Puccini went to the shop today to get fixed. Namely, to have a rib reglued, exterior bottom veneer glued down, fretboard cleaned, one set of tuners removed and wood smoothed so that they will screw down flat, and finally new strings. Total damage likely to be about $60 for labor and whatever the strings cost, say $12 at full markup. Not bad. I was prepared to hear about $100.
The diagnostician, a friendly guy named Eric, took one look at poor Puccini and said, "Oh, this has been in water." I was wondering what the heck kind of varnish Suzuki could possibly have used that could flake off. Honestly, it's like dandruff. If you so much as hold it in a playing position, your shirt is covered with little flakes. There's no help for it; even if I felt like ruining it by stripping and refinishing, it's got so many little ribs on the back (think a pumpkin with many segments) that it would be a nightmare. He also pointed out to me that there are little holes showing below the tuner mounts, suggesting that the tuners, though quite old, as their ivory buttons show, may not be the originals -- which in turn suggests that the mandolin may be even older than 1945, the only date I have.
However, the structure is sound, even after being examined internally with a little dentist mirror -- that amused me no end. I expect to get it back in a week or so.
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