Smoke Free Environment- Does it matter?

[jcooke]

It seems that every item ever sold on ebay is from a smoke free studio. First off, I suspect that not all of those studios are smoke free. How many of you have worked in very smokey studios? Also, does the smoke really do that much damage to the equipment?

just curious,
Jeremy

[Harry]

man I hope not:>)

[joel hamilton]

I smoke cigarettes, and I smoke outside.
For the gear, and the benefit of not "sharing" my awesome addiction with clients.

Cigareete smoke kills everything, especially hard drives, tape machines, pots on consoles.... Nothing is nastier to clean off of equipment. Nicotine sticks to everyting.

A smoke free environment is crucial to the longevity of gear,.

[Ethan Holdtrue]

I don't see how it would do your mics any good...

[thethingwiththestuff]

well, have you ever noticed the thick brown film on your wallpaper/car windows/fingers/whatever?

that'll be in your gear too. get some ventilation, or one of those ash trays that sucks in smoke, and just be conservative with the amount of smoking you do around the gear...

dont forget that hard drives (if you have any....) are mechanical devices that have ventilation systems. particles can fuck them up too.

[jrsgodfrey]

On the other hand, you gotta figure every old U47, 67s, etc. just LIVED in cigarette smoke from the day it was minted.

[JGriffin]

First studio I recorded in, you could put your hand down on the console and it'd come up sticky. Freaking gross.

[blunderfonics]

One of my old professors, whose office stank of stale Merits, used to say "The particles in cigarette smoke are a thousand times larger than the particles of oxide on a reel of tape and they stick to everything." I'm not sure how accurate that figure is, but it got the point across.

[8th_note]

I read somewhere that smoke film has two undesirable characteristics for electronic equipment. It is mildly corrosive and mildly conductive. It doesn't take much imagination to visualize how this might be detrimental to circuit boards and potentiometers over time.

[Jeremy Garber]

I'll put it to ya like this. I remember the last apartment I lived in during college, where I would have many people over to hang out. All of us smoked, and my walls paid the price. I lived there less than a year, and it turned the walls yellow. You could tell the air was thicker, even when someone wasn't smoking. My PC case gets enough dust without me even smoking anymore, so I can only imagine what it would do to nice studio gear. If you get the gear, pop the lid open to see if there's any buildup. It would be pretty noticable.

I wouldn't be suprised if some of those items aren't from a smoke free studio... not all eBay sellers tend to be honest about what they're selling. Check their ratings and comments.

[Slider]

I smoke cigarettes, and I smoke outside.
For the gear, and the benefit of not "sharing" my awesome addiction with clients.

Cigareete smoke kills everything, especially hard drives, tape machines, pots on consoles.... Nothing is nastier to clean off of equipment. Nicotine sticks to everyting.

A smoke free environment is crucial to the longevity of gear,.

I walked into a studio in LA recently and I asked "Can you smoke in here?"
The assistant said "Shit, you can smoke crack in here if you want."

I smoke outdoors only. It's just not fair to the people I work with.
I even wear rubber gloves so my hands don't stink!
I have heard some old smokey mics that still sounded pretty amazing though.
I can imagine some U47 clone company blowing smoke on a capsule to get it to sound like an old one.

btw. I'm quitting soon...












I swear.

[JGriffin]

My grandfather on my mother's side smoked cigars -one a day- for the latter seventy years of his life. When we cleaned his house out after he died, the white walls were yellow. The worst of it though was a serving-dish we'd used as long as I could remember that I would swear was a yellow dish, and I washed it off and lo and behold it's bright white. euugh. I showed it to my mom and she said "I always thought that dish was yellow."

[nipsy]

btw. I'm quitting soon...




I swear.

Do it... I just quit cold turkey, easiest thing ever...I smoked for 25 years. Its been about a month, and yes, I too work in a stressful environment.....

[gregnrom]

As everyone here has already said, it is bad. Your smoky exhale includes moisture and dirt (smoke). That humid smoke will get evenly cover every non sealed surface inside and out (switches, pots, meters, connections).
I have been in studio where strict rules for this were enforced. It may not have been the coolest vibe, but the gear wasn't noisy.

[vvv]

I even wear rubber gloves so my hands don't stink!

Now tell us the real reason!