“Someone borrowed it and when it was returned the speakers were blown”: Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones is auctioning off his gear – including his Them Crooked Vultures amp that he left at Dave Grohl’s house

A collection of gear from John Paul Jones’ collection is set to be auctioned off. The legendary Led Zeppelin bassist is looking to clear house and has teamed up with UK firm Soundgas to oversee the sale of his vintage gear.

Pick of the bunch is Jones’ Guild Thunderbass amplifier. The bass amp, was used to record with Them Crooked Vultures, his impeccable one-time supergroup with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme.

It has an upper auction estimate of £1,400 (approx. $1,876).

Other pieces of kit from Jones’ studio – though sadly not affiliated with Led Zeppelin – include a rare Arbiter Soundimension mechanical echo unit, built in the 1960s. Said to be “almost impossible to find in any condition”, this particular chrome box is in fine shape.

It comes loaded up with “very expensive” NKT275 germanium transistors, which gave early Fuzz Faces their velcro-like grit. Owning it will cost you £4,500.00 (approx. $6,000).

There’s also a rack-mounted Hughes & Kettner PS64 guitar amp, which has some cosmetic bumps and scratches, a Carlsbro Mantis analogue delay, and a Roland SDE-330 Digital Delay for the best of both worlds.

“John is still very active musically, writing, recording, and performing, but he no longer requires so much studio equipment, most of which he has owned from new,” says Soundgas. “He feels it should be in the hands of people who will put it to good use, so it is offered here without formal provenance, with the intention that it continues to be used as intended.”

Visit Soundgas to explore the full lot.

A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He’s also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.