Prince’s purple mic and guitar among items in LA auction

An auction comprising a wide collection of property from some of the world’s most iconic musicians including Prince, Frank Zappa, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley is due to take place in LA next month.

On Saturday 5 November 2016 Julien’s Auctions will allow collectors and fans to bid on rarities such as a purple Shure microphone used by Prince for his Saturday Night Live performance two years ago, as well as other live gigs and practice sessions during 2014 and 2015. It is expected to sell for between $2,000 and $4,000.

Other items up for auction that once belonged to the star, who passed away in April this year, include a 1959 Gibson L48 guitar he used back in the ‘70s to sketch out his early songs and play on early demos. Bidding will start at $20,000.

But what will be of even greater interest to many in pro-audio is the auction – also held by Julien’s – scheduled for the day before. On 4 November, ‘Property from the Estate of Frank and Gail Zappa’ will feature a plethora of recording and live sound consoles, speakers, vintage effects, analogue and digital tape machines, instruments and more taken from Zappa’s famous home recording studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen.

As our sister title Pro Sound News reports, the facility had been left intact following the musician’s death in 1993, but after the recent sale of the property to Lady Gaga, its contents have been made available.

For a rundown of some of the highlights from the Zappa auction, click here.

http://www.juliensauctions.com