^^ Looks nice!

I have to play around with a couple of different woods for a set of interior closet doors DH will make. I really don't want to use red oak, not a big fan of the grain -- he made me a set of doors last year for a different room, he did a nice job but I don't particularly care for the grain (we were careful to choose boards with as little cathedraling as possible, but still...it's oak, the grain is prominent). I do NOT like stained QS white oak, I just don't like it, the rays looks very old-fashioned and stuffy to me, like my long-dead uncle's bedroom furniture set. DH recently made a very nice table out of riftsawn white oak, it stained up beautifully and is nice enough but is very expensive wood for something that's kinda...blah.

I think what it is is that I like wood that is more rustic-looking. I like the character of knots and such, wood that is more "casual". There's always pine to consider, but I am thinking of staining up some knotty alder sample boards in addition to pine boards to see how that goes. I also might re-visit hickory, I LOVE hickory but last year I did some sample boards in a water-based stain and top-coat and wasn't satisfied with the result -- came out too dark and pretty much completely obliterated the calico affect -- but I'm going to try another sample board with the oil-based materials and different color.

I have stained a lot of soft woods (both technical "softwoods" as well as soft hardwoods), including Doug-fir, pine, hemlock, and yes alder. If I'm going to use a stain that is more than a shade or two off the natural wood color,

I recommend a pre-stain conditioner for alder to avoid splotching. I prefer dewaxed shellac (usually Zinsser SealCoat) over commerical "conditioners". Within a few minutes of applying the SealCoat, I do a very quick light sanding, and then begin the stain process.

Your selections of Old Masters wiping stain and Arm-R-Seal are spot on, IMO - those are favorites of mine. They're forgiving with consistently great results.

^^ Can you tell me why prefer the Zinsser over the General Finishes or Old Masters pre-conditioners?

Good to hear I'm spot on with the wiping stain and Arm-R-Seal. Water-based products were an absolute bear for me, these are much easier to use for this relative novice, and I like the finish of the Arm-R-Seal much better than the water-based poly, it has a beautiful richness to it.

Other pre-stain conditioners don't seem as effective or consistent for preventing blotch. For most hardwoods that's not a big deal, but for softwoods and alder, it is.

Well, my alder samples came out pretty good with the General Finishes wood conditioner and the other products mentioned above. But, I just didn't like the resulting colors enough on the alder, too much of the red tone of the wood affecting the colors, and with the conditioner I couldn't get things dark enough. Nice enough results, but just not what I was looking for. Same story with pine.

I ended up choosing rift sawn red oak for the doors. Now those samples stained up beautifully.

Alder really should be spray toned, not wipe stained. It blotches too much, even with a shellac pre treatment.