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

[Will O'B]

Someone recently gave us a fiddle that they purchased second-hand over 20 years ago. He tried to learn to play it once, then put it away in the case, where it's been locked up ever since. When we opened the case the first thing that we noticed was a very pungent, musty aroma that seems to permeate all things old. The other thing was that more than a dozen hairs on the bow were lying loosely in different lengths all over the fiddle and all but about 6 inches of the D string were gone. The owner said that he had someone look at the instrument and was told that moths had somehow gotten into the sealed case and caused the damage to the bow hairs and the string. I know nothing about moths or fiddles, but the moth theory seems odd to me. There are three clasps on the case, and I don't see how moths could have ever gotten inside. Also, there are no signs of deceased moths in the case (no headstone, no ashes, nothing).

Now to the problem: the smell. It seems to have gotten far worse since we got the fiddle home last week. I noticed that the green felt lining in the case has brown steaks which I assume are mildew maybe? Thinking that the fiddle was picking up the odor from the closed case, I put the fiddle and the bow into a sealed plastic bag with a "breathable" box of baking soda. After four days in the bag, it smells worse than ever -- my wife made me put the bag and its contents outdoors on the deck. I know that the weather isn't a good idea for the wood, but my thought is that the fiddle may not be salvageable anyway.

Anyone have any experience with instruments like this? If so, how did you fix (clean) it? The strongest smell seems to be coming from inside the fiddle.

Thanks for any help.

[Unseen122]

Get rid of the case and get a new one chances are the smell will never go away. This happened to my Dad with a Guitar once he tried every thing but the case still smelled. I would say just leave the Fiddle out of the case in your house for a couple days and see what happens. Maybe someone else has some more expertise on the subject.

[Will O'B]

Thanks for the suggestion. I agree about deep sixing the case. Unfortunately, the thing has been outside of the case for days now -- in the sealed bag with "deodorizer" and the fiddle started smelling so badly through the sealed plastic bag that we had to move it outdoors to the deck.

[talimirr743]

I don't have the personal experience, but I know a great deal about wood. Throw it away! The fiddle and the case! I'm willing to bet my whole musical collection (and that is worth about $25,000) that the odor has soaked into the wood. Once a smell like that has seeped into the wood, it's 100% impossible to get the smell out completely, but you might want to giving the fiddle a THOUROGH cleaning to erase some of the smell.

[Congratulations]

Tomato sauce.

[talimirr743]

Tomato sauce.

Tried it. Didn't worp.

[talimirr743]

Work

[Congratulations]

Did you really?

I was just joking.

[meemtp]

What's the inside of the fiddle look like? Chance's are it's pretty funky on the inside. Seen a few of these come my way. Only solution then is to take the top of and clean the inside. Long job, big $$$$ not really worth it unless it's a valuable instrument. Even then, there's no guarantee that the wood hasn't been affected. Is there a maker's label? That would help you figure out if it might be worth trying.

[missy]

you could try jamming some dryer sheets in the soundholes. But it the instrument is getting worse with exposure to air, I'd hazard to guess it's got mold actually in the wood. Unless you can figure a way to spray a bleach solution inside of it, then dry it out, without splitting the glue seams - I don't think it's worth messing with (again, unless it's a valuable or historical instrument).

[Tyler]

While I lived in B.C., (much more humid than arid Utah) a guitar came my which had a condition similar to what you're describing. I took it to a fellow I knew who did luthier work and he popped the glue seals around the top for me...
what was inside still turns my stomach...the damn thing literally was coated with mold inside and was growing mushrooms of some sort!
Needless to say, I threw it away.

[GaryKelly]

Probably not moths, Will, probably the humble carpet-beetle. They love eating horsehair. In fact they love eating all hair (and they like carpets, because we humans shed a lot of food for 'em to eat every day).

The stink sounds like rot. Heh. Can't believe I'd get to write a line like that!

[Will O'B]

Wow. Well, thanks to everyone for your replies. The inside of the fiddle that's in my line of sight looks clean, although I fear like the rest of you that something despicable is growing in the dark corners. The smell has now gotten so bad that it almost takes the top of my head off -- which is why it's staying outside until trash day. It's just a bloody shame -- it looks like such a lovely instrument.

BTW, the only "label" that I can see is a stamp on the inside that says, "Made in Shanghai, China." My only consolation is that I'm probably not throwing away some work of art. Oh, well.

[brewerpaul]

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.

[Cynth]

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?