Smoke Damage

ukeshale

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Apologies if this has been asked, i've searched a few variations and can't find anything.

I had a minor fire in my conservatory last night, only lost a sofa but sadly my ohana as well. The place was pretty smoke filled and my old mahalo and my friend's guitar were also in the room but unscathed by anything other than smoke. The uke sounds OK (as ok as a mahalo is going to sound) but i didn't really know much about the guitar's sound before last night - it sounds OK too though. Is anything going to gradually happen to the sound of these two? (more importantly the guitar) If it sounds ok now is it going to sound ok in a week? They both stink of smoke too, how long does that last and is there any way of easing that out of the wood?

Thanks!
 
Should only be a problem if they suffered excessive heat. A little humidification wouldn't hurt.

As for the smell: One of the oldest tricks for getting rid of smells is coffee. Put a few tablespoons of fresh ground beans (not liquid coffee) in a filter and rubberband it so it's sealed. Throw it inside the guitar or uke and let it sit overnight or two. The smoke smell should diminish. If anyone asks why your uke smells like coffee, just blame it on open mike night at Starbuck's.
 
thanks a lot. what about areas like the neck etc. is there anything i can use to rub them down or will the finish have provided enough protection to stop it developing any long term smell?
 
I had a minor fire in my conservatory last night, only lost a sofa but sadly my ohana as well.

Sorry to hear about your fire, glad your OK. Surely if your instruments smell of smoke, then they are smoke damaged and your home insurance should cover them, You don't really know how hot they got, you may have future problems so it may best best to make a claim now, rather than wait and hope.
 
Sorry to hear about your fire, glad your OK. Surely if your instruments smell of smoke, then they are smoke damaged and your home insurance should cover them, You don't really know how hot they got, you may have future problems so it may best best to make a claim now, rather than wait and hope.

I don't have home insurance unfortunately.
the mahalo's only cheap (more sentimental value than anything) and the guitar's a gibson epiphone which shouldn't be too expensive for me to replace. I'll have to replace the sofa or sit on bean bags for a while. Also, i'm hopefully getting a mainland in september time (providing this doesnt knock me back) so losin the Ohana isn't ideal but it's far from the end of the world.


thank you!
 
Oh man, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear you lost a nice uke. :( But you can probably salvage the other instruments just by getting rid of the stench; like you said, they're easily replaceable, so if there's any structural damage that might eventually show itself, it's not a huge deal. Still, hope you can get a nice replacement for the Ohana soon.
 
Glad no one's hurt, bro.
 
thanks for the concern and the tips everyone. i'm already on that lemon oil mike - it seems to be a popular suggestion
 
Whoah. Just saw this thread. I'm sorry to hear this, Shane. Poor Vita.:(

Thanks. Poor Vita indeed! Mainland in september/october though so it's ok! It'll just mean i'll appreciate it even more when I get it :shaka:
 
Thanks. Poor Vita indeed! Mainland in september/october though so it's ok! It'll just mean i'll appreciate it even more when I get it :shaka:
Thank goodness you never bought your Mainland, and second, it's far too hot to sit in a conservatory at the moment. So as the song goes.... Always look on the Bright side of life;)
 
Thank goodness you never bought your Mainland, and second, it's far too hot to sit in a conservatory at the moment. So as the song goes.... Always look on the Bright side of life;)

yes, well said. possessions can always be replaced :) and boy is it hot! who needs a conservatory anyway!
 
I'd try wiping them down with some lemon or orange oil. It might help with the smell as wll as get rid of some of the smoke film. The oil may also help prevent them from cracking if they dried out alot.

Amen, I was also going to suggest orange oil, great for the fret board the only place on neck that I would think would absorb any smoke smell since a unfinished surface. I also use a product which is a combination of orange oil and bees wax, great stuff for fine wood surfaces.
 
Should only be a problem if they suffered excessive heat. A little humidification wouldn't hurt.

As for the smell: One of the oldest tricks for getting rid of smells is coffee. Put a few tablespoons of fresh ground beans (not liquid coffee) in a filter and rubberband it so it's sealed. Throw it inside the guitar or uke and let it sit overnight or two. The smoke smell should diminish. If anyone asks why your uke smells like coffee, just blame it on open mike night at Starbuck's.

I wondered about sodium bicarbonate.
 
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