A refugee from Breaktime here.  I was given by a landlord a musical instrument similar to a mandolin, only with a body about two – three times as large.  It came from Palestine, and is made with semi-hard wood.  The owner left it a couple of years ago when he moved out.

It clearly is NOT a valuable artifact.  But a lot of cracks have developed from poor storage.  Most of the problems seem pretty straightforward, as I simply want to make this thing look good enough to display.

My chief problem is that where the neck is attached to the body.  At this point there exists a huge glob of hide glue.  I think it has been reglued a couple of times.  How best to get rid of this mess so I can start over again?