To refinish or not - '05 R9 Brockburst

[dbf909]

Originally Posted by goldenugly57

Hey, alane011.
One question first: is this your first custom shop Gibson? Because if it is, it might be possible that you confuse the typical smell of Gibson's nitro finish with a pipe tobacco smell! They smell pretty similar and as far as I'm concerned the "pipe tobacco smell" is the most wonderful smell on my Paulas! I might be wrong, but before you refinish or try to remove the smell you should compare it to the smell of some other Gibson custom shop Paulas!

Good point. Is it really a "smoke" smell or is it the sweet smell of unburned pipe tobacco? LPs and most new guitars have a really sweet smell. Some of it is from the adhesives, foam, and lining in the cases and some of it is from the finish itself. Most of the sweet smell is actually from the residual buffing compound that they use in the factory.

I personally think that it is one of the best smells ever. To me it smells like... new guitar. There is virtually nothing that smells like that and it is one of those universal smells that I can trace back to my childhood.

Rickenbackers have a very unique odor that is a combination of the special finish that they use (it's not nitro or poly, it's called "Conversion Varnish") and the case materials. Rick owners refer to it as "Ric-o-smell". I can't say that it is terribly pleasant but it is very unique.

On the other hand, I'm also very sensitive to burned tobacco odors - if that is it then selling the case is probably the only answer. Try naptha and polish. It will most likely just take time to dissipate though.

[alane011]

Originally Posted by dbf909

Good point. Is it really a "smoke" smell or is it the sweet smell of unburned pipe tobacco? LPs and most new guitars have a really sweet smell. Some of it is from the adhesives, foam, and lining in the cases and some of it is from the finish itself. Most of the sweet smell is actually from the residual buffing compound that they use in the factory.
.

Its a 2005 - would it really still smell? It smells like pipe tobacco - burned or otherwise.. There is no way this is a guitar generated smell

[alane011]

question for the naptha users - I assume lighter fluid with naptha is good ( i didnt want to buy a huge amount) - It really did nothing..

[dbf909]

I have some guitars that are 10 years old or older that still have this smell. Granted, it dissipates somewhat with age and use but its still there to some degree. The part of the odor that comes from the case itself will be there for a very long time.

I have not used lighter fluid (Ronsonol) on a guitar - I can't comment on that although I'm told that it is mostly naptha. I purchased a quart of Naptha at The Home Depot - I use it for other things besides guitars...

[Atomic]

most likely the smell is coming from the case lining and not the guitar. its leaching from the fuzz in the case and sticking to the surface of the guitar.. just leave the case open for a few days with the guitar out of the case to let the smell evap out.

[pinefd]

Originally Posted by Atomic

most likely the smell is coming from the case lining and not the guitar. its leaching from the fuzz in the case and sticking to the surface of the guitar.. just leave the case open for a few days with the guitar out of the case to let the smell evap out.

Joe, I believe he already mentioned that he got a new case for the guitar, and it appears to be the wood in the guitar itself that smells.


Frank

[alane011]

Yeah - I just sold the lifton on ebay - The guitar has been sans original case for several weeks. The truth of the matter seems to be that the smell aint going anywhere soon. This is my own fault in not asking the 'smoking" question before buying it. It blows my mind that a seller would not think this would be an issue to the buyer. My stupidity.
Thanks for everyone's help on this.

Andrew

[Atomic]

Originally Posted by pinefd

Joe, I believe he already mentioned that he got a new case for the guitar, and it appears to be the wood in the guitar itself that smells.


Frank

cool. i didnt read the whole thread.

[Daeborn]

Originally Posted by River

Touchy subject. As far as I'm concerned, they're close enough. Others will take issue.

Yeah they sure do.

It seems that rather than use natural oils (vegetable oil?) in the finish for stabilizer or something like that they use plasticizers, or said to have. That and I guess it isn't a hot-spray? Still it's a lacquer, just not the same lacquer. I'd be curious if a real tonal comparison has been made from the same LP before and after refinishing. Of course I do mean R9, not one of the classics or something like that.

[Boshizzle]

Clean the guitar with naptha. Don't put a polish on it until the smell is gone. Any residual polish on the guitar will help trap the odor. Keep the guitar out of its case. If you can keep it outside for a few hours for a couple of days, that will help greatly. Once the smell has died down or gone away, then you can polish the guitar. You may need to remove the pups, PG, strings, and pup rings, control cavity, pup selector switch cavity, etc. Anyplace the odor can get trapped needs to be opened up. After that, outside air and sunshine can do a lot to get the odor out.

[alane011]

Originally Posted by Boshizzle

Clean the guitar with naptha. Don't put a polish on it until the smell is gone. Any residual polish on the guitar will help trap the odor. Keep the guitar out of its case. If you can keep it outside for a few hours for a couple of days, that will help greatly. Once the smell has died down or gone away, then you can polish the guitar. You may need to remove the pups, PG, strings, and pup rings, control cavity, pup selector switch cavity, etc. Anyplace the odor can get trapped needs to be opened up. After that, outside air and sunshine can do a lot to get the odor out.

Thanks - it seemed that the naptha didnt do much -i will try again

[Boshizzle]

Originally Posted by alane011

Thanks - it seemed that the naptha didnt do much -i will try again

Use the naptha to remove the polish and any oils that may be on the guitar. Th odor can get trapped in that stuff and be harder to eliminate. Airing out the guitar is what will remove the odor. But, if the odor is trapped under a film of oil, it will take much longer to get rid of it.

[sapi]

Lovely guitar, i wouldn't refin. I combat smells - with other 'smells' - like Nag Champa incense sticks packet in the case. I love it, but it may not be for everyone.

[weirdotis]

This may have been brought up already but try ACTIVATED charcoal- not just regular charcoal. It has much more surface area and works much better to absorb odors. I'm not sure where to find any though- Google is your friend.

Matt

[alane011]

Just wanted to post an update in case anyone in the future deals with this issue. I want to thank everyone who gave ideas and i pretty much tried them all.

- it seems like charcoal or the volcanic rock concept would work fine for a case. It doesnt work for the guitar as it doesnt access enough surface area.
- Naptha really didnt do much other than remove oils and coatings as Bo- said above. I did a ton of applications.
- ozium in the case did nothing either.
- Just to clarify I removed all hardware/plastic - cleaned it and left it off - cleaned the cavities.
- My last try was the place the guitar on a stand in a closet with my small ozone machine. After about a day it actually seemed like it smelled worse - perhaps the ozone releases the odors from deeper inside the finish. Anyway - it is day 3/4 of ozone isolation and the smell has significantly dissipated. It is still there but really diluted - and only smells right up against the finish. This may have occurred naturally over time if just left out of the case. I dont know but the ozone definately seemed to be the elixir. I will treat it for another 3-4 days and be done with it.

thanks again

andrew