How can I lighten stain?

[Cooler]

I've used gel stain, and it allowed me to adjust the darkness by how much of the stain I left in place.  It is the reason I used the gel stain.  This is unlike conventional stain that  penetrates the wood, much of gel stain remains on the surface.

When I go to Barnes & Noble, their store fixtures were all done with gel stain.  Where the surface has been burnished by frequent hand touching the blond wood is showing through.  A penetrating stain would not show the underlying blond wood so easily.

I think you should be able to adjust the darkness of all the panels by wiping more off the darker ones and less off the lighter ones.

[JSpill]

I was finally able to get back to the shop today. I was able to sand out the color from the dark piece. I then sanded the piece to 240 grit and reapplied the stain. The color was much easier to control and the piece now closely matches the other pieces of the clock. Thanks to everyone for their advice.