MIMF

Someone has asked me about fixing up an early 70s model Gibson Hummingbird. She has not bought it yet because she has a few concerns, most of which I have been able to address, except for one. it's been in an environment with very heavy cigarette smoke and the current owner says it has a very strong cigarette smoke smell. She has bad allergies and is sensitive to the smell and wonders whether or not this can be taken out.
Can this be done?

Here's a library article http://www.mimf.com/old-lib/guitar_cleaning.htm dealing with a musty smell but some of it may apply. I recently had an issue with a garlic scented mosquito deterrent leaking in my RV. Bowls of baking soda, vinegar, fish tank charcoal, "Nilodor" and a few blasts of Febreeze over the course of a week pretty much eliminated it. Good luck.

Darrel- thanks for digging up that library article. is the english leather thing for real or is that a joke?
In my own research I've heard using everything from lemon juice to coffee grounds to baking soda to charcoal to dryer sheets... all with very mixed reviews...
one person mentioned leaving the guitar in a trash bag with dryer sheets and/or baking soda to absorb the smell. That idea particularly caught my attention because I'm going to have to do the ol' damp napkin in a trash bag trick to rehydrate the thing anyway. So if that works I might be able to kill two hummingbirds with one stone.

I'd go for the activated charcol first, that will actually remove the smell. A fabric bag of charcol inside the guitar in conjunction with the dryer sheets might be just the ticket, but you probably want to check with your client first, dryer sheets might be just as bad as smoke.

Well, this is all just for the sake of conversation now. she decided not to buy it. Too bad. thanks for the help anyway.

Something to tuck away for future reference would be to see if a company like Servicemaster in your area has an ozone chamber. After a fire we had a bunch of stuff treated and I was amazed at how well it took all the smoke smell out of things.

Tim- it's funny you say that. My brother is a sales rep for Steam-Way.. a fire/water damage restoration service in our area. I asked him if he could get his hands on an ozone machine. he might have been able to but I don't need it anymore.