cleaning up vintage instruments

[ethanopia]

ok so I know this a fiddle related question but I think this pertains to old mandolins just as much.

I have an old fiddle that I want to start playing more than I have been. It has some serious funky stank hapening as well as some mold or mildew on the top and around the f holes. I'm pretty sure it has a varnish finish as it was hand built in Columbus around the 30's or 40's, but possibly as late as the 50s or 60s. It is a Jackson / Guldan with a one peiece back and from what I understand the one piece nicely flamed bacsk were more common in th early years.

What should I use to remove the funk from the finish without damaging the varnish? Lemon Oil? Boiled Linseed? something else? I'm not sure.

Secondly will baking soda help with the stink if I put an open container in the case with it? Or will this dry it out too much?

thanks everybody,

Ethan

[sunburst]

Violins are almost always finished with a varnish of some sort, not all the same and not the same as most mandolins.
I would take it to a reputable violin shop and see what they have to say. Violin people tend to have very specific accepted ways of doing things, and trying various solvents might not be a good idea.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to have it checked over anyway if it's moldy. Mold is a serious enemy of hide glue and the glue joints could be compromised.

[Bob DeVellis]

I'm not sure about violins, but getting the moldy smell out of most things is darn near impossible. Keeping the humidity relatively low (say, 40%-50%) and allowing air to circulate will help. Stains can probably be bleached out, but I'd leave that to an expert. Keeping the instrument in the original case can be a problem, as the instrument and case will cross-contaminate each other. If a violin maker or anyone else suggests anything that ends up working for you, be sure to let us know.

[Jeff Baldwin]

Try www.maestronet.com the have a forum The Pegbox
for discussions relating to the “hardware” side of string instruments, it includes issues relating to:making, repairing...and ask your varnish questions there. The board
has some big hitters in the violin making field....I did a search on "sticky" and "varnish" and found a bunch of stuff..some from Michael Darton...give it a try