edwardsand
Joined: Jun 29, 2018
Posts: 661
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Posted on Dec 04 2021 12:04 PM
I just got a small amp through Reverb, and it all works as it should. Unfortunately, it has a rather pungent odor, that is definitely that smoker's house smell. So I'd like to know who knows a useful way to get rid of that smell? Deep cleaning (with what stuff?), some sort of spray, or maybe just let it sit for a few weeks/months/years?
I don't care whether the previous owner smoked or not, but I think the seller should have stated this in the ad. It was sold by a store that buys/sells music gear (rather than by the previous owner), so they should have known that this was a thing that should be stated in the ad, because it is part of the condition.
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CaptainSensible
Joined: Nov 08, 2006
Posts: 643
Leesburg, VA
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Posted on Dec 04 2021 12:08 PM
Have you considered taking up smoking?
Just kidding. I had a similar issue with the first amp I ever bought. Smelled like someone used it as a spittoon. We called it the “dip amp.”
— Sean
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Surfysonic
Joined: Oct 17, 2009
Posts: 521
Walkersville, MD
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Posted on Dec 04 2021 12:33 PM
Baking soda absorbs odors, which is why folks use them in their refridgerators. You might try opening a box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and letting it sit inside the cabinet for a while. Good luck!
— The doofus formerly known as Snorre
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K39: 2013 - 2014
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FritzCat
Joined: Sep 11, 2007
Posts: 668
Sonoma, CA
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Posted on Dec 04 2021 01:25 PM
I once bought a reverb unit with the same issue, I ended up removing the chassis and cleaned the cab and grill cloth with simple green & water and a soft brush.
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CrazyAces
Joined: Jul 31, 2012
Posts: 4052
Nashville, TN.
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Posted on Dec 04 2021 06:12 PM
I used Fabreze in a spray bottle on an old ,tweed Supro amp that smelled like an ashtray when I got it.
A few days later and few more light applications and the smell was gone.
— http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
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http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic
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JohnnyMosrite
Joined: Jun 14, 2006
Posts: 858
New York City area
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Posted on Dec 04 2021 09:31 PM
I had a similar experience with an amp tech. The guy smoked like a chimney.
I delivered the amp to his door but when I picked it up, I assisted him with it from his basement workshop. The place was just one big ashtray.
Didn't use him again
The smoke stink cleared up in about a week's worth of sunshine and fresh air.
J Mo'
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Gilette
Joined: May 04, 2014
Posts: 734
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Posted on Dec 05 2021 04:40 AM
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Last edited: Mar 03, 2022 04:33:10
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JohnnyMosrite
Joined: Jun 14, 2006
Posts: 858
New York City area
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Posted on Dec 05 2021 07:09 AM
I recently acquired an old Harmony Hollywood from the mid 1950s. Part of its "patina" was the smell of tobacco. Again - some sunshine and moving outdoor air got most of the stink out. I did end up cleaning and treating the fretboard. Another Harmony I restored had brown nicotine stains covering much of what were once white control knobs. As of now - both have lots of patina; little, if any, tobacco smell.
Bars and taverns back in the day usually reeked of cigarette smoke.
I remember a lady tavern owner at a bar my group played telling me (as I lit a cigarette) that getting cigarette residue off the wall mirrors - which were in vogue as decor back then - was a hard task. The mirrors would actually go blue in color due to the smoke residue and it was difficult to remove.
Ah - the old bad habits of yesterday.
J Mo'
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edwardsand
Joined: Jun 29, 2018
Posts: 661
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Posted on Dec 05 2021 10:21 AM
Thanks for all the suggestions! I certainly remember the days when smoking was everywhere an you couldn't go to a bar or club without coming home reeking of cigarette smoke. I also worked in a cigarette factory for two summers when home from college, and when I went into the break room for my 15 minute breaks, it was just a thick soup because everyone smoked the free cigarettes (rejects from production) - except for me. Somehow I never picked up the habit.
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edwardsand
Joined: Jun 29, 2018
Posts: 661
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Posted on Dec 05 2021 10:24 AM
Gilette wrote:
Don't expect the smell to wear off. I've bought a juke box once that had been sitting in a barn for two decades, and it still smelled like grandpa. I had to take the whole thing apart and used a combination of isoppropyl alcolhol, baking soda, oven cleaner and paint stripper to get the smell out.
Some of the mechanisms took weeks to disassemble, clean and re-assemble. And still, after all this work, a faint cigar smell would emerge when the power was on. In the end I sold it.
I grew up around juke boxes because my grandfather ran a business renting them out and servicing them (and pool tables as well). When he died, my dad would spend many Saturdays at the shop fixing up all the old juke boxes to sell - he knew how to take them all apart and get all the bits working again. We ended up with two in the house I grew up in.
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tahitijack
Joined: Nov 03, 2006
Posts: 690
San Clemente, CA
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Posted on Dec 05 2021 11:32 AM
There is a device you can rent that will pull all the oders out. Hotels use them when a guest decides to smoke in a non-smoking room it cleans the room in a few hours. In your case you just need to put the amp and device in a room close the door and check it in a few hours. Hope this helps.
— Happy Sunsets!
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