A Ukrainian guitarist has undertaken a huge repair job to revive a Gibson Les Paul that was left completely charred after a Russian drone hit her hometown of Kyiv.
The guitar, nicknamed Vlad, is being resurrected by guitar repair YouTuber Tanya Shpachuk, who sees the sizable task as an act of defiance amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
It comes after her village of Hlevakha was attacked by a score of Russian drones in January, causing huge damage.
“A new, heavy, and emotional project for me,” she says. “Seeing the damage was heartbreaking – parts of the headstock had cracked, the finish burned, and some of the inlays had fallen out. They destroy our cities, our homes, our parks, our schools, our culture – but we will rebuild everything, no matter what it takes.”
The state the electric guitar was left in after the drone strike is devastating. It's been completely blackened by fire – its wood has countless warps and wounds, the pickup mounts and switch have been disfigured, and its body has been left brutally ashen.
But where most people would have accepted the guitar's fate, Shpachuk had other ideas, and is now documenting every step of the exacting restoration process.
Work has included prising the old strings out with tweezers, carefully scraping the body to reveal a gorgeous mahogany grain, and replacing its binding – after carefully extracting the old binding with the help of a hair dryer. The original headstock has been lifted from the neck, while the original mother-of-pearl inlays have been cleaned to shine once more.
The project is not yet complete. By the end of part three, the guitar has been stripped of all hardware, looking, thankfully, like it has come straight from the Gibson factory, rather than a warzone. But there is plenty of work yet to do. It’s truly commendable work.
“Being able to take part in this restoration feels like more than just fixing a guitar,” Shpachuk continues. “It’s about bringing back a piece of our history, a piece of beauty, and a piece of hope. I’ll do everything I can to make this guitar sing again, to honor its story, and to remind everyone that even after destruction, creativity and resilience will always find a way.”
The story draws striking parallels with the Nikita Zhemerenko's SWFT GTRS. His Strat-style build is crafted from wood salvaged from his Ukrainian apartment after it was destroyed by a Russian strike. Esteemed luthiers Ken Lawrence, Dean Zelinsky, and Manson Guitar Works all lent their expertise to help bring the guitar to life.
Keep your eyes on Shpachuk’s channel for further updates.
