look, think Japanese lacquer work, then you have a couple of options. If the wood is fairly open grained then you can use a pigment dye, I used Indian Ink on the legs of the Demilune table in my gallery. This needs very careful application to avoid sanding through etc, but boy is it black! I then sprayed several coats of black tinted finish and several more of clear to get the effect I wanted. Afterwards I decided that if I were to do it again I would use black paint as the base and then clear over the top.