Peter Forest's next VEMIA auction officially starts this coming Saturday, and runs April 5-12. Many items are already listed.First up is Adrian Utley's (Portishead) Minimoog.
"Love or loathe the paintjob! It's a hell of a good Mini even if you personally would strip the paint off. It's lot 5856 at VEMIA."
Click on the "Auctions" tab and search for 5856.
Here's the description for this mini:
"A totally unique Minimoog, for two reasons. One is pretty obvious: it was custom-painted for Adrian Utley of Portishead, with great psychedelic imagery (and a little Portishead logo as well, of course). If you're not sure you could face this first thing in the morning (or any time), then it could all be removed - the painting is only on the woodwork. The second is not so glaringly obvious, but this is a special Mini for another reason: it was the one that Adrian gigged with on all the Portidhead tours, and featured heavily in all live shows including the famous New York concerts on DVD. He used it (when most people had forsaken vintage gear onstage) because it was supremely reliable as well as being great-sounding. (The painting was done after the touring, by the way, so you can't see it on the DVD.) This picture was taken before it was taken to Lucid Sound for a full checkover and service where necessary, so the keyboard is extremely uneven in the photo. Lucid are currently re-bushing it, so it will be smooth and a pleasure to play; and will do the minor calibrations that are the only other thing that is needed to get this back into perfect working condition. It has a CV/gate mod; the panel is in decent condition; and all in all you're unlikely to find a better working Mini, or one that is more reliable even on tour. It will come with a very limited (2/4 !) edition glossy A4 photo of the Mini. The synth will come with a clear certificate of provenance."
Just for fun, I thought I'd make a poll on the paint job.
Feel free to comment if you feel passionately on this either way.
Though the purist/"won't buy old gear without the original box" subset might recoil in horror, I personally love it when folks personalize their gear, synths especially. Love this one as well, plus I still dig Portishead. New album on the way, right?
ReplyDeletePersonalizing is one thing... but that is awful! It looks like someone barfed on it. My first instinct would be to take it ouside and hose it down.
ReplyDeleteI hear this Trip Hop music will really take off one day, then it will be heard in heavy rotation on "smooth jazz" radio stations, which will eventually be bought out in larger markets by classic rock stations.
ReplyDeletebecause of the history of this minimoog, the paint should not be stripped. doing so would turn it into a "regular" minimoog. i am sure some portishead fanatic will buy it and keep it in a clear case, so i think the paint job will be safe, ultimately.
ReplyDeleteCould not escape Portishead tracks when I first moved to NYC in early-mid 90's; every bar/cafe played that album constantly.
ReplyDeleteis this the same minimoog that appeared on the NYC live DVD? wonder if it got much use since it was painted, maybe it killed the moog mojo
ReplyDeletei don't think this is what was used at Roseland.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like MIA Did a paint job on it!!
ReplyDeletegalang! :P