Cult band Phoenix mixed tracks for their upcoming album Bankrupt! on the Harrison 4032 recording console which Michael Jackson and producer Quincy Jones used to record Thriller.

Guitarist Laurent Brancowitz reportedly found the console for sale on eBay.com.

Frontman Thomas Mars tells The New Yorker, "The most mysterious part to me was that no one else - no nerd or music engineer or memorabilia freak - seemed to want it... It seemed like a scam."

But Mars and his bandmates did their homework, agreed the console was the real thing and paid $17,000 (£10,600) for it.

As a result, when the band started recording its new album in Paris, France, the project had the title Alternative Thriller.