If ever you were to hear mention of alternative-rock legends Sonic Youth, the first thing you might do is start to mentally replay all those noisy, distortion and effect-laden guitar sounds that served as the backbone for their trademark sound. Well, now that can be your sound, with news that drummer Steve Shelley is selling off a handful of his bandmates’ old guitar pedals.
As Stereogum reports, Sonic Youth’s Twitter account recently announced that four guitar pedals previously used by Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo have gone up for sale on eBay thanks to New Jersey music shop GBDD.
a few guitar effects pedals from the sonic youth studio on sale here: https://t.co/q1cUlabelz pic.twitter.com/hVhgdVrRB2
— Sonic Youth (@thesonicyouth) March 19, 2018
According to the eBay listing, these four pedals (including pedals for distortion and vocal effects) come from the “band’s personal recording and rehearsal studio collection, owned by them during periods of some of their greatest work.” While it does note that “it cannot be said with certainty when or by whom each particular pedal was used,” each one comes with a letter of authenticity signed by Steve Shelley himself.
Renowned for their extensive collection of musical gear, Sonic Youth’s studio undoubtedly looked like a musician’s playground for most of their existence. However, since the group’s unfortunate breakup back in 2011, it seems that many of these instruments are going unused.
However, while this doesn’t necessarily mean the group will never get back together (we’re sure the absence four pedals won’t make or break that decision), some Twitter users seem to think this truly spells the end for Sonic Youth.
https://twitter.com/printfalkirk/status/975650009894080512
This also isn’t the first time that big-name musicians have taken to the Internet to sell off some of their unwanted gear, with You Am I and Silverchair’s Chris Joannou deciding to have a bit of a clean-out in recent months.
Bidding for the pedals has begun now, but be warned, you’ll need to have a few hundred in spare cash lying around just to be in the game here. Either way, check out the eBay page here to view some pieces of alt-rock history.
Check out one of Sonic Youth’s final singles, ‘Beautiful Plateau’:
