Ben Folds to Sell Instruments, Studio Gear From Throughout Career
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.”
Folds’ Reverb sale follows similar shops from Green Day and Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine.