Chris Carrabba Auctioning Off Guitar Strap, Vinyl Test Pressing For Charity

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Chris Carrabba is auctioning off the first guitar strap he ever bought and a vinyl test pressing of The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most, with proceeds going to charity. The Dashboard Confessional frontman teamed up with The Strategist and eBay to raise money for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the auction site plans to match the final bid on the rare, signed items.

While chatting with The Strategist, Carrabba revealed he bought the strap when he was 15 years old — before he even knew how to play guitar. It was the cheapest one at the store, "but it somehow stood the test of time," he marveled. "The strap never got lost or snapped; I used it for decades until I donated it. I taught myself how to play guitar using the strap. I’d just put a few chords together, maybe a melody. I didn’t care if I was as good as the musicians I loved — I got to play and make music, and that was all that mattered."

"I played my first shows wearing this strap, and wrote almost all of Swiss Army Romance. and The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most using it, too," he added.

As for the test pressing of Places, Carrabba said it's the first and only, and he's "listened to it at least 100 times."

At time of writing (August 10), the signed guitar strap and record are going for $510. The charity auction runs until August 19. Get more info here and see Carrabba's announcement post below.

Photo: Getty Images


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