I never have had an HVLP spray setup. I wish I did. I recall when I was young,those old Kirby vacuums had a cheap looking spray gun attachment that was an HVLP! Never used one.
Julie,I'm sure the Behlen is fine as long as you aren't spraying over any dyed wood inlay like you find in the rosettes of classical guitars,or in strips down the back. I'd be sure to stop those off with wax free shellac before applying Behlen lacquer. That includes highly colored woods like rosewoods such as you might use for edge bindings. They can bleed too.
It is true that(at least in the 60's),Martin used 20% solids Sherwin Williams lacquer. I met their salesman and he told me about it. I was using the same thing at the time. But,it is SO LESS PRETTY than the water white Star lacquer I use now. I introduced Star to a really good maker in my area years ago. He was astonished at how nice it looked.