Value of famously owned gear?

[jerkrecords]

i bought a reverb pedal from Pat Wilson in the classified section... just because Pat was selling it. I now get 10x the clients i used to.

nah.

-pete

[Jack P]

John Lennon's 'Imagine', EMT 140 was up for sale from the Tillenhurst house sale by a dealer.

He had trouble selling it, it went for the same price as any other EMT after a couple of months of dreaming.

I guess it depends on the items - the Les Paul sale was really high for guitars and consoles.

I've owned some vintage famously used equipment in the past, I've never really mentioned
it to people. The only time i mentioned it I got a response of rolling eyes... Kids...

[mintytowel]

Any cool high end gear like a console or tape machine has probably been used on something really cool in the past. The console and tape machine I bought for less than $5,000 total recently cost three or four times more than my parent's modest home cost when both the gear and the home were new in the 1970's.

Other than guitars, I dont think it would have bearing on price. Everyone has a guitar, not many of them used to belong to famous musicians. Not everyone had a big console or tape machine, and the ones being used were probably making records you have heard.

Funny, a guitar that cost a couple hundred dollars 40 years ago is worth ten times the money now, and super expensive consoles and tape machines are worth a tenth of what they originally cost.

That said, I do think its cool that my console was used on some pretty famous recordings and it does help with the vibe factor when people come over to record. But only the people who have never recorded in a big studio before (my studio is not big).

Having something that belonged to one of your hero's is super cool. Thats why people pay big money for homerun balls that set records or win games. People even have bought seats from old ball parks. However I dont think the fact a bulldozer was used to help build Yankeee Stadium makes it worth more than any other bulldozer.

[Arthurelletson]

Our desk used to belong to Genisis, it only ever seams to come up as a joke when drum sounds and commented on.

[TonyBelmont]

I have several pieces of gear that were used on famous records... And have lived in famous studios. I never really looked at them differently... It's not like an 1176 is a Les Paul or Strat.

[Camera]

I have a mic that was used on a lot of great 90s recordings many of you are familiar with. The biggest thing that makes it special to me was that the previous owner took good care of it (as well as the rest of the studio) and it was very well maintained. Probably why they kept using it...

[DarkSky Media]

Originally Posted by Jack P

John Lennon's 'Imagine', EMT 140 was up for sale from the Tillenhurst house sale by a dealer.

He had trouble selling it, it went for the same price as any other EMT after a couple of months of dreaming.

I guess it depends on the items - the Les Paul sale was really high for guitars and consoles.

I've owned some vintage famously used equipment in the past, I've never really mentioned
it to people. The only time i mentioned it I got a response of rolling eyes... Kids...

This.

If your primary reason for a gear purchase were that of being a collector or a fan, or if there were any reason to suppose that the history of a piece of gear would sell more studio time or allow you to raise your rates, *then* it might make sense. Otherwise, it's largely irrelevant - interesting possibly, but not a factor in the financial or business decision to be made.

[Omega Arts]

Originally Posted by DarkSky Media

This.

If your primary reason for a gear purchase were that of being a collector or a fan, or if there were any reason to suppose that the history of a piece of gear would sell more studio time or allow you to raise your rates, *then* it might make sense. Otherwise, it's largely irrelevant - interesting possibly, but not a factor in the financial or business decision to be made.

Yep

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

[LeoLeoLeo]

Haha, I have some of Al Greens's old Urei La-3a's i bought. I actually bought an 1178 from a studio, but the studio was about to be sold and it had to stay since it was on equipment list. So studio manager told me to go pick something from his personal rack.
Got Romayne Wheeler's(80's ambient artist sponsored by moog) Moog Eq off ebay i think...or here. Had shipping label from the 80's still. haha.
Got an 1176 that was Jimbo Hale's (one of Bill Black Combo Bassists)
Also have 2 of the producers desks and equip rack from Ardent Studio in the 70's/80's era. yea, nothing to write home about, but fun stories to tell & cool to say "Yea, ZZ Top wrote lyrics on that same desk your are using to write lyrics too!"

But with that said, its worth the same money, but worth more in stories, jokes, and cool old times of yesteryear.

[huggybear]

I once owned Falcos couch. Got rid of it. Smelled really bad.

[Slikjmuzik]

I have a 421 that used to be Scott Stapps from Creed. Got it at a good deal from Sonic Circus. Doesn't bring in more business, but when I tell the client that the mic on their cab was used on Creed records, they do think it's cool, especially if their sound is anything in the vein of modern, slightly heavy, but still commercial, rock music, which I tend to do quite a bit. Idk, like someone mentioned, it depends on the piece of equipment. My relatively inexpensive purchase was definitely worth it and when the player is being sloppy with their tracking, I get to tell them things like 'it's not the mic'!! Gets them on their toes with a quickness!!

