Does "smoke free home" mean anything to you?

[jojo]

I'm sure  you've seen guitar ads on ebay and such with this line:  "...from a smoke-free home." Besides the potential of a guitar from a smoking household having a smoky smell, does cigarette smoke do any sort of damage to a guitar? Is the tone somehow compromised?

I find it hard to believe that second hand smoke is going to somehow harm a guitar. But if you have the science to show otherwise, please do.

Incidentally, I recently got an old Airline acoustic guitar with a hazy layer of grunge on it. I used Murphy's oil soap to clean it off. Left chocolate brown marks all over the rag. Later, the seller mentioned that the previous owner was a heavy smoker. Other than the grunge, the Airline seemed pretty healthy.

Although it was unable to ascend even one flight of steps.

[flatlander]

As long as it wasn't the house itself on fire, no. I'm wouldn't turn down a player cause it has a little bar smell on it.

[tadol]

Some people really freak out about the smell of nicotine, and rather than risk a buyer getting all upset about the potential of a little cigarette smell, it is always a good idea to disclose it. But whether or not a guitar was expsoed to smoke would not be a deal breaker to me -

Tad

[RoundLakeDT]

After a few decades of smoke inhalation, guitars tend to acquire a deep, sexy/raspy voice that sounds great playing just about anything, even just playing names from the phone book

(Of course the frequent hacking coughs tend to dismay the audience a little, but such is the price of art)   

[Danny]

 It is a bit of a downer when you find a nice deal on a git and it smells like something crawled in the soundhole and passed GAS.
I like the smell of wood and especially these new gits (vanilla). If the case is what smells you can always replace it or use a lot of Febreeze and then put it out in the sunshine for a few days.
It will actually knock the smokey smell out. Wood is another story.

[tuffythepug]

Having been a heavey smoker for about 25 years I had no idea how bad cigarette smoke smelled until I had quit for awhile.  Then, after quitting, I realized how bad a smoker's car could smell, or how the smell permeated drapes and other surfaces in a house.   I don't think I could stand to play a guitar that smelled a lot like stale cigarettes so the information that a guitar came from a smoke free home would be a plus for me.   I'm not preaching against smoking or smokers;   I've been there and didn't even give a thought to the smell because I was de-sensitized to it;  but when you quit and regain a keen sense of smell it's kinda disgusting.

[Zohn]

Having been a heavey smoker for about 25 years I had no idea how bad cigarette smoke smelled until I had quit for awhile.  Then, after quitting, I realized how bad a smoker's car could smell, or how the smell permeated drapes and other surfaces in a house.   I don't think I could stand to play a guitar that smelled a lot like stale cigarettes so the information that a guitar came from a smoke free home would be a plus for me.   I'm not preaching against smoking or smokers;   I've been there and didn't even give a thought to the smell because I was de-sensitized to it;  but when you quit and regain a keen sense of smell it's kinda disgusting.

Hey Tuffy!
I used to smoke as well, and agree with your post in every way. I do believe however, that a "smoke-free" guitar is just another sales-gimmick aimed at potential buyers like you and myself. It is a known fact that everything, including the guitar is permeated with the smell, but it wears off after a wile. My Walden smelled of smoke for weeks from a weekend-away and spending time around camp-fires. I guess if it's kept inside the case like mine, it takes longer.
Interesting - cigarette-burn-marks at the headstock of vintage guitars, are regarded as an authentic vintage feature - just another intriguing facet to the mystery surrounding vintage guitars and their value. - imagine what Keith Richards' guitars smell like....

[Trinity Guitars]

Smoky guitars do bother me. I never smoked but grew up in a smoking home and have always hated the smell of stale smoke. I would not be able enjoy a guitar with this smell. I do have customers ask if used guitars smell like smoke. Like me there are many that will not buy one with the smell.
  If I get one in the studio I have to keep it in the case. It can stink up the room and kill the great wood smell of 100 new guitars!
Jim Holler

[bearsville0]

I wouldn't turn down a player cause it has a little bar smell on it.

I wouldn't be bothered by the smokey smell so much, but the stale whiskey on the breath would be a real turnoff.

[BenF]

I gave up smoking 3 years ago, and cannot stand the smell of stale smoke now.  I totally understand why people say that on adds for clothes and toys etc, but perhaps on a guitar it is a bit OTT.  However, comments above suggest that you can smell it.  I suspect the smell would last quite a long time on an acoustic guitar too.

Put it this way, it wouldn't stop me buying a nice guitar, but I would prefer if it didn't smell rank. 

And Tuffy, the car thing is so true.  So many carpets and seat covers in such a confined space to absorb odours.  You don't notice it until you quit.

[bluesman67]

I don't consider it a sales gimmick at all.  It's useful info that means a lot to a significant % of the population!  That's all it is.  Smokers could care less about this fact, but any non smoker would be happy to know it.

[hadden]

I'm one who doesn't want a guitar I buy stinking of cigarettes.

[strawintogold]

Having been a heavey smoker for about 25 years I had no idea how bad cigarette smoke smelled until I had quit for awhile.  Then, after quitting, I realized how bad a smoker's car could smell, or how the smell permeated drapes and other surfaces in a house.   I don't think I could stand to play a guitar that smelled a lot like stale cigarettes so the information that a guitar came from a smoke free home would be a plus for me.   I'm not preaching against smoking or smokers;   I've been there and didn't even give a thought to the smell because I was de-sensitized to it;  but when you quit and regain a keen sense of smell it's kinda disgusting.

Yep, what he said.

holly

[ducktrapper]

I prefer living in a smoke free home but wouldn't let the absence of one stop me from buying an instrument.

[bearsville0]

I wonder how many people quit smoking not for health reasons but out of embarrassment for going around stinking like that.

[tuffythepug]

I wonder how many people quit smoking not for health reasons but out of embarrassment for going around stinking like that.

My guess is that it would be a very tiny percentage.   When you smoke you don't know you stink.

[bluesman67]

dulls the senses, you don't know you stink...but you do!!

[BenF]

Same applies to my guitar playing.  My senses are dulled by listening to myself all the time, so I don't notice, but i stink!!

[bearsville0]

Same applies to my guitar playing.  My senses are dulled by listening to myself all the time, so I don't notice, but i stink!!

You know, I was watching a bunch of YouTube home videos last night of people playing the same simple classical pieces that I've been working on. Boy, it was gruesome to see the how apparently unaware they were of the atrocious sounds they were making. And then it hit, I probably sound that bad too! I promise to only practice in the woodshed from now on.

[BenF]

You know, I was watching a bunch of YouTube home videos last night of people playing the same simple classical pieces that I've been working on. Boy, it was gruesome to see the how apparently unaware they were of the atrocious sounds they were making. And then it hit, I probably sound that bad too! I promise to only practice in the woodshed from now on.

I have been working on a song for a few days, thought I was doing well, and recorded a simple video of it with my camcorder.  It was like listening to cats fighting.  I blame it on the camcorder.