Although Australia is used to fighting bush fires seasonally, this summer's devastation is unprecedented. Violent, dangerous, and destructive fires have torched millions of acres of land, destroyed many homes and businesses, and have killed more than an estimated half-billion animals.
Thousands of men and women—many of them volunteers—have been tirelessly risking their lives to fight the fires. The fires have taken more than 20 lives so far, and continue to threaten more.
Australia needs the world's help, as much as it can get, and many organizations, charities, and individuals are doing their best to make extending your hand that much easier. Here in the music world, various musicians and organizations are selling gear with the express purpose of donating all proceeds to helping Australia.
See below for a list of Reverb sellers, musical instrument merchants, and more that are raising money for Australia's firefighters. You can also find links below to donate directly to the various organizations.
100% of the proceeds from the sale of Joji Malani's '90s MIJ Fender Stratocaster will go to benefit The Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities.
Malani, the former Gang of Youths guitarist who left in October 2019, said that he used this guitar for most of 2019, including the Australian group's tour with Mumford & Sons. You can see the guitar in action in the video below. Click here to go to the listing or donate directly to The Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities here.
Herad, a custom builder based in Balhannah, Australia, has created a series of Volunteer Fire Service Fundraiser pickguards for Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters, and more.
100% of the proceeds the fire-truck red anodized aluminum pickguards will go to benefit the volunteer-run County Fire Service. On his listings, Herad writes:
"At time of writing, over 12 million acres of land and 400+ homes have burnt, 500 million animal and 19 human lives have been lost. This includes most of our 5 acre property in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. We have lost fences, pasture, shedding and trees, but our home and animals have been spared. We have the tireless efforts of our volunteer-run Country Fire Service to thank for that and we are extremely grateful."
Click here to view all of the limited-run pickguards available.
The Verellen Sub Fuzz Pop Drive was made in collaboration with Sub Pop Records in 2019. This particular pedal is No. 61 out of a total of 100 released.
Season Three Instruments, from Thornbury, Australia, is the first and only owner of the pedal. He writes, "Every single cent generated by this sale will be donated to the Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities. I will gladly provide confirmation of this to the purchaser, once I’ve made the donation."
Click here to visit the listing or donate directly to the Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities.
Macron Music and GH Music have both announced they'll donate $1 from every sale from now through January 31 to the Rural Fire Service in NSW and County Fire Authority in Victoria.
You can visit Macron's Reverb shop here or find the Macron Music and GH Music sites by following their links.
If you'd like to donate to the organizations themselves, you can find the NSW Rural Fire Service donation page here and the County Fire Authority donation page here.
Scott Salmon, owner of Nautilus Effects Systems in Canberra, Australia, and others in the local gear industry are planning a large gear giveaway of donated items, including pedals from Greenhouse Effects, Jam Pedals, Benson, Mozztronics, Peerless Music, Greenchild Amps, LollyGagger, Wilson, and more.
By donating to the Aussie Bushfire Gear Giveaway page, you'll be entered to win in the giveaway drawing to take place February 1. All proceeds will be donated in daily increments to the NSW Rural Fire Service, RSPCA Bushfire Appeal, County Fire Authority, Wires Animal Rescue, and The G Spot Canberra South Coast Aid Mission.
If you know of other gear-related fundraisers benefiting the firefighting efforts in Australia, please let us know in the comments section below.