New York, NY (January 4, 2024)—Music memorabilia auctions are nothing new, but in recent years, their popularity has exploded. Whether wanting to feel closer to their favorite artists or simply find an alternative investment asset, music fans have jumped at the opportunity to purchase instruments, posters, stage outfits and more tied to music’s biggest names. In recent months, however, preconceptions of what might sell at auction have been shattered as a wave of pro-audio gear once owned by rock stars has begun hitting the block.
Studio equipment, stage rigs and more used by The Beatles, John Lennon, Frank Zappa, Jerry Garcia, Freddie Mercury and others have gone up for sale recently, exciting audio pros and opening new markets for auction houses in the process.
September saw Sotheby’s auction off Queen frontman Freddie Mercury’s mid-1980s home studio, consisting of a RAM Micro RM 10-channel mixing desk together with a Fostex Model 80 tape recorder and a pair of Electro-Voice Sentry 100A monitors. Then, in November, The Zappa Trust held a three-day event with Julien’s Auctions, selling the late musician’s Trident 80B console, tape machines, rack gear, microphones and more.
Soon after, online site Analogr hosted an auction of Grateful Dead-related items that included Jerry Garcia’s last stage effects rig and a working-scale replica of the famed Wall of Sound P.A. created by Dead tech historian Anthony Coscia. Mid-December saw multiple studio items hit the block on the same day, as Guernsey’s put the once-lost master tapes for Bob Dylan’s first album up, while in London, Bonhams offered both the EMT 140 echo plate reverb that John Lennon used to record “Imagine” in his home studio, and the restored EMI TG12345 MkI prototype console used to record The Beatles’ Abbey Road album.
“It’s hard to say what’s driving the seemingly sudden interest in audio tapes and gear from the earlier days of Rock other than—at least with original Bob Dylan tape recordings that we are auctioning at Guernsey’s—they place the listener in the very room and at the very moment music history was being made,” says Arlan Ettinger, President of Guernsey’s.
In some cases, the audio equipment has a connection not only to the artist but also the trajectory of the music industry. “There are only so many guitars on the market from notable musicians,” says Coscia, whose Wall of Sound replica sold for $70,000. “I think collectors and fans in general are more knowledgeable about the gear used to create all this great music, and they understand the history and value in preserving all the behind-the-scenes gear in addition to the obvious—especially in the world of the Grateful Dead where even the casual fan recognizes the contributions the band and its crew made to modern music technology.”
The reasons why people bid on stars’ used gear are as unique as the bidders themselves, as Martin Nolan, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Julien’s Auctions, points out: “Amplifiers, microphones, pedals, sound boards and other recording equipment and accessories used by rock’s biggest music icons have become the new sought-after objets d’art for fellow musicians and gearheads who are looking for that connection to the original owners…and what’s cooler than saying that you own these audio tech gadgets of music history and displaying them in your living room or even using them in your home or office recording studio?”
One person who would agree with that is legendary live sound engineer Toby Francis. Known for his work mixing Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ariana Grande, Aerosmith, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kiss and other A-list acts on tour, Francis won multiple lots at the Zappa auction that Nolan’s company hosted.
“I’m a huge fan of Frank Zappa as a composer, performer, guitarist and producer,” says Francis. “His work was very influential on my life and career—I started listening to his work on records in 1974, saw him in concert the first time in 1975, and it was one of the first great-sounding shows I attended as a young concertgoer. What I heard and experienced at the ’75, ’77 and ’78 Zappa shows I attended made me want to be a great live sound engineer.
“When I heard about the auction and what items were being offered, I specifically targeted some of the items that had served Frank sonically well and that I knew would make a unique difference for me. The H3000, the Ursa Major Space Station, the UREI and dbx pieces were my main focus, as those are all great vintage units—the Space Station is on Frank’s guitar on my favorite solo! The rack with the pair of 160s and the three 1176s are in the background of so many photos of Frank in the UMRK [Zappa’s home studio] and now they are in a rack in my studio, waiting to be used to shape tone as they did for him all those years ago. I was stupid enough to sell my LA-3A in the early Eighties—it was my first real piece of audio gear—and now I have Frank’s. I bought the gear to use it as he did; the fact that it was his does make a huge difference, as I have the utmost respect for Frank and his legacy.”
Not every auction hits the mark—while Bonhams sold Lennon’s EMT 140 for nearly $73,500 and Mercury’s home studio gear went for more than $20,900, the Abbey Road console didn’t meet its guide price of “a seven-figure sum.” Similarly, Jerry Garcia’s stage rig remains unsold at Analogr, and the Dylan tape lot was passed at Guernsey’s as well. Despite those setbacks, given the successes of the other high-profile sales, rock star gear auctions are likely here to stay, making the recent slate of offerings only the opening bid.
