Chris Hadfield gives broken guitar to Guitars for Kids in Cambridge

Not many people would be thrilled about gettinga broken guitar as a gift but Dan Walsh is all smiles.

The Cambridge musician is currently president of the non-profit Guitars for Kids and the broken guitar came from astronaut Chris Hadfield.

Walsh said it all started when another person in his group spotted a tweet from Hadfield on Nov. 30.

"My old Yamaha's bridge popped off. If anyone would like to fix/donate it, it's yours," the tweet said, giving an email where people could make a request for the broken guitar.

Along with being an astronaut who skyrocketed to celebrity after tweeting images while aboard the International Space Station, Hadfield is known for his love of music.

He is perhaps best known for his cover ofthe song Space Oddity and the music video made for it while in space. The Yamaha guitar he donated to Guitars for Kids is not the same one from the music video.

Walsh said he understands Hadfield's people received many emails from all around the world, but Hadfield chose the Cambridge group, which accepts used guitars and gives them to underprivileged children in the community.

So far, they've fixed up and given away about 90 guitars.

"I think he saw this one as a cool, noble thing that we're doing," Walsh said. "It struck a chord with them."

Walsh picked up the guitar on Monday from Hadfield's son, Evan.

In an email to CBC News, Evan declined an interview.

"Our intent had been to simply gift a guitar we no longer could use," he wrote.

Walsh said he will take the guitar toBrian Gardiner, a certified guitar technician who fixes all of Guitars for Kids's instruments, and they will film it being repaired for a promotional video.

Then, for the next year, it will go with them to any events where the group has a booth and be on display at local businesses and Idea Exchange branches, as a way of raising awareness about Guitars for Kids.