Break open your piggy banks as a new auction selling Prince’s Yamaha DX7, which he played on ‘Purple Medley’ and used on Purple Rain the album, is expected to raise $25,000.
Prince’s DX7 is currently owned by Shane T Keller, a former employee of Paisley Park Studios who worked with Prince between 1991 and 1996. Keller worked as a night receptionist before working his way up to become Prince’s personal recording engineer. He purchased the DX7 and Prince’s EMAX II sampler and disc collection in late 1995 after Prince was struggling to fund a tour due to his ongoing dispute with label Warner Bros.
Keller claims that this was the only DX7 in Paisley Park and is likely the only one Prince owned in his lifetime. The synth is marked by handwritten notes including song titles like ‘Let’s Work and Kiss’, as well as a ‘Fink Main’ sticker on the back suggesting its use on tour by Revolution keyboard player Matt ‘Dr’ Fink.
Whilst Prince had stopped using the EMAX II by 1995, Keller states that Prince had used it in the past. As well as seeing photographs of the EMAX II in Prince’s regular studio setup, Keller claims that the accompanying floppy disks indicate that he would have used it “at the very least to build drum grooves using samples from other Prince songs.”
Other items belonging to Prince are also being auctioned, including handwritten lyrics, signed copies of the Parade and Purple Rain albums, and a tambourine used during the 1987 MTV Music Awards.
The synth is expected to sell for a mouthwatering $25,000, while the sampler and disks are estimated to raise over $5,000.
The auction takes place on June 18th. Visit RR Auction to place your bids.