Blue Food Coloring?????

[Steve Killingsworth]

Not exactly a bass question but close enough. My brother has acquired a fiddle that someone decided to color with blue food coloring--we're talking a lovely shade of robin's egg blue. It may have penetrated pretty deeply into the wood itself. The thing sounds pretty good but looks hideous. Since I am sort of a journeyman woodworker, he has talked to me about returning it to its natural state. Unfortunately I have absolutely no idea about this. Anybody ever removed food coloring from an instrument? If so, how? If not, what do you think?

[bill h]

did they sand it down past the sealer? If yes then you may end up with a fiddle that has blue in the bottom of the grain and what color you stain the top.

[arnoldschnitzer]

If the color's in the wood, an orange stain should kill the blue and turn the thing brown.

[Damon Rondeau]

...should turn the thing a lovely shade of brown, I'm thinking...

[Jeff Bollbach]

Originally posted by Damon Rondeau
...should turn the thing a lovely shade of brown, I'm thinking...

In the toilet?

[Don Higdon]

Originally posted by Steve Killingsworth
. The thing sounds pretty good but looks hideous.

Isn't that the point? What's the complaint? (Speaking as the proud owner of Old 87 - http://www.lordonly.net/Images/John/...ssass/don4131/ )

[Joe Taylor]

Kind of depends on how much work you want to do to it and how much risk you want to take.

you could use wood bleach and make it white then refinish it to want ever color you wanted.

I got bad stains off some wood with clorox but I would have to real pressed to use it on a instrument at all.

If you start using chemicals you could end up having the thing come unglued then you would have a real project.

Joe

[Steve Killingsworth]

Originally posted by Don Higdon

Isn't that the point? What's the complaint? (Speaking as the proud owner of Old 87 - http://www.lordonly.net/Images/John/...ssass/don4131/ )

That bass has Character--sort of reminds me of Ernest Borgine's face. The blue fiddle is more like Tammy Faye Bakker's face--all painted up and streaky.