Do you smell your guitars

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I know, that's a weird thread title. I recently took my Carvin SH225 (on the left) out of the case and, for some reason, stuck my nose in the f-hole.

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I was immediately transported back to the church I went to as a child. Wooden pews. Weird right? I haven't been to that church in 40 years. Then I got out the X-175 (center).

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Stuck my nose into the f-hole and was in my grandmother's apartment in Hamburg, Germany in 1970. I was 12 or 13 and she had died. My mom and I flew over there to settle her affairs. We climbed the stairs to her floor and stepping into her apartment for the first time, I was struck by the smell of heavy, old-world, solid wood furniture. The X-175 smells exactly like that! Now, every time I smell the guitar I am transported back there. They say that the sense of smell is closely linked to emotional memory. I'd guess that this is probably limited to archtops where a lot of unfinished wood surface area is exposed to the air. The new guitars I own smell like glue and don't take me anywhere. Have you ever smelled your guitars?
 
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Excellent topic presentation !
Kinda like a fresh mowed lawn always reminds me of Saturday summer mornings,
sitting on the front porch after dad had cut the grass the evening before.
Always takes me back.
Unfortunately I get nuthin' from my vintage acoustics.
I've had them in my possession less than 12 years.
No memorable fragrances yet.
~ Roger
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SouthernSounds

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Hey Park,

Nice way to tell a story.

I love to smell my dreadnought, but the memories I get are far behind of being so poetic and historic as yours. Nonetheless, smells have always taken me back to certain circumstances, moments or places. Their power to evoke different emotions is incredible.

Nice guitars, BTW. :D

All the best,
B.
 

mbuc

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Yes I smell them and they smell good but I don't get any memories out of it. That's quite something, having to think of your long deceased grandma when smelling your guitar.
 

guildman63

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Hey Park, the only guitar in those pictures that looks familiar is the Guild. What are the others? :confused: ;)
 

jcwu

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For me, sounds and songs transport me. Smell doesn't quite as much, but sometimes I smell a particular fragrance and I remember an ex that I'd like to have forgotten...

I loved your story telling. :) And yes, I do smell my guitars. Just for fun.
 

idealassets

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I don't smell them on purpose, but here it is: My Martin HD28 smells like fresh wood, ever since I bought it new. My Guild 2010 F512 and 2007 F50 both smell like red licorice (the candy). I asked a few folks from the Guild factory at LMG III, and they did not care to reveal what was done to the guitars (or cases) to make them smell that nice. But I do like it, and they have had that nice fragrance for about 3 years now. It smells like candy flavored air freshener or something.

Craig
 
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Hey Park, the only guitar in those pictures that looks familiar is the Guild. What are the others? :confused: ;)

In the first picture are a 1982 Carvin SH225 (body made by Höfner) and a late model Höfner Verythin. On either side of the (1976) X-175 are 1977 Hagström D'Aquistos (Hagström Jimmy), made in Sweden.
 

killdeer43

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It has been said that of all our senses, our sense of smell is the one that is most closely associated with memory.
I would have to agree with that and your post seems to bear out the concept. ;)

Joe
 

walrus

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Yes, I do!

My D64 still has a nice wood smell inside. My ES-135 had a slight moldy smell when I first got it (used). I almost passed on the guitar because of it, but I felt I could get rid of it. Part of it was from the case, which I got rid of immediately. And part of it was what appeared to be a few spots of mold inside the f-holes. So I cleaned it as best I could, and put it out on the porch for several days (protected, but in the fresh air), and it now has the nice wood smell again.

The smell reminds me of middle school wood shop class (remember those days?), and doing some wood projects when I was a kid.

walrus
 

Alan_M

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Great topic! A couple of mine have strong smells from the previous owners. I was told by the GC saleperson that my D-30 was owned by a long time regular performer from the area (Indiana). It does seem to smell like a musty, cigarette infused bar. Not in a bad way, but perhaps a little too strongly. I had to carefully febreeze it. My vintage S-100 also has a similar, but much funkier, harder to identify smell. I think it has absorbed more of it's odor from the case. The smell is slowly fading on it's own. My X-170 just smells good/new. None of the others has any particular smell at all with the exception of the Telecaster. That has a noticeable new Nitro smell.
So a long story short... yes, I smell my guitars!
 

adorshki

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I can still smell the lacquer every time I open the cases of the D40 or the F65ce, but the D25 has spent so much time in open air it's pretty well faded.
True, smell is a very powerful sensory tool, a lot more powerful than a lot of people realize.
I can't stand most room fresheners and scented candles for example, the artificial scents are literallly repulsive to me, but the real scents don't bother me at all.
Then there's the whole pheromone thing.
 

jimmyl51

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I had an L5-CT in natural a few years ago............yep beautiful guitar except it STANK...........and I mean STANK!............Gibson told me that it would go away which it never did.............amazingly the guy who bought the guitar tried it out in person and still bought it....................jim in Maine
 

Treem

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Yes, I do smell my guitars. And welcome to LTG!
 

Thunderface

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I don't smell my guitars, but apparently others do, because when I play people always say, "You stink!" I'm assuing they're referring to the guitar, right?
 

adorshki

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Haha, guitar pheromones are particularly strong!
Good one, MBUC!
Looks like you don't post too often but when you do it's a real zinger!
:)
And now that you mention it, that could explain a lot of the multiple owners around here.
Let us know if that GSR T-500 evokes any stronger than usual reaction.
:)
 
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