Kelly, maybe but having built some stuff with alder it can simulate a more of a cherry finish and structure is not radically different, it had a reddish cast to it and it machined nicely and wasn't too heavy, beat the heck out of pine being more durable. But I was dealing with kiln dried alder and I liked it. I prefer a lightly finished wood to let the beauty of the wood be seen. Alder didn't have a lot of variation on its grain structure, no burls ir interesting figuring on the wood but it was straight grained and easy to work with. 8 wasn't building something I expected to last a lifetime but it was solid and inexpensive.