The Abbey Road Studios recording console used during the creation of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ has been sold at auction for $1.8m (£1.45m).
The console, installed at Abbey Road’s Studio 2 between 1971 and 1983, was also used during the recording of albums by Kate Bush, The Cure, and three former Beatles: Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
It has been owned since 1983 by Mike Hedges, who purchased it directly from Abbey Road. When Hedges put it up for sale at Bonhams auction house in New York earlier this month, he said the console remained in “excellent working condition”.
Rolling Stone reports that the recording console fetched more than double its expected price of $700,000 (£560,000).
It was sold with letters of provenance confirming its authenticity and a record of its history from an Abbey Road technician. The buyer’s identity has not been revealed.
‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, Pink Floyd’s eighth studio album, released in March 1973, has gone down as one of the greatest rock records of all time, and was primarily recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.
In February, rumours that Pink Floyd could reunite to play at this year’s Glastonbury Festival circulated after drummer Nick Mason said he’d be “open to the opportunity.”