Many vintage Stratocaster fans will have a favourite year, and 1963’s features tick a lot of boxes. Of course, having a famous owner never does any harm to a guitar’s value and – although not best known as a Strat guy – Noel Gallagher owned and played this one. Gardiner Houlgate’s dedicated guitar auctioneer Luke Hobbs takes up the story.

“The Strat has had a body refinish and a replacement pickguard. There are some body stamps under the ’guard with four numbers and the initials ‘BK’. Somebody suggested to me that they might indicate a factory refinish, but I don’t believe that.

“The electrics are largely original and there’s no evidence that the pickups have been rewound, but the volume pot has been replaced. The original has been retained in the case, and the potentiometer codes are dated the ninth week of 1963. The saddles and tuners are original, but the strap buttons have also been changed, and it comes in a 1990s-era tweed hard case bearing an Oasis stencil.

“Besides the Noel Gallagher connection,” Luke continues, “it’s basically a player-grade ’63 Strat, but it benefits from a really good refret with larger than vintage wire that enhances playability. The neck profile is absolutely classic for the year and the one that everybody seeks. It has a bit of chunk, but nothing too much, and it’s just edging towards the bigger ’64 profile.

“We have no information about what records it may have been used on. The guy who is selling it was after an early 1960s Strat, went into Vintage ‘n’ Rare in Bath and the guitar just caught his attention. There was no mention at all of Noel Gallagher when he was trying it out and it was only after he had paid for the guitar that they brought the case out and he saw the stencil.

“The shop told him that it had allegedly been one of Noel’s guitars, but they hadn’t mentioned it since he was an older gentleman and they didn’t think he’d have any interest in Oasis. Later on, Andy Lewis at Vintage ‘n’ Rare was sent a letter from a company of solicitors with an attached photograph purporting to show Noel Gallagher’s Stratocaster propped up against a Marshall stack.”

“They also apologised for taking so long to locate the photo and hoped that it could be passed on to the new owner. The photo has the guitar’s serial number inscribed on the back, along with a note saying ‘demos for the new LP’. Also inside the case is a hand-written Bill Puplett job ticket that shows the guitar’s serial number and the name of Jason Rhodes; he was Noel’s guitar tech at that time.

“So with the case stencil, solicitor’s letter, photograph and job ticket, we think it’s highly probable that it was Noel’s guitar. Through people I know who have done work for him, I have tried to make contact with Noel’s camp to glean some further information, but as always with these famous-artist things it’s like hitting a brick wall.”

“Funnily enough, when the owner first contacted me a couple of years ago, he just said he had a ’63 Strat he was thinking about selling and I gave him a hammer price estimate of £6,000 to £8,000. He didn’t even mention Noel Gallagher until he brought it in for evaluation and that’s when I had to raise my estimate quite substantially.

“He was also moving on an ES-335, and when I gave him my initial estimate he wasn’t that interested in selling the Strat because it does sound excellent and he thought he’d have trouble finding another one that good. But with a potential hammer price several thousand pounds higher, he changed his mind.

“Oasis are hot at the moment [due to the 2025 tour], and a lot of Oasis-related gear has come up for sale. So you could argue that the market has been a little diluted by excess stock, but there can’t be that many pre-CBS Strats that were owned by Noel.”

Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass

Höfner violin basses will forever be associated with Paul McCartney, but as with so many of the Fab Four’s iconic instruments, the Beatles association has never resulted in stratospheric market values or collector frenzies.

Very decent and original Gretsch Duo Jets, Tennesseans or Country Gentlemen, Epiphone Casinos or even Gibson J-160Es can still be purchased for less than the cost of pre-CBS Strats or early ’60s ES-335s.

With Fender’s first electric bass appearing in 1951 and the Gibson EB-1 following in 1953, Höfner wasn’t too far behind. Höfner was a long-established maker of violin family instruments and Walter Höfner had the idea of marrying a maple guitar style neck to a bass viol-shaped body.

The resulting 500/1 Violin Bass was launched at the 1956 Frankfurt Muiskmesse in Germany, and glossing over its physical resemblance to Gibson’s EB-1 is probably the most diplomatic option.

Bodies were made from laminated wood pressed into arches both front and back – although earlier backs were flat. On the back the outer layer was generally figured maple (or possibly sycamore) and on the front it was spruce. Early models had an oval control plate, but by the time the future Sir Macca acquired his, 500/1s had the better-known rectangular version with two volume control knobs and three switches.

If you’ve never played a 500/1, the switches can be somewhat baffling. The Bass On switch actually turns the bridge pickup off, and the Treble On switch turns the neck pickup off…

The uninitiated may assume that these switches should be in the ‘on’ position in order to hear both pickups together, but there won’t be any sound at all.

