Jared Dines has been in a charitable mood lately, including selling his 18-string Ormsby to help children in need.
Now, the YouTube electric guitar star has posted a new video telling the tale of Robert Rudolph, a Desert Storm combat vet who experienced a bout of homelessness.
While in transition to an apartment that he had been placed in by a veteran's group, Rudolph’s beloved Epiphone Les Paul, which was being stored at a cold weather shelter, was destroyed by a mentally ill homeless man.
Rudolph contacted Dines to ask if he had any guitars that were “scratched, dented, abused” or otherwise unwanted, that he could offer as a replacement.
Dines, however, went one step further.
“As much as I could have easily given him one of my own scrap guitars, that just didn’t feel right,” he says.
I wanted to go one step higher, so I decided to get him an actual Gibson Les Paul
Dines and his manager, Tony Cappocchi, searched around and eventually connected with James, from the Guitar Store in Seattle, who offered to sell them a guitar at cost to help out.
“Here is where I have to be ‘extra’ a little bit, because it’s me,” Dines says. “Because I was so moved by Robert’s story I wanted to not just get him a scrap guitar or even just a replacement guitar that he loved.
“I wanted to go one step higher, so I decided to get him an actual Gibson Les Paul.”
To watch the journey of that Gibson Les Paul – a new Tribute model – from the Guitar Shop to Rudolph’s appreciative hands, check out the video above.
