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Aloha everyone,
When I installed my new tailpiece, I noticed that the cork on my chinkiest has left marks on my violin, on either side of the saddle. I've attached a picture to show one off the two marks. My question is how I can fix up that area. I'm considering a different chinrest, one that sits to the side instead of over the tailpiece. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
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I'd have to know if it's sticky. Then if it's just tiny scratches, you can use a real fine auto polish and that with a soft cloth like a terry cloth washcloth will easily polish it to a shine if they aren't too deep. Then a nice coat of polish for wood will finish off the job.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Hopefully it is just residue of some sort and not where the wood grain has been crushed by pressure from the clamp?
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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I don't know if it's sticky - I didn't feel it, just noticed it. I'll have to check it out tomorrow. Hopefully I didn't use too much pressure, but I noticed this the first time I took off the chinrest, ie., those marks were there when I bought my violin. I'll let y'all know what I find out about it.
I've seen similar marks in a YouTube video about replacing a chinrest. The replacement chinrest was the same type (over the tailpiece) so the cork was in the same place.
BTW, thanks for your replies. Hopefully it is jus some sort of residue. Oh, and sorry about the "chinkiest" in my original post. Apparently, my iMac thinks that "chinrest" should actually be "chinkiest".
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Having removed hundreds of chinrests from all kinds of violins and makers I can assure you that this is completely normal and kind of a common problem, especially with new violins produced quickly and set up early. String instrument varnishes are made soft to allow more freedom for the wood to vibrate.
What Dennis suggested is actually a great solution if it works. Try Turtle Wax and be patient as it takes time. If that doesn't work, you can get a fine small paint brush and use alcohol but be careful as the alcohol will soften the original varnish. Just paint the alcohol on some paper to dry the brush and swiftly brush over the damaged spot on the violin, allow to dry and repeat. You may have to do this like 10 times but every time you do it, the varnish will be softer and you can easily remove varnish and make it look worse instead of better. Lastly, using a fine micro mesh paper and wet sanding is an option as well. Be warned though that a lack of experience can worsen the situation especially if you go outside of the damaged area.
Good luck!!!
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Thanks for all the responses. I may just end up get a different chin rest that fits over the tailpiece. I've seen the Flesch chin rest, but that looks a bit large. I can get one for a really good price on eBay. I'm using that Mechanical Turk program from Amazon to earn some extra money. I'm all the way up to $1.00 hahaha 
It'll be a while before I get any "real" money and by then, I'll have made up my mind as to how I'll proceed.
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