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Want to buy a slice of grunge history? Three mics Nirvana used to record In Utero are up for auction

Famed audio engineer Steve Albini has been working on world-class records his whole life, but Nirvana’s In Utero would easily rank amongst his most famous.

This week, Albini announced that he would be auctioning off a slice of that reverence. Three mics used during the fabled recording will soon be sold through Reverb.

steve albini in utero microphones nirvana

Museum owner? Rare collector? Super-rich grunge enthusiast? A very fancy piece of memorabilia has hit the market; three microphones used to record In Utero.

Until now, the three microphones have been part of Albini’s personal collection, living out of use at his own Electrical Audio. The original In Utero recordings took place at Pachyderm Studios in 1993.

From Reverb:

The sale will include two separate auctions: one for a stereo pair of Lomo 19A9 tube condensers and one for an Electro-Voice PL20. 

The 19A9s were were used as overheads on Dave Grohl’s drum kit, while the PL20 and one of the 19A9s were used to record Kurt Cobain’s vocals.

See below for Albini’s own breakdown:

Interestingly, Albini first went to living Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear to see if they would take the microphones. They said he should sell them.

And here are the beauties themselves:

Via Reverb.