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Hardcore band and supergroup Dead Cross will auction off two custom Fender guitars in aid of suicide prevention and reproductive rights charities.
The two Fender Player Lead III instruments come in black and beige and feature custom Dead Cross decals, courtesy of The Black Moon Design (who’s previous clients include Dead Cross’ label Ipecac Records, alongside Bad Religion and The Locust).
The Fender Player Lead III is a 2020 reissue of a 1982 model that is often mistaken for a Strat, but features a more compact body shape, HH pickup configuration and coil-split toggle-switch.
Dead Cross – consisting of Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton, guitarist Michael Crain (Retox), bassist Justin Pearson (the Locust, Head Wound City and Retox) and drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Mr. Bungle and Fantômas) – say they were motivated to create the auction after their friend and one-time bandmate Gabe Serbian passed away back in April.
“In light of the recent loss of our ex-bandmate, comrade, brother, and all around amazing person Gabe Serbian, Ipecac Recordings and Three One G will donate all proceeds from the beige guitar to help suicide prevention awareness,” Dead Cross explain.
“All proceeds from the black guitar will go to help fight laws that do not promote the health and safety of individuals in relation to bodily autonomy.”
(Image credit: Dead Cross)
As such, funds raised from the sales will go towards the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (San Diego chapter) and The Satanic Temple’s Religious Reproductive Rights Campaign, respectively. Fans can make bids on the instruments by heading to the Dead Cross guitars Rally Up auction page.
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Dead Cross have recently released a new single, Christian Missile Crisis. The third taster of forthcoming album II (due October 28), the song sets it sights on US gun laws, among other themes, as bassist Pearson, explains:
“Christian Missile Crisis takes an obvious jab at organized religion, NRA-holes who clearly compensate for their lack of masculinity by fixating on gun ownership and gun ‘rights,’” says Pearson.
“And the fact that a large enough amount of Americans have the inability to negotiate peace and prefer oppressing others.”
You can check out the full tracklist and artwork for II below.
Matt is Deputy Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.
