The Mystery Is Over -- Formerly: WHAT'S THAT SMELL???

[Will O'B]

If you're gonna trash it anyway, why not mix up some Lysol or similar disinfectant and pour some into the fiddle? Shake it around, pour it out. Hey, ya never know. It might work! If not, the trash can is still there.

Maybe a small animal got in there and died. Would it cost that much to have someone take the top off just so you could see what the heck it was like in there?

Funny you two should mention that. I was just considering pouring some bleach or Lysol into the holes to see what would happen to both the smell and the wood/seams. Sort of like an experiment. I agree . . . if I'm gonna trash it anyway, what could it hurt?

If that doesn't work, my 12 year old wants to get the top off and take the dismanteled fiddle to school to possibly gross out all the girls in his science class. If it's loaded with fungus, as I'm expecting, lugging the thing around could be considered a bio-hazzard. *Yuck*

I don't think anything got inside and died. The case that it was locked up in for 20+ years was sealed as tight as a vault.

I'll do another post in a couple of days to let everyone know how the disinfectant works and, failing that success, what the inside looks like. So stay tuned . . .

[Cynth]

I can't wait!

[talimirr743]

Did you really?

I was just joking.

So was I.

[flanum]

[quote="Will O'B]

I don't think anything got inside and died. The case that it was locked up in for 20+ years was sealed as tight as a vault..[/quote]





ERM..... I think you may have just answered your own question!!
If it was sealed tight, then i think the peutrefaction process may have been put on hold for 20 years till now!!!!

OPEN IT OPEN IT!

And anyway, you could always cut it up and make an "interesting" wall hanging!

[David Lim]

Hi,

Fiddles are almost always glued together with animal or even fish glue.

Animal glue is made by boiling up the skin, hooves, etc of some unfortunate creature.

This is probably what is rotting and causing the smell.

David

[Darwin]

Hi,

Fiddles are almost always glued together with animal or even fish glue.

Animal glue is made by boiling up the skin, hooves, etc of some unfortunate creature.

This is probably what is rotting and causing the smell.

That does seem likely, doesn't it? In that case, a hot knife and a precision steam jet might let Will disassemble it completely, clean off the bad glue, and then reassemble it.

If cleaning off the old glue weren't sufficient to eliminate the smell,he might try Fabreze. It's pretty potent stuff that has worked for me with human feces and the urine of a very sick cat on carpets. (Don't ask.)

[Joseph E. Smith]

If the wood has been subjected to mold, this could explain the smell. If the mold has been allowed to grow unchecked for a long time, the fiddle is trashed. To find out for certain, take it to a reputable violin maker and let they'll you know all about it.

This happened to a couple of antique fiddles I once owned. One I tossed, the other I used as a wall hanging because of some scrimshaw in the likeness of Beatrice(sp?) Potter which decorated the face.

[brewerpaul]

Beatrice(sp?) Potter which decorated the face.

Beatrix : http://www.peterrabbit.co.uk/

[Will O'B]

Here are the results of my little "experiment":

We poured some Lysol into the fiddle and swished it around for a little while. The untreated wood inside the fiddle that I could see through the f holes had a natural color. When we poured the soloution out, it was speckled with black flakes. This told me there was probably some mold growing somewhere inside out of my line of sight. The disinfectant really didn't do much for the smell -- sort of like trying to cover up one smell with another, only to create a third smell that is just as bad as the first (I really can't say that the new smell was worse -- that would be a hard thing to beat.) We cut off the top around the f holes and shined a flashlight along the sides and back of the interior. At the chin-rest end of the fiddle, the natural-colored wood was BLACK from the mold covering the floor and the seam. Not as gross as Tyler's earlier description, perhaps, but still not a pretty site. Needless to say, the fiddle joined the case in the trash.

Sorry if this report wasn't as exciting as you may have been anticipating.

[Joseph E. Smith]

Beatrice(sp?) Potter which decorated the face.

Beatrix : http://www.peterrabbit.co.uk/

That's it, thanks Paul. I wish I took a picture of it, actually, I may have but I just can't find it. It was of a large scowling rabbit playing an upright bass, while a small rabbit with a rather crazy expression, was dancing madly around.

Sorry to hear about the fiddle Wll. I have a friend who restores antique fiddles, and basically, he's told me that with mold that bad, it is best to toss the fiddle... or, it will fall apart of its own accord.

[missy]

to go along with this thread, you need to hear a cut of Mike Cross and his "talk" of the difference between a violin and the "Appalachian Fiddle". It includes placing a "live, baby kitten" in the soundbox!!!!

[Joseph E. Smith]

to go along with this thread, you need to hear a cut of Mike Cross and his "talk" of the difference between a violin and the "Appalachian Fiddle". It includes placing a "live, baby kitten" in the soundbox!!!!

[Darwin]

Sorry if this report wasn't as exciting as you may have been anticipating.

I'm very disappointed. Please try to do better next time.

[Cynth]

At the chin-rest end of the fiddle, the natural-colored wood was BLACK from the mold covering the floor and the seam.

Whoa, dude! The wood was BLACK?????
Ooooh. Nightmare material there.

Just pulling your leg, Will. You should
have told us you found some little bones!