Mandolin emergency

[Neil Gladd]

I just returned from a 4 day trip to find a water leak in the middle of my living room, from the air conditioner upstairs. Among the items to be waterlogged are my sofa, antique books, sheet music, bills, my digital camera and my O. Pagani mandolin. It was in the closed case sitting right side up, but the case is throughly soaked and the mandolin got soaked through it. I can now feel a ridge between every rib, when it was completely solid and smooth, before. I have it out of the case with the back up to dry. Any immediate advice for the drying process?

This is not what I wanted to come home to...

[Kevin Briggs]

This totally sucks. I don't think, though, that all is lost.

I've heard at least two accounts of a water-logged mandolin being dried out and then tweaked back to health. I know a fella in New Freedom, PA did this with a mandolin found floating after Hurricane Katrina (electric Gibson two-point from the 1950s or 60s). I also know that Sound to Earth/Weber has done this, through my conversations with Mary Weber.

My suggestion is to contact Pagoni and devise a game plan. If not, let me know if you want the contact number of the fella in New Freedom, PA, or you can look up Sound to Earth's number.

[Neil Gladd]

My suggestion is to contact Pagoni and devise a game plan.

This is a 100 year old bowlback.

[Bob A]

Cat litter in the bowl? Possible calcium chloride adsorbent, available at your local firearms distributor. I'd be worried about overdrying, though. The wood will eventually shrink somewhat, but you may need to have it scraped/snded and French polished to get back to the original smoothness.

Maybe a quick call to someone like Tom Crandall at Umanov's would produce useful info. (212-675-2157)

[AlanN]

Having just gone through a serious air conditioner mishap (brand new compressor, new attic coil - the condensate was not being evacuated through the pvc pipe, but rather into the 2nd floor wall, then dripping down to the kitchen ceiling), I can feel your pain. We were home, though, and had nowhere near the damage you did.

Good luck.

[John Flynn]

Just remember the story of the Stratavarius "Red Diamond" violin. It was washed out to sea when a flash flood hit the car of of the concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It was found the next day, washed up on a beach. It was in pieces inside the case. LA luthier Hans Weisshaar restored it and the concertmaster proclaimed the instrument sounded even better than it had before! Weisshaar went on to co-write a book on violin restoration and although he has passed away, his luthiery shop is still open in LA, his work carried on by luthiers he taught. If a local luthier can't help you, I would contact Weisshaar's shop.

[Kevin Briggs]

A 100 year old bowlback huh? You seem to suggest Pagoni may no longer be with us!

I know, that was tasteless. Sorry for my ignorance though. I was getting Pagoni mixed up with the current P-word luthier. I think it's Pagonini(?). The guy in King Wilkie plays one.

Anyway, I think your responses are clearly showing that there is hope. It just may the kind of hope that is expensive.

[Bob A]

I'm serious about the cat litter. It's going to absorb a fair bit of moisture, and will not leave residue, except perhaps some dust. Wadded-up newspaper can help some. The NY Times is pretty dry; they don't even have editorial cartoons, for example. (Now I'm kidding. Can you tell?)

Don't neglect to call your insurance agent.

Very valuable books can be put thru a freeze-drying process, I'm told. Really. Your contacts at the Library of Congress might be able to steer you right; for that matter, folks at the Smithsonian might have useful advice.

[PhilGE]

Try asking the folks over in the Builders / Repair section ASAP.

Very sorry to hear of the damage to all your other property as well!

-Phil

[Neil Gladd]

I'd be worried about overdrying, though. The wood will eventually shrink somewhat, but you may need to have it scraped/snded and French polished to get back to the original smoothness.

Maybe a quick call to someone like Tom Crandall at Umanov's would produce useful info. (212-675-2157)

I just talked to Tom Crandall and you were correct about the overdrying. He suggested wrapping it in a towel and loosely putting a plastic bag around it to slow down the drying.

Now I am putting paper towels between the pages of books and music that got wet, as advised by a preservationist when this happened at my last apartment. I thought I had left all this behind me when I moved to a new place at double the rent. (Water damage happened twice a year in the last place, but miraculously, my most valuable stuff was always spared.)

[vkioulaphides]

Good evening, Neil.

Terribly sorry to hear of your misfortune. While I regret to plead ignorance of any measures you can take to save and restore the instrument, I am sure that such measures do exist and that, thanks to the collective wisdom and expertise at the Café, you will find them.

Just wanted to express my sympathy on what is a profoundly painful experience for any musician...

Wishing you and your mandolin better days,

Think beyond this one, dark moment in time...

