Mark Hoppus is selling a load of classic Blink-182 gear
Custom Groundskeeper Willie bass among auction items
Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus is selling a load of his personal gear - much of which saw active duty with the pop-punk icons as well as +44 - to benefit LGBTQ+ charity The Trevor Project.
Chief among the items up for sale on Reverb is a custom pink plaid early 2000s Fender Mark Hoppus Precision Bass guitar.
“We call this plaid bass Groundskeeper Willie,” says Hoppus. “I wrote a great deal of the bass riffs for the [2003] untitled album on this bass. It has the sticker of the unicorn on there and the pink Famous Stars and Straps keychain that has been on here for the past decade and a half.”
The auction for Groundskeeper Willie ends on 8 July, after which nearly 80 other pieces of gear go on sale.
These include:
- A Blue Microphones Vacuum Tube Condenser microphone used on multiple Blink-182 albums as well as +44 recordings. According to Hoppus, the mic - which was custom powder coated hot pink for the musician - is one of his favorite pieces of studio equipment. “It’s been a staple of my studio setup ever since Jerry Finn told me to buy a Blue Bottle mic for Enema of the State,” Hoppus said.
- A custom Fender Jazz Bass guitar that features a custom pencil drawing of an octopus by Craig Christy of Raygun Tattoo. “This was a bass that I used for a long time on tour,” Hoppus said.
- A pair of Avalon U5 Ultra Five Direct preamps that have been around the world several times, according to Hoppus. “These were the direct pre- and post-amp sound of my live show since around 2001,” he said.
- An Ampeg SVT Classic amp that sat in Hoppus’ live setup for nearly a decade. “This amp has literally been around the world. It has been everywhere, sounds great, and is well road-worn,” Hoppus said.
- A dozen API 512C preamps from Hoppus’ home studio. According to Hoppus, the preamps traveled to the UK with him and were used to record the PAWS album No Grace.
- A 1972 Fender Precision Bass guitar, an Analog Systems 8000 Modular synthesizer, two API 500VPR Lunchboxes, two Chandler Limited: LTD-2 compressors, and more.
For more info on the sale, head over to Reverb.
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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.
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