Getting rid of smoke odor

[cobo]

Bought a 2013 Custom Prospect a few weeks ago (a few people saw it at PSP X). I love the sound (Lollar P90s, fully hollow) and the size (1/4" thicker body than normal). Unbeknownst to me however, it was coming from a smoker's household. Both the guitar and case smelled pretty strongly of stale cigarettes. So I bought a small ozone generator and a new case from the factory. I stripped all the hardware out of the guitar (ozone oxidizes metal) and used the empty cardboard shipping container from the Heritage case as a chamber to expose the guitar to some intense ozone "therapy". After almost 72 hours in the chamber, with computer fans circulating the ozone-rich air through the hollow body cavity, I can no longer smell the smoke odor (and I have a very keen sense of smell).

 

I'll give it a few more days in the open air with the computer fans still circulating room air through the body before I conclude if it was 100% successful, but it seems to have done the trick!

 

If anyone has the same issue, I would happy to share the details.

 

BTW, I was a little premature buying the new case. I think I got the smoke odor out of the original case, too. So if anyone needs a brand new Prospect case, let me know.

 

 

 

Colm

[blille]

Very impressed. I always wondered how to do this.

 

 

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[ledzef]

Old wives trick to get rid of smoke is to leave a cup of vinegar out. Wouldn't recommend it for the guitar.

 

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[LK155]

Pretty thorough method. Glad it worked.

I absolutely hate the smell of old tobacco smoke, and my wife's allergic to it.

[Yooper]

THIS is how to restore that new guitar goodness.

[skydog52]

Brilliant! Love the guitar. Pics when you get it back together.

[cobo]

Damn, smoke really permeates wood. After a few hours out of the "tank", I put my nose up to the F-holes and took a whiff. I could smell some residual ozone but more more importantly, a hint of smoke as well. I sentence you to another 72 hours of solitary confinement, Mr. Prospect ...

[brentrocks]

i have also heard that a good way to get rid of smoke smell is to stop smoking.....

 

just sayin....

 

[Steiner]

Not that I've ever noticed the scent of tobacco; I have occasionally caught the distinct fragrance of cannabis. Cold is the very best way to destroy any odor. With guitars, one must reduce the temp VERY slowly (read hours) unless you prefer the look of crazed lacquer.

 

You're not too far from me; I assure you that in a few short months, your garage will serve you well.

 

Happy NGD

[ElNumero]

Not that I've ever noticed the scent of tobacco; I have occasionally caught the distinct fragrance of cannabis. Cold is the very best way to destroy any odor. With guitars, one must reduce the temp VERY slowly (read hours) unless you prefer the look of crazed lacquer.

 

You're not too far from me; I assure you that in a few short months, your garage will serve you well.

 

Happy NGD

Explain how that method will work in Florida. I bought an amp rig from a buddy, and when I transported it home ( a 4x10 cabinet and amp head) my car smelled like cats and dogs!! So my question is how do you get rid of pet odors from an amp cabinet? I don't think the animals peed in it (certainly hope they didnt) but the stench is pretty bad! I live in a non pet non smoking home so all my stuff smells just like how it came from the factory.

[cobo]

Hmmm. I'm no expert (yet), but if you removed the electronic chassis, speakers, etc. from the head and cabinet, I would think you could wipe down the interior and exterior with a damp cloth soaked in water mixed with vinegar or ammonia or bleach. I would keep the concentration pretty weak - a little of those liquids goes a long way. Also wear gloves and do it outside.

 

My issue with the hollow body guitar is I have no access to "wash" the interior, hence the use of ozone-rich air.

 

If the pet odor is embedded in the cabinet plywood, ozone treatment would probably work for that as well. Either way though, I think you should strip the cabinet of all the electronics and attack it that way.

 

 

Colm

[tulk1]

Explain how that method will work in Florida. I bought an amp rig from a buddy, and when I transported it home ( a 4x10 cabinet and amp head) my car smelled like cats and dogs!! So my question is how do you get rid of pet odors from an amp cabinet? I don't think the animals peed in it (certainly hope they didnt) but the stench is pretty bad! I live in a non pet non smoking home so all my stuff smells just like how it came from the factory.

 

[rwinking]

I had a case that smelled like smoke once. Then a tomcat got into my garage and sprayed it. I didn't notice the smoke after that. Might be worth a try.

BTW, it took a year to get the cat piss smell out of that case using all kind of weird enzyme stuff.

[bolero]

I left one of those car air freshener things in a smelly case for a while, did the trick

 

 

otherwise...

 

[High Flying Bird]

I have a HFT-475 that came with a heavy buildup of smoke and bar funk. I smoke and I could smell it! It was bad. I got the Fender three piece kit of Mc Guire's guitar polish. The swirl and haze lotion did the trick. The other two bottles finished it up fast. It took a lot of elbow grease but in my mind that is the only way to do it.

 

My buddy Joe has a Martin 12 string with a classical style head stock. It never impressed me much visually until I cleaned it up for him. For both of these guitars it was like you took a nasty light shade off of a lamp that was the guitar's finish. They seem to glow now.

[Buckyrock]

don't use bleach on grill cloth - unless you want it white. I learned the hard way.

[cobo]

Just pulled her out of the ozone chamber last night after an additional 72 hours of solitary confinement, and I let it sit overnight on my work bench with the computer fans circulating regular room air through the hollow body. This morning I found if I put my nose right up to the F-holes, I got a faint smell of ozone, which is not objectionable at all, but the smoke smell is essentially gone.

 

I spent the morning soldering the pickup wires back in place, and fishing the pots back into their assigned holes (an exercise in patience ...).

 

Put all the other chrome back on (tuners, bridge, tail piece, etc.), tuned her up, adjusted the bridge, plugged it in, and ... YES!! She now sounds, and smells, as good as she looks!

 

The only cosmetic thing I noticed after the extensive ozone shock treatment was the fretboard was a slightly lighter color than I remembered. Ozone does tend to oxidize/age things, and that's kind of what it looked like. A little lem oil on a rag and voila, a nice, deep-brown rosewood jumped out.

 

 

 

[FredZepp]

Awesome Prospect ! And interesting to hear of the effectiveness of the Ozone Generator also.