Pink Floyd’s recording console achieves $1.8m

The recording console Pink Floyd used to record Dark Side of the Moon sold for $1.8m at Bonhams New York yesterday. 

The 1971 EMI TG12345 MK IV was designed and constructed by sound engineers at EMI and Abbey Road Studios.

Pink Floyd console

The console was built to Abbey Road's exacting specifications

No expense was spared on the build. It’s often described as the best sounding console in the world and Dark Side of the Moon is the perfect illustration of its boundless capabilities.

The lot stood in Abbey Road’s Studio 2 until the early 1980s and was also used by a plethora of legendary artists, including Paul McCartney, the Cure and Kate Bush.

Bonhams comments: “In 1983 the TG MK IV console was deemed out-dated and an upgrade was necessary to meet current recording requirements.

“The vendor of this lot, Producer Mike Hedges, was working at Abbey Road at the time and purchased the console directly from the studios.”

Hedges has since used it extensively in his own work with bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Manic Street Preachers.

A customised 1969 Hohner Clavinet D6 belonging to late Parliament-Funkadelic and Talking Heads keyboardist Bernie Worrell (1944-2016) achieved $20,000.

The keys are decorated with cut-outs from Popeye comic books.

Worrell was a hugely influential player who helped define the psychedelic funk sound. He was a prodigious pianist, who started playing from the age of three.

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