Ours was an interesting household and one where the composition of Stradivarius varnish was a regular topic. I cannot resist the pull of the Stradivarius thread drift. Violins, cellos, violas (vlins and vlas) were laying around as were guitars and my fathers "fiddles".
French polishing, resurfacing the soft Cremonese varnish that has been so often lauded is among the most serious crimes you can commit to one of these instruments. It is (unless at the hands of a fool), simply not done. Although modern analysis has largely revealed the makeup of his varnish and found it to be less miraculous than imagined, it is nevertheless regarded as a fundamental element to a properly preserved instrument. A strad with a perfect finish is one that has been ruined. For anyone who has never seen these instruments, they are as you might imagine, spectacular, but when displayed along with other outstanding ones from that period, somewhat plain in appearance. The beauty is in the tone of the instrument. And as those fortunate to have paddled the old canoes will tell you, the feel under paddle is unique and wonderful and not a thing like modern (post 1910 in my book) hulls. A slathering of fresh varnish on most canoes is preservative, but in that one in a million case, damaging.