To get these bass pickups working together both switches must be in the off position. The Rhythm/Solo switch promises a bass boost in the solo position, but in actuality it merely bypasses the Rhythm mode’s preset bass cut.

Earlier 500/1s had closely spaced single-coil pickups with black plastic covers before Höfner introduced metal-covered ‘toaster top’ pickups around 1960. The following year Höfner changed to a ‘diamond’ top design, and in 1962 the pickup spacing was widened to give each pickup a more distinct voicing and increase the tonal range.

The 511 pickup arrived in 1963, with distinctive ‘staples’, threaded steel pole screws and Alnico magnets. In 1967 Höfner introduced the “high efficiency” 513 ‘blade’ pickups with ceramic magnets for increased output that are fitted to this example.

Violin basses started out with traditional dovetail neck joints and they are prone to failure. No doubt Höfner became aware of the problem because sometime during the 1960s the joint was changed to a mortice and tenon design with a greater surface area for the glue.

Most modern bassists would probably regard Höfner 500/1s as novelty instruments that can provide a distinct sonic flavour once in a while, but not everyday players. But their short 762mm (30-inch) scale, lightweight construction and engaging unplugged tone makes them ideal for the guitarist who likes to dabble with bass.

This pictured bass was formerly owned by Damon Minchella, of Ocean Colour Scene fame, and used on the Moseley Shoals and Marchin’ Already albums.

“The main bit of provenance, however,” Luke Hobbs tells us, “is that Minchella used the bass at Abbey Road Studios on a recording of Come Together [for The Help Album], a 1995 charity album Paul McCartney was putting together. McCartney was playing and producing, and the band included Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Steve Cradock and Steve White, performing as supergroup the Smokin’ Mojo Filters.

“There’s a video of the session and the Höfner bass Minchella was using had blade pickups just like this one. He was also able to confirm that Paul McCartney autographed the body at the session. The signature and the fact it was used on a charity record with links to The Beatles adds more to the value than anything else in the Höfner’s history.

“It’s actually a 1970s 500/1 model with its original Selmer case in good unmodified condition. Everything works and it doesn’t appear anything has been changed. There are a few dings and marks, along with some minor fretwear. It is what it is and this type of instrument tends not to get battered.”

Both instruments sold at Gardiner Houlgate’s December 2025 auction with the 1963 Stratocaster achieving a hammer price of £9,000 and the Höfner bass £7,200.

• Guitarist would like to thank Luke Hobbs and Gardiner Houlgate
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Inflation is in the news a lot this weather, so just imagine our surprise when a news alert pinged to say that an Epiphone acoustic guitar just sold for $96,000 – but lo, false alarm, this was no ordinary Epiphone guitar.

No, this EJ-200, the Epiphone version of the storied Gibson SJ-200 jumbo, belonged to Noel Gallagher, and the Oasis guitarist not only used it during the writing sessions for the Manchester, England rock superstars' über-smash debut album, Definitely Maybe, but played it in the video for Wonderwall, too. And the guitar has been signed by the Chief himself.

It was sold at auction via Sotheby’s. Guitar World brought you the news when the auction first came online. The initial estimates had this big-lunged acoustic pegged somewhere between $60,000 and $80,000.

It is being called the Wonderwall acoustic because of the video, but the guitar that Gallagher recorded the actual track with met a different fate. If you cast your mind back to the pre-reunion days (well, actually to the pre-breakup days) you might remember Oasis being one of the more volatile beat combos on the indie scene.

The brothers Noel and frontman Liam Gallagher would often have it out. During one ruckus, an acoustic got turned into kindling and it didn’t even belong to them – it was the engineer Nick Brine’s.

“It was the morning after a heavy night and Liam was worse for wear,” said Brine, speaking to the BBC last year. “Noel had said something about him in the papers and Liam kicked off.

“I’m in Abbey Road’s famous Studio Two setting up equipment and hungover myself, then looking up I saw a guitar come flying over from the control room. It was Noel’s Fender Jag and it smashed to bits. I ran to the control room and Liam also made a big dent in Abbey Road’s mixing desk.”

Brine took cover. What was coming next.

“Then I see another acoustic guitar flying over the top and in a thousand pieces on the floor,” he says, “and realize that’s my guitar.”

Brine was well recompensed. The brothers gifted him the actual acoustic that tracked Wonderwall as compensation.

As for this one, well, it’s a pretty sweet Epiphone build. Epiphone doesn’t carry that model in the 2026 catalog, but the Inspired By Gibson Custom 1957 SJ-200, all-solid wood build, with figured maple to impress your gran, could be yours for $1,499. And that is a pretty sweet deal.

The acoustic guitar that Noel Gallagher used during the writing sessions of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? is mooted to sell for £60,000 (approx. $81,000) as its online auction goes live.

