A GRAND piano that has been played by hundreds of top artists and which featured on the cover of Oasis’ 1996 single Supersonic has been auctioned off for £13,100 by Monnow Valley Studios. The Monmouth-based studio listed the Yamaha C3 grand piano on eBay with a starting bid of £1,000, which climbed to its final price last week (18th February) after 10 days and over 40 bids.

The piano had come to the end of a recording career of over 40 years. It was bought in 1973 from Cranes music store in Cardiff by Rockfield Studios, before it was moved to Monnow Valley Studio in 1986. Since then it has featured in numerous albums and singles including Oasis’ ‘Definitely Maybe’ album, and has been used by the majority of clients who have recorded at Monnow Valley Studios, including The Charlatans, Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers, Black Sabbath, Stereophonics and Simple Minds.

Jo Riou from Monnow Valley Studios said: “We felt it was a fair price. As a piano without history, we knew its value, but having the provenance definitely boosted its value. We had an offer from The Hard Rock Cafe for around the same amount, but it’s going to a private buyer who’s a big music fan and who will actually use it. We had considered selling it via Bonhams auction house, who suggested a higher reserve, but we knew as soon as the word got out that the buyers would find it.

“We’ve actually already replaced it with a similar piano. We currently have a Yamaha C1, which is slightly smaller but sounds incredible. Most of our clients bring their own instruments when they record here, but it’s a lot harder to move a grand piano and they’re quite temperamental, so it’s the one instrument we do provide.”