Cigarette Smoke Smell In A Guitar

[Sgt. Pepper]

13 minutes ago, Mr. Gibson said:

You’re probably the only non smoker to ever say that it doesn’t bother them. Usually they act like you’re smoking mustard gas. All I know if I’m at an outdoor auction and people are crowding me, I like the Marlboro cowboy light one up and they  disburse with a quickness. 

You rebel you.

[merciful-evans]

20 hours ago, Karloff said:

I sure don't miss coming home from a gig smelling like cigarettes. well, from '94 on anyway ... I quick cigs June of '94. 

I with you there. I would head off to a gig showered and in clean clothes. I wouldn't be there long before my eyes would stream. When I got back I would reek of smoke and I'd need another shower. 

[duane v]

15 hours ago, Mr. Gibson said:

You’re probably the only non smoker to ever say that it doesn’t bother them. Usually they act like you’re smoking mustard gas. All I know if I’m at an outdoor auction and people are crowding me, I like the Marlboro cowboy light one up and they  disburse with a quickness. 

My dads 65 Impala always had ashes and butts in the pull-out ash tray. I still can recall the smell of that car to this day..... feet, farts and cigarettes.

In todays world that car would have been a site to see.... Mom and Dad driving to Gemco with six kids with their heads and arms hanging out the windows a with no seat belts on.

[Mr. Gibson]

19 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

You rebel you.

Run farmers here comes Jim with his gassssssssss.

[Sheepdog1969]

The Insurance Restoration Company I consulted for used Ozone generators to eliminate smoke smells in fire damaged homes. Ozone generators can be rented, but it is important to isolate the area/item with the odor issue, and said generator, since high levels of ozone are harmful to the human respiratory system. 

[kidblast]

On 6/16/2023 at 8:26 AM, duane v said:

My dads 65 Impala always had ashes and butts in the pull-out ash tray. I still can recall the smell of that car to this day..... feet, farts and cigarettes.

 

yea but

its the farts we treasure most...

 

[G Stone]

On 2/7/2022 at 10:53 AM, Sgt. Pepper said:

On 11/24/21 I bought a used Martin 00-28. You know the story. Guy told me he was the original owner, and he has a smoke free home. One of those thing was a lie. So every day since I got the guitar, I have been taking it out of the case, weather I play it or not, and let it air out. It is finally to the point where I can stand it being in my hands and it doesn't smell like an ashtray.  

I was half tempted to contact Reverb and return it. I should have found out if he would have to pay shipping back to himself, just to be a d-ick, but I was looking for that model for a while, and did get a good price. 

 

On 2/12/2022 at 11:43 AM, pohatu771 said:

Twelve years ago I bought a J-45 that arrived with a strong cigarette smell.

When I asked this same question in the Acoustic section, one member berated me for erasing the "history" of the guitar.

My solution - throw away the cheap cardboard case it came in, and keep a dryer sheet inside the guitar (store in the cardboard box that it shipped in) for about a week. It worked very well. If the case is actually worth keeping, it might need to be shampooed with a carpet cleaner.

 

On 2/13/2022 at 9:14 AM, Silversurfer said:

I had the same problem.  Bought a guitar where the previous owner died of emphysema.  Only thing that worked was leaving the guitar case open in strong sunlight whenever I could for a month.  The UV rays are the only thing that will work.  No cover up chemicals, coffee, baking soda, etc, will have the same effect.

OP you didn't mention if the case was original and/or worth keeping. But if yes, hopefully your keeping the case open for long periods of time too to get rid of the smell. I got a few used guitars, but luckily none a them smelled liked cigarettes before yet. Good luck.

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 minute ago, G Stone said:

 

 

OP you didn't mention if the case was original and/or worth keeping. But if yes, hopefully your keeping the case open for long periods of time too to get rid of the smell. I got a few used guitars, but luckily none a them smelled liked cigarettes before yet. Good luck.

The case was a Martin case. One of the thermoplastic ones. Sold the guitar last year. 

[G Stone]

8 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

The case was a Martin case. One of the thermoplastic ones. Sold the guitar last year. 

OK, yeah just realized your OP was a few months old.

[Dub-T-123]

On 6/16/2023 at 5:26 AM, duane v said:

My dads 65 Impala always had ashes and butts in the pull-out ash tray. I still can recall the smell of that car to this day..... feet, farts and cigarettes.

In todays world that car would have been a site to see.... Mom and Dad driving to Gemco with six kids with their heads and arms hanging out the windows a with no seat belts on.

Unfortunately people drive so crazy in SoCal now it would be totally negligent to do that with your kids

[duane v]

7 minutes ago, Dub-T-123 said:

Unfortunately people drive so crazy in SoCal now it would be totally negligent to do that with your kids

It's funny you should bring that up:

We had some friends over and they were trying to convince us to go on Sunday bike rides with them, and I told them there is no way:

1.  I'm not going to get on a 15 lbs bike sharing the asphalt with 3000-5000 lbs vehicles.

2. Get on a bike that is 30x slower than a 3000-5000 lbs vehicles.

3. Create more frustration for the driver in a 3000-5000 lbs vehicles because I'm too damn slow to get out of anyone's way driving a 3000-5000 lbs vehicles.

I know how frustrated I sometimes get when I'm driving and want to make a right hand turn on the red, and there this one cycler that is completely hogging up that lane, and is either oblivious that five other cars behind me want to make that same right turn. Or just a big enough A-hole that he or she cant waddle his or her bike on to the sidewalk to let the cars go. 

 

[Dub-T-123]

57 minutes ago, duane v said:

It's funny you should bring that up:

We had some friends over and they were trying to convince us to go on Sunday bike rides with them, and I told them there is no way:

1.  I'm not going to get on a 15 lbs bike sharing the asphalt with 3000-5000 lbs vehicles.

2. Get on a bike that is 30x slower than a 3000-5000 lbs vehicles.

3. Create more frustration for the driver in a 3000-5000 lbs vehicles because I'm too damn slow to get out of anyone's way driving a 3000-5000 lbs vehicles.

I know how frustrated I sometimes get when I'm driving and want to make a right hand turn on the red, and there this one cycler that is completely hogging up that lane, and is either oblivious that five other cars behind me want to make that same right turn. Or just a big enough A-hole that he or she cant waddle his or her bike on to the sidewalk to let the cars go. 

 

Wait you’re saying you’ve seen cyclists actually stop at a stop sign or traffic light? 🙃

[duane v]

Just now, Dub-T-123 said:

Wait you’re saying you’ve seen cyclists actually stop at a stop sign or traffic light? 🙃

Right????? lol.... When I was a kid we rode our bikes on the sidewalk and the crosswalks.