[for sale] Mark Sandman's bass amp head + cabinet shows up on eBay

Early to bed
And early to rise
Makes a man or woman
Miss out on ...Mark Sandman's bass amp?!

We think we finally found the perfect piece to rest beside Billy Ruane's ashes at the Middle East in Cambridge: the late MARK SANDMAN'S Ampeg SVT bass amp head and 8x10 cabinet, which is now being sold on eBay for a cool $6,000. Shipping this piece of Boston rock history will also set you back another $500.

"I would love to see it displayed in a Boston area buisness like the Middle East, Hard Rock Cafe, House Of Blues, etc., type of setting so others can also enjoy it," writes the seller, known in the auction at lostin1978@gmail. An urn of Ruane's ashes was perched high along a wall of the Central Square nightclub, overlooking its upstairs room's bar and restaurant area, after his passing in October 2010.

Photos of Sandman already adorn the same general area of the Mid East, but this would be an even greater tribute. The legendary MORPHINE bassist and front man passed away on stage in Italy on July 3, 1999.

We'd love for the Sater brothers to bring this thing home, or for a donor to rescue it and hand it over to the club. And why? Because someone has to. The seller's page was last updated on December 15 and while this auction has already attracted more than 4,000 views, it doesn't look like there's been a purchase bite. Here's additional info from the listing...

Vintage 1970's SVT head and 1990's 8x10 previously owned by the one and only (and terribly missed) Mark Sandman of Morphine, (RIP). I am the very proud and legal owner of this rig and have all the proof,bill of sale,paper work,province,etc. from the band,management,lawyer,etc..

I also have tons photos of me in their studio with the rig, Mark's bass, and the band members. This was Mark's one and only bass rig and can be heard on most Morphine recordings and seen on most live appearances. If youve seen him with another, it was a rented backline and most likely outside of the USA.

I originally planned on transferring all the guts into a brand new head case,etc.. and I bought everything needed for the project, but then I decided it would be wrong to mess with such a very important piece of bass playing history. The mid-late 70's head has plenty of road wear but worked fine and sounded amazing when I bought it many years ago but it is NOT working right now as it has been in storage for many years and it needs some TLC. May need a couple new tubes,caps,bias, only VERY minor routine maintenance & repairs.

I plan to have it repaired before it is sold and I will update the auction when I do so. I have not used it since i purchased it because my back and i are getting much too old to lug around a 100 pound amp and 175 pound cabinet. So basically Mark was the very last person to use this rig. The head has the bands info stenciled on top and the 8x10 cabinet is a standard early to mid 1990's 810E cab is no different than the new ones today other than it has a standard phone jacks on back and not Speakon.

Also has the bands info stenciled on the back and has plenty of tolex wear from being loaded in and out of the band's van but speakers and grill are perfect...