Victor

[brunello97]

Neil,

Let me add my sympathies. What a shocking return. I'm living in the faux-blissful existence of a concrete shell building but your troubles bring reality back home quickly. I'm from the Gulf Coast so water catastrophe is not unfamiliar, but it has yet to plague my arsenal. (Though I have had a mando nearly BAKED to death in el calor de Tejas.)
Please keep us posted on how you are dealing with your mandolin and other damaged possessions. I hope all turns out well.

Is the Pagani insured?

Let us know how you are doing.

Mick

[Neil Gladd]

Is the Pagani insured?

The only insured thing I own is my car.

[Walter Newton]

I agree with PhilGE, post on the Builders/Repair forum and you're sure to get knowledgeable advice from folks who might not catch this post.

[Neil Gladd]

I would have posted there if it were a flatback, but this is where all of the board's bowlback knowledge hangs out.

[Bill Snyder]

I would have posted there if it were a flatback, but this is where all of the board's bowlback knowledge hangs out.

You are short changing the builders and possibly yourself in the process.

[oggiesnr]

Check with the guys over on repairs but if it's very wet consider slackening off the strings so there's less pressure on wet (malleable) timber.

Hope it works out for you,

All the best

Steve

[Linda Binder]

Oh Neil. I'm so sorry to read this. I haven't been keeping up with reading or posting on the message board as much lately so almost missed hearing about it. What an awful thing to discover. You'd think that the middle of the living room would be a rather safe place. I hope that the advice you get leads to a good result.

[Neil Gladd]

Well, I followed the advice I was given, and seem to have been extremely fortunate. I don't see any cracks or warps. The only thing is I can now feel all of the rib joints on the back, but they don't seem to have come loose and I can't see any light through them.

You would think that an instrument would be safe in a closed, vinyl covered case, sitting off the floor in a locked apartment, but no... The case was on my futon, which was waterlogged, the water soaked into the case through the seams, and then to the mandolin. The case is still not dry and is coming apart a little, so I will replace it with a better one when I can. I currently have a couple of big ticket items for sale on eBay, so I may be able to afford one soon.

Thanks to everyone for all the sympathy and good wishes!

[Steve Scott]

I once fell in a fish pond with my Gibson - at a party, no less. The mando was completely drenched, if fact full of water. The advice I got was to take the strings off, put it in a box and surround it with silicon. Seems like I got it at the drug store. It's that dry, white crumbly stuff. Then seal the box and leave it for at least 30 days. When opened 30 days lated the silicon was a completely solid mass and the mando was perfectly dry with no structural damage at all.

[Jim Garber]

Neil:
So sorry to hear of your misfortunes. Hopefully the Pagani will be all right and that you can restore all your sheet music and other possessions. I would say the advice to dry the mandolin slowly would be the right one and Mr. Crandall knows his stuff. I am amazed you were able to reach him.

O. Pagani (for those who don't know) was a venerable music store on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village in New York. They closed in the late 1960s or possibly the 1970s. I have seen only a few instruments with their label in them but I would think they had them made by one of the many makers around the city at the time. I know them mostly as a publisher. A friend was able to buy a stack of sheet music for 2 mandolins and guitar from them shortly before they closed.

Jim

[Eugene]

This story makes me sad, although I'm glad it seems to have almost worked out OK. You must have hassled Tom on my behalf when you spoke, because he's sending another of my instruments back home to me.

[billkilpatrick]

you might try puffed rice instead of kitty litter and clamp it firmy - but gently, with padding - face down onto something rigid (like a splint) to keep it from warping.

i brought a charango back into alignment by placing a woolen sock over a rectangular piece of marble and clamping it down - gradually increasing the pressure over a period of time.

what an awful thing to find on your return home ... commiserations - bill

[Bob A]

Puffed Rice: not just for packaging material any more!

I believe my grandmother used to eat the stuff, but she wasn't from around here, originally, and had suffered much.

[joebrent]

Neil --

Sorry to hear about your Pagani. I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I hear of incidents like this, because an instrument like that becomes a part of you and a loved one and a family member to you all at once. When it gets damaged or (forbid) destroyed, the hurt is very much akin to losing a loved one. I once accidentally whacked my $40g Konya violin against a sink while practicing in a bathroom before a show; it was fixed nicely by Adam Crane, but I literally was heartbroken when I saw the 2 inch gash I had stupidly caused to my own instrument.

I absolutely recommend Tom Crandall, both he and Bob Jones have worked on my Pandini, with similarly excellent results. But Bob Jones is usually very busy, your odds of actually getting in to see Tom are much greater. Nice guy, too.