Amp smells like cigarettes when tubes warm up.

[AWSchmit]

I saw a similar discussion elsewhere on the forum having to do with cigarette smelling guitars which reminded me that the Marshall Class 5 I bought second hand recently for an amazing price smells like cigarettes when it heats up. The smell isn't the worst things I've ever experienced, I just know it's there once the amp's been on for 5-10 minutes. It doesn't stink much at all when not in use, which is good. So if nothing ever changes I won't get rid of it or anything. It's became my go-to amp, I love it. I looked around online for some tips to help reduce the smell but most of what I read does not sound like fun. I would likely ruin the amp in most cases. I just wondered if anyone else has ever experienced something similar and how they dealt with it if at all... Does the smell eventually go away on it's own? I've had it since Christmas and use it for 5-30 minutes every other day or so.

[mcjt]

ah, it's because you got the WHITE one!
hhehehehheheh
just kidding.
i have the gen 1 Class 5 in green and i've never noticed a smell.

[soggy mittens]

the only way to fix this is to use ALL of these, at once... true story...

[Pat V]

I've had similar issues with used "smoker owned" tube amps and sometimes it's just the nicotine coating on the glass tubes themselves so that replacing them with a new set of tubes was a major improvement.

[NoiseNoiseNoise]

Use isopropyl alcohol to clean off the tubes and see if that helps. Cigarette smoke is fucking awful! That shit clings to EVERYTHING!! :/

[tremolo3]

My practice room smells like smoke (not cig smoke necessarily) because of my tube amps, I love that smell =)

[Despot]

Can't see the pics from this machine, so apologies if this is clear from them...

What type of tubes are you using? The reason I ask is that I've found that I get a similar smell (less like smoke and more like the dry smell of unburned tobacco) when I use NOS valves that have the brown micanol bases. I've always assumed that it was just the smell of the base of the valve (that brown micanol stuff) heating up for the first time... it's not an unpleasant smell to be honest.

Of course if it's that smoke smell then it's a film of residue on the parts that heat up in an amp...

[Racing]

Use isopropyl alcohol to clean off the tubes and see if that helps. Cigarette smoke is fucking awful! That shit clings to EVERYTHING!! :/

Regular windex and a lint free cloth amounts to the same thing when we´re talking glass.

Pull the tubes,gently. Spray them with window cleaner. Wipe down with rag. Reinstall.

[AWSchmit]

Thanks for all the tips.

Since getting the amp I have not opened the back panel. If I were a betting man, based on who I bought it from, my guess is the tubes that are in it are what came in the amp. So When I find the time I will open it up and see about cleaning the tubes.

AWS

[muchxs]

I've seen them so sticky with nicotine I needed to use acetone to clean the chassis.

Aged grille cloth is often nicotine from countless smoky bars.

I'd remove the reverb tank and dribble a few tablespoons of good beer into the bottom of the amp. Well loved vintage amps often smell of cigarettes and beer. That's also why some relic jobs feature the obligatory cigarette burns.

[AWSchmit]

I think my 1-year-old fixed the smell of my amp...

I came home yesterday and discovered that my Marshall was one and idling, Evidently when my wife was home with her the day before she turned it on and no one noticed until yesterday. As far as I can tell the amp is fine and according to what I've read online this shouldn't be a huge problem... Anyone else have a differing opinion? Something I should look for? Anyway, a side note to the 24 hour burn-in is that the smell is gone. Silver lining?

[muchxs]

We had a vacuum tube modulator at the TV station I worked at 40 years ago. It ran 24/7 because we wouldn't be on the air if it didn't. It had been running for 20 -25 years 24/7 at that point.

I "inherited" a couple control boxes that ran a plating process at the local machine shop. Just another tool destined for the junkyard when they closed up shop. Those were vacuum tube as well. They ran 24/7 three shifts per day in a corrosive environment.

24/7 won't hurt anything that's built right.

[fisonic]

Class 5's have rubber grommet type tube supports, which can make it a bit trickier to remove them. In mine, the power tube was stuck & kind of melted to the grommet. Well at least left some rubber on the tube. Could that be your smell?

[wproffitt]

I think my 1-year-old fixed the smell of my amp...

I came home yesterday and discovered that my Marshall was one and idling, Evidently when my wife was home with her the day before she turned it on and no one noticed until yesterday. As far as I can tell the amp is fine and according to what I've read online this shouldn't be a huge problem... Anyone else have a differing opinion? Something I should look for? Anyway, a side note to the 24 hour burn-in is that the smell is gone. Silver lining?

My 18 month old did the same thing to my class 5 on Wednesday! I came downstairs to empty the dehumidifier in the basement only to find that the amp had been turned on at least a day prior. All is well with the Marshall, so I wouldn't sweat it.

[AWSchmit]

The only thing I've noticed is it seems to go into feedback at lower gain than it did before... Could a tube have gone microphonic on me? Strangely, it is particularly noticeable if I use my big muff. It wants to feedback right away at very low volume and gain settings. It lets my other pedals get loader and more distorted before feedbacking, still not as much as before though. Any other ideas besides a tube?

My 18 month old did the same thing to my class 5 on Wednesday! I came downstairs to empty the dehumidifier in the basement only to find that the amp had been turned on at least a day prior. All is well with the Marshall, so I wouldn't sweat it.

That's weird. My daughter hasn't ever turned on any of my other amps, but this amp for some reason she loves the toggle switch on it. She won;t leave it alone. If I'm playing she will come and turn the amp off as well.