- Professionally modified to Ringo Starr’s exact specs
- Comes with a certificate of authenticity
- Expected to sell for at least €50,000 ($51,000)
Ringo Starr is one of the most famous people in the world, and not just for his voiceovers in the Thomas The Tank Engine animations. The former Beatle is a hugely influential drummer and still makes music today: his latest album of country and roots music, Look Up, came out just four days ago. And now you can own a unique bit of equipment from his very own recording studio.
The equipment in question is a Studer 80 Audio Recorder, the same recorder that was used in Abbey Road studios and many of the world’s other major recording studios in the 1970s. It’s being sold on the online marketplace Catawiki, where it currently has a bid price of €18,000 – lower than the reserve price. The bidding is open until February 2, 2025 and is expected to exceed €50,000.
Expect to pay a bit more for postage unless you’re local to The Netherlands though: it weighs nearly 100kg.
What’s so special about Ringo’s recorder?
This particular Studer recorder has been modified by the Fab Four’s sound engineer, Eddie Veale. And it’s the real deal: current owner Lex van Coeverden, a celebrated Dutch mastering engineer and producer, has owned it since 1988 and it comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Veale himself and detailing the modifications Veale made.
The auction is one of several Beatles-related listings on the Catawiki website, which describes itself as “the most-visited curated marketplace in Europe for special objects”. Those objects include rare Pokémon trophy cards, a Chrysler Stratus Convertible from Real Madrid’s European cup victory procession and the odd Banksy original too, as well as considerably more affordable items.
As for Ringo, he’s touring the new album. You can see his currently planned US tour dates here. And with Record Store Day 2025 dates now locked in for April, there’s never been a better time to get into vinyl. What better place to start than with Rubber Soul?
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