Smokey Smelling Acoustic

[JBCROTTY]

Originally Posted by peanutavalon

.....And being such a high end and reputable retailer I feel they should have told me.

I agree with you - this is a condition that should be disclosed like any other imperfection that might be a significant factor in making a buying decision. Send it back and demand your money back. Mint condition means there is nothing wrong with the guitar. It was misrepresented to you.

The "buyer beware" and "you should have asked" responses are off-base - if the guitar had a large, undisclosed gash anywhere on the instrument when received, nobody would hesitate to return the guitar and demand a refund. What's the difference here?

Plenty of used D-18's for sale out there - you will find another one. While people are recommending ways to mitigate the smell, I don't believe it will ever go away completely.

[kde1974]

This issue definitely should have been disclosed by a high end retailer.
Perhaps they have so many used guitars going in and out, that the odor wasn't noticed by their employees. Nevertheless, they are no doubt aware that many buyers care about exposure to cigarette smoke.
In my experience, removing the odor from the interior of the case is much (much) more difficult than doing so from the instrument. On top of that, the case is basically unusable until the odor is removed, as you wouldn't want to expose this or any other guitar to the smoke odor in the case while you are trying to remedy the situation.
So, you might express your disappointment to the retailer and request compensation in the form of a replacement case. That seems fair to me.
Best of luck!

[stealyerface]

I posted a while ago about a nice deal I made, however I was resolve to the fact that any time spent playing the guitar would lead to stage III Mesothelioma, as the guitar smelled so terribly of cigarette smoke.

I sold the case and bought a new one, and was able to totally rid the guitar of any remnants of smell by the following:

Totally wiped down the guitar, fretboard, neck, anywhere I could reach with a soft cloth diaper and I used lemon oil on the neck, and Taylor Guitar polish everywhere else.

I hung it from a guitar stand and just let it air out in the family room I then took coffee filters, and filled them up with baking soda and taped them shut, to make a baking soda pouch that I could fit it the sound hole.

When the new case arrived, I shut the guitar in the case, with three baking soda pouches in the case, and two in the body of the guitar. After I played it, I would shut it up inside the case and replaced the pouches with newly made ones every two days.

It took two weeks, and the smell, any trace of it, was gone.

You can salvage that guitar, it’ll just take some patience, and a couple boxes of baking soda.

Good luck, just keep at it.
~syf

[Tony Burns]

This same thing happened to me a few years back -high end acoustic
smelled like pipe tobacco etc. and the case was bad as well -never though to ask. figured I was dealing with a decent fellow-
i even talked to him on the phone about the guitar and he never disclosed it to me when i asked about the
guitar and its condition .

Discussing this with a friend a few weeks latter , my friends opinion was that
smokers feel the world is their ash try and feel what they do is normal
and that its not big deal ( that in a smokers opinion it would be our problem , not theirs )
-But in fact this is a big deal to a non-smoker like myself .
I did get most of the smell out with time - and will be more careful in the future .

Id say to ask if the guitar came from a smokers home ( 1 of many questions )

[Beakybird]

It's sad, because if you do an amazing flat picking solo, and the audience exclaims, "Smokin'!" you won't know if they're referring to your playing or the smell of the guitar.

[Slothead56]

WD-40 and duct tape. Fixes everything...

[Dogma]

I think you are right in feeling this should have been disclosed--by any seller--but especially by a high-end retail establishment. You don't mention what you paid for the instrument, but assuming that it was not suspiciously low, I also like the suggestion that you negotiate with them for a new case as this would generally be considered to be part of what you are paying for and what you got is, effectively, unusable. The guitar is likely to air out well, but synthetic fabrics...not likely.

While philosophically any seller should disclose this kind of flaw, if the sale price was extremely low then I feel like the scale shifts somewhat toward you to wonder--and ask--why?!

Sorry you have to deal with this but thanks too, for posting. I probably would not have thought to ask this specific question either. Now it's on the radar.

[seattlescott]

If less expensive recommendations to remove the smell do not work, try an ozone generator.
https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Indus...-1-spons&psc=1

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

You can never truly get rid of the smell. Believe me, I tried to do so with an instrument.

Did you ever try an ozone generator? It works.

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by seattlescott

If less expensive recommendations to remove the smell do not work, try an ozone generator.
https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Indus...-1-spons&psc=1

They do work, but I'd recommend an industrial one rented from a tool rental place. Much cheaper and work better as well.

[bufflehead]

+1 on Cedar chips, but polish the outside of the guitar first. And you might want to consider buying a new case.

[Beakybird]

I complained when I noticed that my almost-new Chevy Malibu reeked of cigarettes. An industrial ozonator got rid of most of the smell, and it was completely gone after a few more months of just airing out. Now the car reeks of my B.O.

[rmp]

I bought a second hand guitar about 30 years ago from what had to have been a chain smoker too. (Yari Dy74 snowflake variant, made 1978) I still have the guitar, but long ago, got rid of the case, (good lord it stunk)

You may have to replace the case if it also smells. you can try to air it out, or use fabreeze..

back then I used a few of the little tree vanilla air fresheners too, just exposing a little bit of it at a time.

I don't think Fabreeze even existed back then

Eventually,the smell went away. still a great guitar too.

[baimo]

Really! The case might retain smells but not the guitar. Don’t buy anything vintage.

[AndrewG]

I smoke, don't buy my guitars