Feeling this: Blink-182 co-founder Mark Hoppus is auctioning nearly 80 pieces of his personal music equipment collection on Reverb.com in an effort to raise funds for LGBTQ youth.
With 2019 San Diego Pride right around the corner (July 12-14), the timing couldn't be more appropriate (although any time is a good time to help others). The charity benefit was organized by Hoppus, a Poway native, as a response to recent news reports of a "straight Pride parade" scheduled to take place in Boston.
In early June, Hoppus tweeted: "To celebrate how utterly ridiculous a Straight Pride parade is, I’m going to auction off one of my basses, match the final bid dollar-for-dollar, and donate all the money to the @TrevorProject."
For the unfamiliar, the Trevor Project "is the leading organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning young people." It's a crucial, much-needed organization that provides support to some of the most vulnerable among us. To find out more information on the Trevor Project, visit this link.
As of now, the Blink-182 co-frontman has listed a custom, signature, one-of-a-kind Fender Precision Bass up for auction.
"We call this plaid bass Groundskeeper Willie. I wrote a great deal of the bass riffs for [Blink-182's 2003] untitled album on this bass," Hoppus wrote in the item description on Reverb. "It has the sticker of the unicorn on there and the pink Famous Stars and Stripes keychain that has been on here for the past decade and a half. I’m auctioning it off to raise money for the Trevor Project, which is a great organization doing great work."
Not for the faint of heart (or bank accounts), at the time of this article's publication, the bass' current bid has reached $6,800 with nearly five days remaining. Check out the auction here.
However, on July 8, when the Groundskeeper Willie auction ends, Hoppus is launching an entire Reverb Shop featuring nearly 80 more pieces of music gear used by him personally in the studio and on tour (visit the shop here). Don't miss your chance to own a piece of Blink-182 history.
Dustin Lothspeich is SoundDiego's senior associate editor, a San Diego Music Award-winning musician, and talent buyer at The Merrow. Follow his updates on Twitter or contact him directly.
