Trevor Horn SSL 4000 Series Console Up for Auction

Propstore just ran a sale on Trevor Horn's Solid State Logic SL4048E/G mixing console from Sarm West Studios. The desk was housed in Studio 2 of the now closed Notting Hill-based facility and was a piece of pop history, being used on a range of seminal_recordings during the 1980s and 1990s.

The SL4048E/G is described as one of the most iconic of the SSL 4000 Series - a favourite among producers and engineers for its punchy sound, flexible routing, and signature bus compressor.

It was installed from factory in 1983 in Sarm West Studio 2 where it stayed until 2014 after which it was stored. They describe it as a "a culturally significant piece of British pop history."

Horn kept it for 34 years, and it is the only studio console associated with him - and more than three decades of his most successful work.

Asked why he kept the desk, Horn stated, "Because its lucky. A disproportionate number of hits were made with it."

Yes "Owner of A Lonely Heart" was mixed on it,  Frankie Goes to Hollywood "Welcome To the Pleasure Dome" - tracked and mixed, plus the truly excellent (imho) Grace Jones "Slave To The Rhythm", later hits from Seal including "Crazy",  Wham "Careless Whisper", Pet Shop Boys and many more also passed through it.

Price was estimated between  £100,000 and £200,000 - though the listing ended on 23rd October and the 8 bids it received did not meet the reserve - the max was _95k

Console details include:

• Model: SSL SL4048E/G
• 48 input channels
• E-Series EQ modules with G-Series computer and automation
• Includes patchbays, producer's desk, and bay racks
• Internal power supply and additional documentation included

The console shows visible wear consistent with decades of use, but is reportedly in working condition. As a centrepiece of Sarm West Studio 2, it was part of a space used by Horn and other artists to craft some of the best-selling pop records of the time.

The listing is here:
https://propstoreauction.com/

If you are a Patreon member - we have an interview in the archives from 2010 when we went to Sarm West to talk to Geoff Downes about the Buggles reunion, it was an honour to be there.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/63490010/

Thanks to  Constant Little Ghost for the spot via our Discord