Six thin coats. First was amber, the rest clear. These bars haven't been ridden yet.



I wouldn't worry too much about the gloss. Here is one that had 7 or 8 coats, was initially quite glossy, but then after a little use got a more matte appearance:



Lots of people have different techniques, from the shellac they use, to brushing techniques, to time between coats, to local temperature/humidity, all of which affect the outcome. For my part, I've had very good luck with thin coats with a lot of drying time between them. In the cases where I've used less time between coats, it was my subjective impression that the shellac retained a little more residual tack, something I didn't prefer. However, it is a hassle to take 4-5 days to shellac bars, and others have gotten satisfactory results with much more abbreviated drying times.

If you still don't believe me about the gloss, another thing you can do is after the last coat dries, take a paper towel/rag wetted with alcohol and wipe the bars down lightly. This will knock off some of the gloss, IME. I'm not talking about scrubbing off the shellac, just a quick swipe.

Some of this, you just have to experiment to find out what works for you. Fortunately, handlebar tape and shellac is pretty cheap compared to a lot of other bicycle parts.