No, this question is likely dummer...

[AeroJoe]

Would it be possible to genetically grow trees specifically for mandolins and guitars? What I mean is, you know how flower growers can cross breed this or that and come up with a new or different rose...is it possible for the best of Englemann, Sitka and Adirondack to be cross-breed, taking the best qualities of each and a new "super"-spruce be bred? Or the same done with the various maple and rosewoods? If so, man...think of the possibilities...the tones...

[siren_20]

I think that Fender did something like that in the 70s, but not for tone...if memory serves, they built some REALLY ugly dreadnoughts from birch that had been injected with chemicals while the trees were still growing. The chemicals made them turn green, blue, etc...
Crossbreeds of different tonewoods might be something to try, if the species are compatible.

[JiminRussia]

Well, I don't think that it will happen in my lifetime. I'm not a geneticist, but I suspect that developing a hybrid would take several if not many permutations or generations. Considering that one generation for a tree is maybe seventy to one hundred years, I don't think that an instrument company will be investing that much time and money into developing a hybrid for mandolin wood.

[HoGo]

I think it would be not possible. Here in Slovakia it is not allowed to plant trees grown from seeds collected in other region within the country. These areas are quite small - some 40-50 miles diameter. You could easily ruin the genes of the original forests which are much more valuable, it's similar problem like introducing foreign species. They're allowed only on limited areas for research.
However, many countries buy small trees from our country because they are of better quality than their own. For instance, most of the Elm trees in England are endangered because of some desease, but Elms from central Slovakia are resistant to that so they started to plant Slovakian Elm in England.

[steve in tampa]

I am a horticulturist by trade.

Indexed trees, as mentioned from select genetic stock have been done for generations.

Another twist that can be done is the application of Plant Growth Regulators.

Commonly used in the greenhouse industry to alter growth for a more compact, uniform growing pattern in several commercial crops, such as floral and annual/perennial nursery stock. Poinsettias and crysanthemums are common examples of plants altered by PGRs.

PGRs are also widely used in urban settings to control the growth of street trees to reduce maintenance and liability from growth that could case a branch to come down on or otherwise block a road or sidewalk.

I have seen the strange grain patterns produced on treated trees when they are pruned.

Maple, spruce, fir etc. are all likely candidates for managed growth w/ PGRs.

[sunburst]

Count the lines in the spruce top of a good mandolin. I've got tops that took 200 years to grow. Even if you could get the species to cross breed, it would take centuries to see what the tone wood qualities in each generation were.

[Luthier Vandross]

The kind of tops I like have about 3 lines... that's matched for 6 total.

;)


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