‘Dark Side of the Moon’ Recording Console Sells for $1.8 Million
The Abbey Road Studios recording console used in the creation of Pink Floyd‘s Dark Side of the Moon and numerous other albums sold at auction for $1.8 million. The EMI TG12345 MK IV recording console was expected to fetch $700,000 at Bonhams’ TCM Presents … Rock and Roll Through the Lens sale. The identity of the buyer was not announced.
Along with the console, the lot comes with letters of provenance, including one from ex-Abbey Road Studio Manager Ken Townsend, an instruction manual, a documented history of the desk from Abbey Road technician Brian Gibson and a copy of Dark Side of the Moon.
The console was housed in Abbey Road’s Studio 2 from 1971 to 1983. Along with Pink Floyd, three Beatles – Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – recorded solo projects on the console, as well as Kate Bush and the Cure. Only two TG12345 MK IV consoles were created as part of a collaboration between Abbey Road and EMI engineers. The other was previously housed in Abbey Road’s Studio 3 before moving to Studio 1; it’s now housed in Austria’s Prime Studios.
The seller, producer Mike Hedges, initially purchased the Studio 2 console from Abbey Road in 1983 when the studio upgraded its equipment. Hedges kept the console in his own studio and said it was still in “excellent working condition” upon its sale.