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Double Bass Kay Bass eaten by mold

MollyKay

MollyKay

Supporting Member
Sep 10, 2006
806
222
Southern PA
www.bassmonkey.net
Disclosures
Bass Hobby'ist
#1
Bass mold…this in not for the faint of hearted. A Kay S-51 attacked by mold and salt water.

A very nice gentleman from Hawaii contacted me with photos and this message…

We have had some bass sadness today, we went to take out this bass from storage, to prep for our trip and we are distraught to see that this bass has been attacked by mold! I have attached pictures so that we can ask if you and Lonnie would take a look at the damage and see if it is repairable, in your opinion from restoration jobs of this kind. If you think it might be we will leave it with you to be renovated. We came home from playing in Japan and didn't air the bass out and put it in storage, and it looks like the salt got to the metal parts and mold to the wood.


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This is a super nice couple, but this is way beyond what we can tackle from such a long distance in addition I am allergic to mold. If the Hawaii contingent wants to offer any suggestions I would be more then happy to pass along the contact information. The pictures are painful to look at…the death of a good Kay bass.

Thanks yawl :crying:
 
#2
Looks destroyed. The mold has probably penetrated deep into the edges of the plys. I was reading that a lot of foreclosed homes are being demolished because they became full of mold after sitting vacant. It can be nearly impossible to remove. I think that bass is dead.

How long had the bass been in storage? Which island? Kauai is very wet, and in places it has some of world's highest average rainfalls. For mold and mildew, parts of Hawaii are even worse than here in the continental south...
 
#3
Burn it, case and all. The only thing that will kill mold for sure is Clorox and soaking the bass in Clorox obviously won't work. Please make sure you stress to them that anywhere they bring that bass will be contaminated by the spores.

We had a mold problem at our previous address -- like you, my wife is allergic -- and had to abandon half of our belongings because there was no way to decontaminate them.
 
#4
KUNGfuSHERIFF said:
Burn it, case and all. The only thing that will kill mold for sure is Clorox and soaking the bass in Clorox obviously won't work. Please make sure you stress to them that anywhere they bring that bass will be contaminated by the spores.

We had a mold problem at our previous address -- like you, my wife is allergic -- and had to abandon half of our belongings because there was no way to decontaminate them.
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Iodophor works better than bleach. Even kills black mold. And it's an Iodine / Phosphor product so it's not as nasty a chemical as chlorine bleach (clorox is a specific brand of chlorine bleach). I use Iodophor as a no-rinse sanitizer in my beer brewing. Even someone who is allergic to iodine, like my wife, will not have a problem with the beer.

Even Idophor wouldn't help that bass. I just thought this might be helpful for anyone dealing with mold in other situations.
 
#6
I worked in the mold testing/remediation business for a while. I also brew beer. Iodophor will kill mold. It also will badly and unalterably stain any wood in comes in contact with. It has its own hazards that make proper handling important. Here is a link to the MSDS for it:
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The best way to get rid of mold in this case is to put the bass into a dry environment. Careful cleaning with a damp soapy rag followed by more drying will help. While dry air won't be good for the bass, it is ply and you don't have much to loose. If the finish and glues used are not alcohol soluble, wiping down with alcohol should help. This can be good for the metal parts after they have been removed.

I would suggest using a respirator with a particulate filter while working, as well latex or nitrile gloves. Any respirator that is rated for asbestos should do the trick.

Mold is unlikely to have penetrated plywood. The glues used to make it are pretty toxic to mold.

If outside of the mold, the bass is worth repairing, it looks worth the effort.
 
#8
forester said:
i'd say it's all there..just in kit form. clean & assemble.
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Really…I value your input as you would know best. I am afraid to touch it or bring it into the workshop for fear of the mold. I have no idea what the owner will do with it. There is a small window of opportunity to get it to the east coast this weekend. If you want the project I’ll see what he would want for the pieces. Or what you would want to restore it for him. They were offering for us to restore it but this is a much bigger project then we can tackle.

The bass is currently in Honolulu Hawaii and the owner will be in DC this weekend.
 
#9
Wow,

I've seen some Kays that got put away wet and the ply's separated past the point of no return but this one may be the biggest challenge of the Bass Monkey's considerable skills.

There is the small matter of the EPA documentation............. ;)
 
#12
BURN IT WENDY!!!! DON"T LET IT ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR SHOP AND DON"T LET THEM CONVINCE YOU OF ANY OTHER OPTIONS!!!! Get Lonnie and a bottle of tequila and set it ablaze in your driveway!!!!!!

It looks to me like some of the Katrina or Nasheville heaps I've been seen floating around lately as "fixerupperz". Respirators and nitrile gloves and asbestos rated gear for an old student bass???? I had some nasty old mold infected Kay in the shop earlier this year and I'll forever draw the line with any simialr toxic heap of garbage. The entire place smelled for months and every time I went near the soundholes I felt like I was going to pass out. Don't even think of it!!!! Are you willing to gamble that junk getting into the rest of your collection and house??? Burn it, burn it, burn it!!!!:hyper::hyper::hyper:

j.
 
#13
Got it! We have already passed on this fixer upper. It will remain in Hawaii. And agreed we can’t chance bringing this in to the workshop for our health and the health of the rest of the bass collection. As much as it pains me to see the death of a previously playable bass…we do know where to draw the line.

Thanks james and thanks forester, good guys, good low end friends…honest advice. :):cool::)
 
#17
If the instrument gets sacrified to the altar of Dragonetti, Bottesini, and Simandl, then I think it should in a dignified way and put forth on youtube so we can see the carnage in all it's glory. All Hail the Mighty Doghouse!
 

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