Released in June 1995, Oasis’ second album continued the Manchester band’s huge rise, after 1994’s Definitely Maybe, and Noel’s Epiphone EJ-200 was central to its creation.

The guitar is one of three Oasis auction items being sold by Sotheby’s, with the guitarist’s 12-string Rickenbacker, his loyal servant for a decade, and a handwritten lyric sheet for Don’t Look Back In Anger rounding out the power trio.

As its name suggests, the Epiphone EJ-200 is a wallet-friendly take on Gibson's esteemed SJ-200 acoustic, which has been adopted by seminal artists like Brian May (he dropped a signature model with a touching tribute to Freddie Mercury last year), Mark Knopfler, and the Beatles duo George Harrison and John Lennon.

Speaking to the Guardian ahead of its auction, Sotheby’s New York-based pop culture specialist Craig Inciardi sees the acoustic guitar as a symbol of the band's inspired mid-‘90s period.

“It was quite extraordinary how they managed to record it in such a short period of time,” he says. “He [Noel Gallagher] was just so prolific at the time, with the amount of songs that were coming out of him, it’s almost unprecedented. And if you look at that album and you look at the track listing, it looks like a greatest hits album.”

The guitar’s lucky new owner will also receive an all-important letter of authenticity that confirms the guitar’s prominence in the making of Oasis’ UK chart-topping sophomore.

It's quite the looker too, boasting a decorative vines and flowers inlay on its pickguard, and crown inlays across its fingerboard. It's said to be in excellent condition.

While the guitar was one of the select few featured in the Wonderwall music video, the guitar used to record the track was gifted to one of their engineers after his acoustic was smashed to smithereens during a Gallagher brothers row.

See Sotheby's for more.

Some of the most glorious British guitar music of the ’80s was born under the glowering skies of Manchester. And while the Chameleons never matched the commercial heights of city brethren the Smiths and New Order, those who did discover the band’s third album, Strange Times, were forever marked by the experience.

“I’d forgotten how much this album meant to me,” posted Oasis’ Noel Gallagher on Instagram in 2018. “It came out in ’86, when I was 19. I’ve been listening to it every day since and I have to say it’s blown my mind – again. It must have influenced my early years as a songwriter because I can hear me in it everywhere.”

Fronted by the shamanic vocals of Mark Burgess, with Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding handling guitars, the lineup only had a scattering of embryonic song ideas when they loaded into Jacob’s Studio in Surrey for a five-week session.

But the bonhomie – and perhaps some leftover mojo from the studio’s recent residents – fed into an album that is lusher, dreamier and more melodic than their post-punk debut, 1983’s Script of the Bridge, or its obtusely titled follow-up, 1985’s What Does Anything Mean? Basically.

“The Smiths had just been in doing The Queen Is Dead,” Smithies says. “I’ve got a memory of doing backing vocals with Dave and we couldn’t stop laughing. And I remember a bird getting in the control room – it took us ages to get it out!”

Somewhere amid the merriment, the band – with producer David M. Allen – captured an album that conjures its own unique headspace. While the nuts and bolts have faded in his memory, Smithies believes he used a Gibson SG and a Squier Strat into a rental Mesa/Boogie, with vibes courtesy of Boss delay and chorus pedals, plus the otherworldly repeats of Fielding’s Roland Space Echo.

“We generally wanted the record to have a live feel,” he says. “Dave and I didn’t compete with each other, and it helped that we had different sounds… Dave was and is a much better guitar player than me, but my strength was riffs.”

The synergy is obvious on Mad Jack, Caution and Swamp Thing, with the guitarists weaving hypnotic soundscapes decorated by chiming, delay-soaked arpeggios that at times bleed into feedback and foreboding.

“The pop mainstream back then was just catchy love songs, but we related more to the alternative side,” Smithies says. “We were lumped in with the goth thing, but we did what we wanted. My favorite guitar moment on Strange Times? I’ll Remember. We split up not long after, so it’s an apt song to end the record.”

Thanks to that first parting of ’87, the Chameleons missed the mid-’90s Brit-rock boom they had helped inspire.

But the band’s second reunion since 2021 has stuck, and Smithies still enjoys the patronage of A-listers from Interpol to the Smashing Pumpkins, as well as namechecks from younger guns like Alcest frontman Neige (“The Chameleons were just as good as anyone else in the post-punk scene,” he told Louder).

“I’ve never met Noel Gallagher, but I’ve heard he liked Strange Times,” Smithies says. “I met Billy Corgan briefly when we supported the Mission on a recent U.S. tour. He was talking to Wayne Hussey.

“I was about to go onstage and I got a selfie with him to send to my son, Joe, as he’s a big fan. We also did a gig in Seattle not long ago; Krist Novoselic from Nirvana turned up and bought our 2025 record, Arctic Moon.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

So we’re wrapping up Mr. