If you do get the pre-aged and you ride it for a while and decide to keep it, then you can treat it all over with some linseed oil like my DH did to his. His was honey brown and the linseed oil turned it a really dark brown and made it a bit softer too. So you can do that to darken it if you like, but note: once you do that you will not be able to return it, so don't oil it until you decide you want to keep it. Let us know how it turns out for you!