SITKA Gear and country music star Thomas Rhett have joined forces for a unique collaboration and conservation project explicitly aimed at improving waterfowl habitats. During his summer "Bring the Bar to You" tour, Rhett played with a one-of-a-kind, custom Martin HD-28 guitar that is now being auctioned to the highest bidder. SITKA gear will then match the winning bid up to $50,000, with all the proceeds going to conservation and research specifically for waterfowl.
SITKA's website calls the project an idea "born from our shared passion for creativity and conservation." The guitar features a pickguard featuring a GORE-TEX OPTIFADE camo, fingerboard hexagons inspired by the pattern, and a SITKA "Darkest Before Dawn" mallard inlay. Martin guitars also included four lines in the black inlay to represent the four major waterfowl migration flyways. The heel cap also features SITKA orange. SITKA released a video on their YouTube channel showing Rhett playing the custom guitar on tour and the construction of this unique instrument itself.
It seems SITKA and Rhett wanted to offer something truly authentic to the fans with this collaboration. And it sounds like the lucky winner of the auction is likely to get it.
"We are not the type of people to hang expensive tools above the fireplace, resigning them to a life of collecting dust," SITKA's website says. "Neither is Thomas Rhett. He has played this custom Martin from coast to coast, marking its' uniqueness with the scars of a songwriter's life: belt buckle scratches, bonfire ashes, tequila, and sweat."
The guitar auction is ongoing and will continue until November 15. As of this writing, the guitar was already up to $12,000. SITKA says the funds will be used on a continent-wide study of mallard ducks. The money will also go to ongoing projects by organizations like Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, California Waterfowl, educational institutions like the Five Oaks Ag Research & Education Center, and the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
The auction website notes a winning bid on this guitar may be tax deductible. Check out SITKA's official webpage for more information on this guitar and its full line of outdoor gear.
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