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You are here: Home / Open Threads / At the Intersection of Guitars and Ukraine (Open Thread)

At the Intersection of Guitars and Ukraine (Open Thread)

by WaterGirl|  March 31, 202210:38 am| 39 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Calling all guitar lovers and lovers of Ukraine.

A 2-man electric guitar shop in Ukraine – Valiant Guitars – was bombed out but they managed to save a few of their guitars.  They are holding a raffle, and the proceeds will be donated.

THE PROCEEDS FROM THIS RAFFLE WILL BE DONATED IN THE FORM OF MONEY, MEDICINES, FUEL AND EQUIPMENT FOR THE NEEDS OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMY AND HUMANITARIAN AID.

Raffle Rules – they are specific and if you don’t follow them, they refund the amount of your raffle ticket.

  1. Each participant purchases a “ticket”.
  2. “Ticket” guarantees a prize from Valiant Guitars.
  3. One lucky participant who wins the raffle will get a guitar.
  4. Every “ticket” purchased MUST include a note: Do not send, keep the product – otherwise PayPal will not allow them to process your “ticket” purchase and your “ticket” will be refunded.

Click to go to their site and enter the raffle.

At the Intersection of Guitars and Ukraine

At the Intersection of Guitars and Ukraine 1 At the Intersection of Guitars and Ukraine 2

Not everyone can afford $100 for a raffle ticket.  But if you can afford it and you think the cause is just, even if you don’t want a guitar for yourself, if you win you could have the guitar sent to Amir or one of our other guitar-lovers on Balloon Juice.

h/t realbtl who sent me the raffle link

Totally open thread.

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Reader Interactions

39Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 10:43 am

    I know nothing about guitars, but they sure are pretty!

  2. 2.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 31, 2022 at 10:47 am

    The Russians cannot beat these guys.

  3. 3.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 31, 2022 at 10:47 am

    Or you could play some Tenacious D for Dio.

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 31, 2022 at 10:48 am

    Hope MomSense can call this to the attention of her son! And I’m sure sure Amir needs an extra guitar.

    This is an innovative way to raise money for Ukraine.

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 10:51 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Holy shit, the phrase “balls of steel” comes to mind.

    I assume they don’t have the ability to remove them, or they would.

    Putin and his army who would do this – personification of evil.

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 10:52 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Good idea.  I texted this post to MomSense, I’m sure all guitar peeps everywhere will want to help spread the word.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 10:53 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: I assume that if they sent some sacrificial  vehicle through there (without a driver) it would blow up the road and make it unusable?

    This makes me so angry.

  8. 8.

    brendancalling

    March 31, 2022 at 10:53 am

    I shared this on the Book of Faces. A lot of my friends are musicians, and might be interested.

    Me, I’m too poor.

  9. 9.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 31, 2022 at 10:54 am

    @WaterGirl: Ordinary drivers don’t have the means to remove them.  That’s what makes this so amazing.  They simply treated a minefield like a minor annoyance.

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 10:56 am

    In case anyone missed it, the auction of MomSense’s wonderful knitted items netted $1,250 for Balloon Juice for Ukraine.

    We have the auction of QuiltingFool’s Slava Ukraini quilt coming up, and three more BJ peeps have come forward offering to their creations for auction for Ukraine.

  11. 11.

    Professor Bigfoot

    March 31, 2022 at 11:07 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Is there something in the water in Ukraine?

    They just insist on being epic AF.

  12. 12.

    waspuppet

    March 31, 2022 at 11:10 am

    I don’t understand — where’s the raffle link?

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 11:13 am

    @waspuppet: It’s the link toward the top of the post.  Sorry, I will make that more clear

    Click to go to their site and enter the raffle.

  14. 14.

    Benw

    March 31, 2022 at 11:13 am

    That Smith Grey Lux is gorgeous. I did some internet sleuthing, and Valiant Guitars had guitars listed on Reverb, e.g. $2350 for a Soothsayer model: reverb.com/item/42458927-valiant-guitars-soothsayer-afterglow-made-to-order

    So it seems like you could win a really nice guitar for only $100 here. The note on the Reverb page is “seller is currently away” which is incredibly sad knowing it’s because their shop was bombed.

  15. 15.

    Belafon

    March 31, 2022 at 11:15 am

    Just a minor thing, but I think you meant “allow” when you typed “all” in step number 4.

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 11:15 am

    @Benw: Wow.

  17. 17.

