Mandolin smell

[Rick Cadger]

An Eastman oval A when it was new. A lovely combination of varnish and wood.

My fiddle has a similar smell.

[Goodin]

My gibson A-1 smells like a tomcat pissed in an ashtray.

HAAH! I agree...I almost chocked when I took mine out of the case for the first time.

My '25 A-1 smelled like it had been in the attic of a chain smokers house for 80 years. The smell cleared up after a week out of the original case, but the smell from the case has infested my coat closet. Oh well, I still love the madnolin and would never give it up, and the smell is kinda nice now

[Timbofood]

All I said was this is a bit weird, not that it is not completely fascinating., My Stiver smelled like the case, kind of "foamy" and faintly of finish. #Not un pleasant but not remarkable either. #The Alvarez smelled like finish for almost 20 years, now it smells kind of wooden again not really remarkable, a buddy's F-2 smells just plain old, like most of the instruments from then. #Old case smell, old finish smell, old polish smell. #Not bad just "old." #I kind of like that smell.
I have another friend who owns a '56 Packard Patrician, he slips a wrapped bar of soap under the seat every spring. One year he used "Irish Spring" that was the year he was our wedding chauffer, I can't smell that without memories of the big picking party for the reception...12 hours worth!

[West]

Teen spirit.

[billkilpatrick]

i deodorized (!) a charango once by sprinkling baking soda in a sock, tying the end off and leaving it in the case with the offending charango - it works on squiffy refrigerators; tennis shoes ... and this poor gutted-out armadillo.

to get rid of an offending odor i suppose you could sprinkle baking soda directly into the mandolin sound chamber, swish it around a bit then empty it out - wouldn't harm it any ... would it?

my mid-missouri has a slight smell of glue (i think); my epiphone mm-30 smells of wood - haven't a clue which one; my all-wood charango smells of jacaranda wood (i'd guess) ... the rattlesnake rattle i have in it makes an appropriate sound but i can't say it gives off any odor.

arm and hammer - bill

[afunguy1]

Hey I really have a smell problem. For years and years I played in dirty cigarette smelling tonks. Now, they have pretty much outlawed smoking in saloons. All of my instruments really stink of cigarettes and I don't even smoke. Anyone have any ideas on how to rid my instruments of this foul smell. In a way it is a badge of honor but every time I open my case, whewwww.

[JEStanek]

Afunguy1,

IIRC, you can try rolling UNCOOKED rice around inside the mandolin's sound chamber and dumping it out to remove the smell from there. From the case, sunshine is the main miracle worker.

Check out this
thread and sub threads linked within for more details.

Jamie

[Mattg]

I used to blame the smell on the dog, now I can also blame it on the mandolin

[Gutbucket]

My Calton case smelled like a new surfboard for the first few months. I've had a guitar that smelled like coconut for awhile, too. I think that was from the wax that was buffed on to it. I've never noticed a smell from my mandolins, not even the cedar topped Yellowstone.

[mandocaster]

I love the smell of my mandolin in the morning. The smell, you know ... that varnish smell. Smells like victory.

[Lee]

Probably the best smelling mandolin is an 1981 Bruce Taggart A. Smells like a combination of the wood and the finish.
I bought a used BRW almost a year old and the chemical smell from the finish was so strong it practically made my eyes water. After a couple years it's subsided somewhat. I've a Phoenix Jazz with a chemically odor too.
Old Waves seem consistently pleasant.

Maybe this thread is weird but two of the first things I do when examining a mandolin is to smell it, and then stick my little pinky in the F holes to see if I can feel the bracing.

[Nolan]

When I first got my MT, it had a very strong but pleasant smell to it. #One of my students is a high end specialty wood worker and #he said it was the smell of the spruce top. #It is still there, but much less noticable. #It used to be that you would get hit with it as soon as you opened the case.

It's the Spanish cedar linings that give it that strong smell, as John stated. My Collings smells the same way. It's the same as a Martin guitar. I love it. My new Hester will have spanish cedar as well. I don't know why all the builders don't use it, it smells great! My F-9 does smell sweet as someone said earlier. The talk at our local guitar shop is, "Martin's smell peppery and Gibson's smell like cotton candy"

[Gene Justin]

I remember reading a magazine interview featuring Carlos Santana, and he stated that the violin had a smell that wasn't aligned with his spirit. Call it wierd, but the guitar world is richer because of it.

[Mark Normand]

Is your Gallatin housed regularly in a Weber case?

I've had the chance to smell two Weber cases, one used (with a used mandolin) and the other a brand new unused case (never contained a mandolin). Both smelled the same: an odd smell that is definitely NOT nitro. The smell quickly manifest itself as well in the mandolin that went into the new case. Airing out the cases for a couple weeks (along with judicious use of Febreeze) removed the smell from both the cases and the mandolins.

Ignatius

I agree with this, but in my case the Weber Fern rectangle case was sweet ! I really liked it very much, and loved handling the mando when I first pulled it out.

[nobullmando74]

Old thread but, I've been really enjoying the Campanella smell. It has a sweet almost honey smell with fresh cut wood mixed in. Oh and Varnish too.

[Loretta Callahan]

My Big Muddy stills smells like wood; as it should.

[mandolinlee]

Sweetest smelling instrument I ever played was a new fiddle made out of wood from a lilac bush. Brought back memories of a Springtime dance in High School and a short Freshman girl w/ a sprig of lilac flowers in her hair. I graduated High School in 1955.
The sense of smell is also a strong sense of memories!
Lee

[Sandy Beckler]

I hear ya Mr. Loar...my Collings MT smells/smelt like a nice pipe tobacco right out of its case. I just love that smell...I think it's kind of like the "Pavlov's Bell thing...every time I open that case....I start to drool.

Sandy

[Sandy Beckler]

Sweetest smelling instrument I ever played was a new fiddle made out of wood from a lilac bush. Brought back memories of a Springtime dance in High School and a short Freshman girl w/ a sprig of lilac flowers in her hair. I graduated High School in 1955.
The sense of smell is also a strong sense of memories!
Lee

Mandolinlee....if you graduated High School in 1955....you must be about 120....

He, He He,....
Sandy

*No offense...

[Paul Edwards]

My mandolin smells of humble pie with a hint of ..yes!