Ben Folds is parting with over 250 pieces of gear from throughout his career in an upcoming Reverb sale. The singer-songwriter’s online shop, which launches November 12th, will feature instruments, microphones and other studio equipment, some of which he used during recording sessions.
“I love stuff. I’m that vapid. I just like stuff,” Folds joked in a video announcing the shop. “A lot of it I haven’t used — I’ve just fondled. I go to the studio and just touch it, look at it. But most of it I actually have used, and if I haven’t used it, I’ll tell ya.”
Folds “curated” the items over the past two decades, including his 15-year tenure working out of Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A. Even after leaving the space until 2016, he still kept massive amounts of gear — including numerous keyboard instruments, drum kits and vintage microphones.
“I don’t want a studio anymore because I just want a spend my time writing music now after having a studio for 15 years,” Folds says.
Highlights from the sale include the Suzuki Melodion used on the 1997 Ben Folds Five album, Whatever and Ever Amen; a Kustom Kombo-II organ/synthesizer he purchased from Sheryl Crow, a Hohner Wurlitzer Organ Model 300 and his prized Neumann U 47 microphone. “That’s the mic I used for, god, every vocal in the century that I did, unless I was in someone’s studio as a guest or something,” he says. “That’s my favorite mic. I love that one.”
The most amusing listing is a microphone clip with a massive price tag. “I won’t take one cent less than $50,000 for the mic clip,” he says in the video. “You can offer me if you want to — do not insult me.”
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Folds’ Reverb sale follows similar shops from Green Day and Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine.
