Just bought a used guitar that Stinks - literally

I am so sorry to hear that.

Yeah, Lemon Oil would be my first try on another fretboard but maple. But: What about that Dunlop Guitar Polish & Cleaner 65? This also does add a nice smell.

Could well be you have to unscrew the lids of the vibrato block and the electronics and apply some lemon oil onto the wood inside there.

Good luck!

Put the guitar in a box together with an ozone generator. You can get one cheap at ebay. This definitely removes any smell without having to use any cleaners that might damage the guitar.

Dunlop 65 cleaner is a great product - using it with soft cloth will get everything off of the guitar. It works on plastic, metal, the finished wood.

You didn't mention taking the guitar apart when you cleaned it. That smell is inside the pickup cavity, in the space between the neck/body,

My guitar stinked like it was build in a barney and stored there for whole life. The guitar is Chapman ML-1 natural

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The problem was (it came out) I was keeping the guitar in a bag all the time, when I was not playing on it.
After I hang it on the wall the smell was gone.

this is bad luck man ! I had the exact opposite problem once with my first US (& used) strat , this beauty had a delicate vanilla smell like the one fount on the most beautiful girls I had the luck to smell very close Getting this strat out of the case was like dating a fine lady

you should definitely check for a dead cat under the pick-guard

more seriously , you choose expose it to some moderate heat (under 60 °C ) for a few hours, with string loosened not to damage the neck & body (in a car having resting in full sunlight should be fine but for no more than a few hours). I reckon it's a bit dangerous for the guitar , ask your luthier.

The ozone generator in an enclosed space might be a good trick too.

good luck !

I would pull the metal hardware off if you use an ozone generator or they will get gummy same with strings. I have a 70's Les Paul like that all milldewy and ozone got it goin.
And don't for get to lift the pickguard to get under it

I would do as Paults suggested and get into the pickup cavity. Just unscrew the pick guard and see whether a good cleaning can get rid of the odour.

I don't think cleaning it will do any good 'cause the odour is contained within the wood, not on its surface.

Quote from tylerhb

Put the guitar in a box together with an ozone generator. You can get one cheap at ebay. This definitely removes any smell without having to use any cleaners that might damage the guitar.

Good idea. Similar to the one I had:

Place it in a sealed container along with a cup of sodium bicarbonate. That'll absorb the smell as it's emitted and provide "cleaned" air that'll be "sucked" back into the wood as the bad stuff's released. Could take a while, but should work IMHO.

Additionally, you could pop a porous bag of brown rice in there to keep things dry; that'll further encourage the smell to leave as any excess moisture from within the wood leaves the guitar due to the differential in humidity between the inside of the wood and the air in the container. This ensuring of the proper drying of the wood will also help with its ability to breathe as its "pores become unclogged".

I can't think of a cheaper-and-safer option. You won't need to remove any hardware as there won't be any "gunk" such as you might get from using an ioniser, which would cause the sticking of bonded particles (the crap with the negative ions) to the hardware.

Happy new stinky guitar day... NSGD

Mebbe when you get this sorted you can call her "stinky"

Gotta rush this, am super busy for the past while (little time to post), but this is important.

Ozone has a very good chance of working, but it is very dangerous.

Wikipedia should list some of the problems.

Short version from memory, it can cause serious injuries, many nasty health issues,

and death to pretty much anything, combusts, and can rust the metal hardware.

You mentioned food grease and glade, and someone said mebbe mildew? Lol YUK! whoever had that guitar must have

been some kind of very strange slob. I can only hope it is glade and was a failed attempt to fix things.

As Mankey Mon said baking soda will absorb stink, and is much safer--can put a box in your fridge etc.

Considering some weird slob had it, I would give it a few thorough washes with anti-bacterial soap. This should

also remove the grease, don't use too much water, and wipe soap off with a damp paper towel. That, and time,

since if the stink got into the wood, it can also leave.

Not to knock using an ozone generator, but you really need to know how to handle it, especially when concentrated.

Good luck with "Stinky"

DEFINITELY GO WITH A WAY TO ABSORB THE ODORS OUT OF THE GUITAR. HUMIDITY CONTROL AND TEMP IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR HERE. IF YOU HAVE A HUMIDITY CONTROL SYSTEM I WOULD DEVISE A WAY TO KEEP THE GUITAR ENCLOSED A BIT ON THE HUMID SIDE FOR A FEW DAYS THEN BROUGHT BACK TO A NORMAL HUMIDITY OVER A FEW DAYS WHILE USING BAKING SODA AS WELL. ESSENTIALLY THIS WILL BE MOVING WATER THROUGH THE PORES OF THE WOOD. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT OVER HUMIDIFYING A GUITAR COULD BE VERY BAD FOR IT ! USE CAUTION AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

Stinkycaster xD

Good luck JSB, and please keep us posted, eh?