Sweet MT- maybe too sweet

  1. Rick Lindstrom
    Rick Lindstrom
    Greetings everyone. I'm new to the group and have a question for you Collings folks.

    Last weekend, I made the mistake of walking into Kyle Dunn's "Mando Shop" here in Tallahassee, and a short time later left as the new owner of a really sweet MT. Love the mando.

    I didn't realize until I got it home that it's maybe too sweet- both the case and the mando itself have this aggressive cloyingly sweet scent. I didn't notice it in the shop, of course, because of the excitement of being somewhere that actually had a large selection of really nice mandos- Collings, Weber, Breedlove, nice Pac-Rim stuff and what not, but when I got home and opened the case, it was immediately apparent.

    It makes me a little nauseous, and my wife who has asthma can't be in the same room with it.

    My question: is this typical of Collings mandos, and if so, how long before it goes away. It's driving me nuts. I haven't talked to Kyle about it yet because I wanted to check in here first. This is a fresh from the factory mando, so the odor is not from something a previous owner perpetrated on it.

    By the way, if you're within a reasonable driving distance, "Mando Shop" is one of those rare places where you can go and see all manner of wonderful mandolins, and Kyle is a great guy to work with.

    Rick
  2. mkuns
    mkuns
    I had a Lowden Guitar once and a Calton case when I first got it it was very strong. after a couple months i didn't notice, but I sold the guitar 2 years later and the guy that bought it emailed about the strong scent. That one was cocobola and spuce.
  3. Tomando
    Tomando
    Just acquired a Collings MF, has a smell about it too. Like Play-Doh... remember that..? I kinda like the smell, it's probably a glue..
  4. ColdBeerGoCubs
    ColdBeerGoCubs
    I have an MT-O that has the same thing, I really like it though.
  5. frshwtrbob
    frshwtrbob
    I've been trying to put my finger on "the" smell since day one. Congratulations on that one - Play Doh - Yes, every red blooded American should be aware of that stuff!
  6. Tom Sanderson
    Tom Sanderson
    I think Collings uses Cedar for the kerfing. That mignt be part of it. I've owned several Collings instruments and they all have a certan smell. I kind of like it too.
  7. vejup
    vejup
    Coffee beans in the case may help. I've heard it recommended for case glue smells. It worked for me ;-)

    ~ Richard B
  8. RobP
    RobP
    It's definitely from the case itself. I recently bought an MT, and the "new car" smell was very mild. I was dissatisfied with the latches on the case, so I worked wih TKL and they sent me a brand new one. Wow.. it came with a strong dose of the smell. We can't decide if it smells more like PlayDoh or Vanilla. I am guessing it will subside over time as the offending glue or whatever outgasses. I may try the coffee beans trick.

    Reminds me of a story ... About 15 years ago I bought a brand new Guild guitar. As I was playing, our new kitten got very cozy in the case. How cute.. look .. the kitten is... wait hes PEEEING!! Yes, the kitten peed in my brand new guitar case. He peed everywhere... all over the house.. in fact... he peed anywhere that was NOT a litterbox! Needless to say, he is an outdoor cat now. And I sold that guitar when I started playing mandolin because it was sooo neglected and needed to be played.

    Cheers,

    Rob
  9. davidtoc
    davidtoc
    I had the same issue with my MT. Apparently they use vanilla to help disguise the odor of the glue. When I called Collings about it they actually recommended I not store the mandolin in the case (!) and to leave the case open outside for a while (I think they meant days). That's not really an option where I live, so I took the case into my basement, propped it open, aimed a Vornado fan at it and turned it on. I left it that way pretty much for a week. That was a few months ago, and The odor has certainly faded quite a bit, buy it's definitely not gone completely. I should probably air it out again for a few days.

    dave
  10. ColdBeerGoCubs
    ColdBeerGoCubs
    That's odd, cause my MTO hasn't been in its case since I got about a year ago (it lives in an Eastman Fiberglass case) and I can still smell whatever it is. I like it though. I should go check the Collings case, its been closed and sitting in a closet since I took it out of the shipping box.
  11. Ray(T)
    Ray(T)
    My Clark GBOM came in a Cedar Creek case which reeks of the vanilla smell (they hadn't invented playdough when I was a child!) and some years down the road the smell hasn't gone away.

    I've had a Collings MT mandola for two weeks now. Yes, the TKL case it came in has the same smell but not half as bad as the Cedar Creek. UK made Calton cases have always smelled of impact adhesive - I bought my first one in 1976 - but that eventually goes away; pity 'cos I quite like the smell of that stuff!
  12. billykatzz
    billykatzz
    It's definitely the TKL case. I have an MT and am the original owner of an MTO and both cases had that characteristic smell.

    As I keep both instruments out of their cases on String Swings most of the time, the smell isn't noticeable any more.
Results 1 to 12 of 12