    Miss Bianca

    March 31, 2022 at 11:16 am

    Damn, that bass is making me drool. Wonder if I have a spare $120 to throw at it…*checks sofa cushions*…nope, not really. But a girl can dream.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 11:17 am

    @WaterGirl: Rule #1: Never make it hard for someone to do something you are asking them to do. :-)

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 11:19 am

    @Belafon:  fixed, thank you!

    Most of the text on their site was in ALL CAPS so I had to retype nearly everything.  Probably lucky that i only screwed one thing up. :-)

  20. 20.

    eclare

    March 31, 2022 at 11:20 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: 

    Wow. That whole country has the “Russia, go fuck yourself” mindset.

  21. 21.

    cain

    March 31, 2022 at 11:32 am

    @eclare: 
    Except for the TFG – that guy stays bought.

    Sometimes I wonder how these supporters can keep all these things conflicting things all in their head.

  22. 22.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 31, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    @eclare:

    Wow. That whole country has the “Russia, go fuck yourself” mindset. 

    And a very steady hand on the steering wheel.  Yikes.

  23. 23.

    eclare

    March 31, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:   Yeah.  One of the comments on the video was “extra points for the trailer”!

  24. 24.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 31, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    @eclare: Oh yeah!  How did I forget about the one towing a trailer over land mines!

  25. 25.

    Miss Bianca

    March 31, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Holy shit.

    And all this time I’m sitting there thinking, “how close are those guys *with the cameras* to these things?!” Pretty damn close, it looks like!

  26. 26.

    Z!

    March 31, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    Anybody see where you’re supposed to enter the “Do not send, keep the product” note?

  27. 27.

    realbtl

    March 31, 2022 at 12:42 pm

    Thanks WG. I found out about these folks last night and immediatelt “bought” the grey one. I don’t give a shit if I win (but I’d sure like to) but as a guitar player for 64 years I loved the targeting.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 12:52 pm

    @realbtl:  Since you did this yesterday, can you answer the question at #27?  About the note?

  29. 29.

    realbtl

    March 31, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    @WaterGirl: I didn’t notice as I wanted the guitar for my collection.  I may get a couple more and check that box.

  30. 30.

    Ruckus

    March 31, 2022 at 1:55 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    It is a raffle to raise money to defeat the russians. It is not a guitar raffle. You don’t get the guitar.

    They are up front about the purpose and concept of it but these are the guitars they saved before the shop was bombed and I’d bet there are no others until they can build more. It is a bit unusual for a raffle to not actually win anything but then the cause is a bit unusual as well and well worth it. If I could afford it, I’d just send them money.

  31. 31.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 31, 2022 at 2:03 pm

    @Winston: Your dickishness is probably a big factor.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    @Ruckus:  If you are correct, and I’m not sure you are, what does this mean, then?

    THE WINNER OF EACH AND EVERY INSTRUMENT WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOMIZER AND IT WILL BE DISPLAYED ON VIDEO, THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA, INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK.

  33. 33.

    realbtl

    March 31, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    Last night they were saying there would be one winner though this may have changed as there were only 2 listed last night at $200 and $250.

  34. 34.

    Ruckus

    March 31, 2022 at 5:46 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    The website was rather clear but then they do normally speak a different language so anything is possible. The website seems pretty good though, better english usage than people I know born and raised in the USofA. I’d bet that asking them might be the best answer.

  35. 35.

    Kayla Rudbek

    March 31, 2022 at 7:54 pm

    @WaterGirl: let me go through my shawl/scarf output (if people would not mind wearing a pre-worn shawl).

  36. 36.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    March 31, 2022 at 9:13 pm

    @realbtl: the way I read it (and it’s possible that I’m wrong) is that, since they’re not going to send a guitar to everyone who pays, they have to include that for everyone, so that PayPal doesn’t bust them for fraud.

    I think they will send it to the winner, but since they don’t know in advance who the winner is, each entry has to say that to avoid PayPal taking the whole thing down.

    But I’m not a lawyer, and I could be wrong.

  37. 37.

    Z!

    March 31, 2022 at 9:19 pm

    @thalarctosMaritimus: I read same as you. And I am a lawyer. But not, you know, a Ukrainian one. Either way, on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/valiantguitars) they say to send them a message if you forgot to add the “Don’t send me anything” note. And since I never found a place to add that note after a lot of trying, “after the fact message” it was. We’ll see what happens.

  38. 38.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    March 31, 2022 at 9:28 pm

    @Z!: thanks! I think we’re right, but as you say, we’ll see.

  39. 39.

    Belafon

    March 31, 2022 at 10:41 pm

    @Z!: Just because I want to do it right, did you message them through facebook, or how did  you send it?

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