[gravyface]

I would think the process i.e. the "sound" you can coax out of the gear is really the selling point and that doesn't require John Lennon's particular tape machine either.

[Denny C]

Originally Posted by DarkSky Media

This.

If your primary reason for a gear purchase were that of being a collector or a fan, or if there were any reason to suppose that the history of a piece of gear would sell more studio time or allow you to raise your rates, *then* it might make sense. Otherwise, it's largely irrelevant - interesting possibly, but not a factor in the financial or business decision to be made.

If the piece you are looking for happens to be "formerly owned by somebody famous", and you get it--it is a win-win. If you just get it because of it's history and were looking for something else, then it's a lose-lose.

An opportunity arose for me to pick up an ADL1000 that was owned by Whitney Houston...I bought it ; but I also happened to have been looking for an ADL1000 for a tracking comp. Later I needed a stereo comp, so I sold it to a fellow GS here. He got a nice piece of gear and now I have a stereo comp.

[ddageek]

IOthe thing with gear and celebrities is proving it was used / owned by who ever. Lots of stuff I own came from some famous source, but that has nothing to do with why I own it!

[Andrew Kinsey]

I have a Vari-Mu which was at Olympic studio's for a little while and was used on the mixbus on a few big records, by a well known mixer who i really have alot of respect for. The unit also has some marks on the front panel where he has marked his control settings for recall purposes.

To me this adds a certain level of nostalgia, and inspiration whenever i use this piece of kit. Would not prefer a new one without the marks on the front panel, thats for sure!

If its worth more money is really difficult thing to judge, and i would probably say that it may even be worth less money as its no longer in brand new mint condition so to speak.

[cherrymusic]

Remember years ago somebody tried to sell the Michael Jackson/Bruce Swedien "Thriller" mixing board . If I remember correctly the starting asking was $250,000 last time I heard about it on Ebay it was around $30k with no bidders...never found out if it even sold for that

Original Thread:
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" board up for sale!

[bace]

I think it is a huge difference if it is a musical instrument or a tech gear. A John Lennon guitar will be very expensive. But of course. even a screwdriver used by Elvis will have a value for a collector. And it is also much more difficult to prove it relation with a celebrity with a screwdriver than a guitar.

[nico2600]

I always wondered if anyone famous ever used this mic. Maybe the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy audio series!

[javd007]

I own the very linn lm-1 that was used by Martin Rushent on the Human Leagues Dare album. That includes the single don't you want me baby. That song is considered the first new wave/electro song. Is it worth any more than another Lm-1 ? Don't know. But odds are almost every lm1 was used on a famous track.

[Makinithappen]

Originally Posted by huggybear

I once owned Falcos couch. Got rid of it. Smelled really bad.

His old SSL4000 is sitting in the room next to me... No Joke. Smells fine BTW.

[Silver Sonya]

Originally Posted by Slikjmuzik

I have a 421 that used to be Scott Stapps from Creed. Got it at a good deal from Sonic Circus. Doesn't bring in more business, but when I tell the client that the mic on their cab was used on Creed records, they do think it's cool...

Wow! We have very different clients!

- c

[joelpatterson]

Everything I have was at one time owned by Joel Patterson. Wait, that wasn't the question...

[Emwolb]

Originally Posted by Silver Sonya

Wow! We have very different clients!

- c

+1

That falls under-

Brian: Lady, seven bucks for a used Kenny Loggins record? I'll give you five.
Record Store Customer: Ugh-huh, he autographed it himself.
Brian: All right, I'll give you four.

The funny thing was Sonic Circus WAS overpricing the Creed gear they sold like it was worth more... And it didn't work then either...

[narcoman]

I own the Ally Pallys old EMT140 - still got the BBC "saturday night" warning info about the live broadcast.

[Suda Badri]

the owner of sae bought stevie rays guitar for $240,000 and bought some gear used by him too for near nothing... no one cares about the recording gear...

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Suda Badri

the owner of sae bought stevie rays guitar for $240,000 and bought some gear used by him too for near nothing... no one cares about the recording gear...

the owner of sae is a ****.

[bee]

I bought limited edition silver Beyer M88 from Steve Albini. I think it's cool. He still has 4 hahahaha.

[dlmorley]

I have this mixer - it's worth trillions..

[unit7]

I own the Hammond A100 organ from the original Polar Studios (ABBA studio) Stockholm. Though I enjoy it's a historical piece of gear that must have been used on countless albums, I sometimes feel sad thinking about that it's like debris from the era of a wealthy music recording business and big studios.