Recording console used to tape solo Beatles records, Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" up for auction

A custom-made recording console used in Abbey Road Studios from 1971 to 1983 is up for bid.

The desk was used to record Pink Floyd's famed Dark Side of the Moon, along with albums by Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and others.

The auction house said the console, one of only two custom-made by EMI engineers, was used extensively between 1971 and 1983 in Abbey Road's Studio Two, the same room which was also used by the Beatles and others. According to Abbey Road Studios, one of the reasons for the console was to accommodate the increasing number of tracks used in recordings that rock artists demanded. An earlier version, the MK1 (Mark 1), which was installed at the end of 1968, was used on the Beatles' “Abbey Road” album. Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, in their book “Recording the Beatles,” said the Mark 1 was responsible for a smoother, more polished quality to the tracks because of its abundant mic channels and multiple compressors and limiters. After two modifications, two MK IVs were installed at Abbey Road in December, 1971.