Im new to this forum,just got on today,as a friend said sometime back i was a topic of discussion,didnt find it,but thats ok,and in looking around found your question,both alder and cherry are very blotch prone,and a dye is going to blotch it worse than anything,it goes in very deep ,a pigment stain with a "wash coat" will help you get even color, for me a good water base stain is best,I use General finishes and have superb results,it happens that i do some youtube stuff, and on monday we are putting out one on this very subject,it may be something you would like to see,a picture is worth a thousand words,we have some youtube stuff up now on finishing and other things,so if you wish you can go to youtube.com and search under woodworking and you will find me ,my user name is intheworkshop,maybe there is something there that will help, but as stated monday we are doing the splotching thing and cherry is a main focus,hope this isnt to forward for a new member