Most Expensive Pianos

Have you ever tried to imagine what the world’s most expensive piano might be? Imagine no further. The most expensive piano in the world belonged to the Beatle’s John Lennon and was auctioned off to British pop-singer George Michael in 2000. When the topic of expensive pianos comes to mind you might think somewhere along the lines of a Bosendorfer, or a Bechstein, or maybe a Steinway & Sons “Alma-Tedema”, with its lavish artwork and hand crafted symmetry. But the Steinway & Sons “Model Z” Piano formerly owned by John Lennon is a fairly ordinary walnut upright piano that still bears a few cigarette burns attributed to the musician.

The piano was originally bought by Lennon in December 1970 and delivered to a studio at his home in Tittenhurst Park in Berkshire, England. He composed and recorded the song “Imagine” on it and was filmed playing the song on it for the first time for his wife, Yoko Ono, and the Plastic Ono band. Believed to be a piece of British history by many, the most expensive piano in the world sold at auction in the year 2000 for £1.45 million (about US $2.1 million) to George Michael after a “who’s who” bidding war that included several other British celebrities.

A Steinway & Sons Model Z

After using the world’s most expensive piano to record songs for an album, George Michael returned the piano to the Liverpool museum that housed it prior to his ownership. He stated that “the piano was not the type of thing that should be in storage somewhere or being protected, it should be seen by people.”

Of course, that doesn’t help anyone with seven figure budget and an urge to own the most expensive piano on the market. Luckily for anyone like that, Kuhn Studio and Bösendorfer Pianos have created a very pricey piano.

The Kuhn-Bösendorfer piano, as well as the accompanying bench, is set with 100,000 hand-cut, polished gems by glass artist Jon Kuhn. Kuhn’s glasswork is known for its luminescent quality and is featured permanently in over thirty-five museums, including the New YorkMetropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the White House Permanent Collection.

The Bösendorfer piano on which the diamonds are set is no less deserving of praise. Bösendorfer has been a name in the piano industry known for voice and playing sensitivity since 1828.

The Kuhn- Bösendorfer line of pianos will soon be available for public consumption. Anyone wishing to own the most expensive piano available can expect to shell out $1.2 million for the privilege.

A Kuhn-Bösendorfer piano

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World's Most Expensive Guitar!!

“Blackie”, Eric Clapton’s favorite mid-career modified Strat has been surpassed in value and is no longer the most expensive guitar ever, despite that it was bought for $950,000 USD in 2004 by a guitar archaeologist.

The latest most expensive electric guitar in the world dethroned its predecessor at an auction in Doha, Qatar on November 16th, 2005. The Strat was signed by several rock musicians to benefit a tsunami charity, ‘Reach out to Asia’. It was bought one year ago by Qatar’s royal family for a million dollars and donated back to the Asia Program, bringing in $2.7 million USD at the more recent auction, whose attendees included Former President Bill Clinton. Technically, the guitar has generated a total of $3.7 million USD, making it the most expensive guitar yet.

Signees of this expensive electric guitar included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mark Knopfler, Ray Davis, Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Angus & Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, Ritchie Blackmore, Def Leppard, and Bryan Adams, the coordinator of the project.

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Most Expensive Bass Guitar

Read about the Most Expensive Bass Guitar!!

A financially endowed bass player might look at any one of Jens Ritter’s bass guitars, which start at $6,000, and be content. After all, the German luthier’s expensive basses are made with some of the same techniques used to make Stradivarius violins. One customer, however, wasn’t satisfied with one of Ritter’s “normal” guitars and we’re lucky for it. After all, if it weren’t for this customer, we wouldn’t be able to tell you about the world’s most expensive bass guitar.

The Ritter Royal Flora Aurum, as it’s called, has a body carved from a rare, solid piece of maple while the nut is carved from 10,000-year-old mammoth ivory. The fingerboard is decorated with a floral inlay pattern made of 24-karat gold. There’s even a black diamond set in platinum decorating each leaf. Even the bridge, tuner buttons and knobs are cast in gold. The knobs on this luxurious bass hold an additional embellishment—they’re both topped with brilliant-cut diamonds (3.3 carats total).

The Flora Aurum is a work in progress and is on hold for one lucky buyer.

The most expensive bass guitar in the world is valued at $100,000.

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Most Expensive Drum Kit

Becoming popular in the late 1800′s, drum kits were revolutionized by the invention of the bass drum pedal that allowed a drummer to play on several percussion instruments at once like the snare, bass, and cymbals. Drum kits were popularized in the roaring twenties when their deep sounds and bright tones became a necessary staple on the New Orleans jazz circuit.

The introduction of new drums and accessories like the tom-toms and high hat cymbals during the late 1920s and 30s made drum kits more expensive and helped revolutionize drumming techniques for many of the most recognizable names in music.

Standard drum sets include a bass drum, a snare drum, several cymbals and tom toms. Drummers will often include other percussion accessories like woodblocks, cowbells and electronics to customize their sound. Like most everything else, the more you customize our kit, the more expensive it will become.

If you are shopping for new drums, prepare to spend at least $500. Or even up to $5000 for the most expensive custom drums. Or perhaps if you like vintage instruments, then you might be interested in “Moon the Loon’s” custom made 1968 Premier drum kit. Keith Moon’s aged drum kit luckily survived his antics on and off stage and now is the most expensive drum kit in the world. In 2004, Christie’s London auctioned the drum kit for $252,487 or £139,650.

Keith Moon is often regarded as one the greatest all time rock and roll drummer. His unique style was most likely attributed to the fact that he was not always relied upon to keep time while playing with The Who. This allowed him to improvise and further develop his own style of drumming.

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