Assuming Pink Floyd do not play at Glastonbury — and given the coolness between Roger Waters and David Gilmour, that seems a reasonable assumption to make, no matter how tantalising the speculation — then the Floyd obsessive in your life has a hole they need filling.
If they also have a garage or storage unit they need filling, then the perfect gift to meet their needs is on the market: the recording console used by the band when they recorded The Dark Side of the Moon.
The desk — the Abbey Road Studios EMI TG12345 Mk IV, in case you didn’t know — was housed at Abbey Road’s studio two from 1971 to 1983, where it was also used to record solo records by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well as work by Kate Bush and the Cure among many others.
It is to be sold by the auction house Bonham’s as part of their TCM Presents... Rock and Roll Through the Lens auction in New York on 27 March.
The seller is the producer Mike Hedges, who bought it when the studio upgraded its equipment in 1983.
The console was built by Abbey Road and EMI engineers working together, and was among the most advanced of its time when new.
Be warned, however: no estimate is listed, suggesting it may cost more than the casual buyer has to hand. Rolling Stone reports that it is expected to attract “six-figure bids”.
It is on view at Bonham’s London branch, in Knightsbridge, from 19 to 27 March. For something a little less expensive, and for those without room to store a recording console, an early 1970s Pink Floyd promotional poster is being sold at the auction with an estimated cost of between ₤250 (Dh1,128) and ₤410.
If you have the money but not the space, then you might want to consider a bid of between ₤120,000 and ₤160,000 for Jimi Hendrix’s recorder. Not tape recorder. But recorder, as played tunelessly by children since time immemorial.
