A recording console used on Pink Floyd’s classic 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon is to be auctioned later this month.
The EMI TG12345 MK IV will be sold by Bonhams at their Rock And Roll Through The Lens sale in New York on March 27, with the piece of kit on public view from their Knightsbridge venue in London from March 19.
The equipment was housed at the Abbey Road Studios between 1972 and 1983 and was also used by artists including Paul McCarney and Wings, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Kate Bush and The Cure.
The console comes with a letter of authenticity from Ken Townsend, who was the studio manager at the time the equipment was in use, along with a documented history from studio technician Brian Gibson and a copy of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon.
A statement on Bonhams website reads: “This recording console, located in Studio 2, was one of only two custom made by EMI engineers for Abbey Road studios.
“It was commissioned by Abbey Road to update the previous recording/mixing equipment from the MK II model, an eight-track console that had been well used from 1968, but which had become obsolete.
“Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour recalls attending a meeting with the key staff at Abbey Road around 1967 to discuss the equipment upgrade.”
Gilmour adds: “I said that they should ignore eight-track altogether and switch from four-track to 16-track. Doing that would have saved them money and put them in front of most other studios.”
Once the lot comes up in New York, the sale will be accompanied by a vintage photo of Pink Floyd promoting The Dark Side of the Moon.
Other items in the auction include Mick Rock photographs of Syd Barrett, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, a gold disc of the Beatles’ Let It Be, guitars signed by the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton and handwritten poetry by Bob Dylan.
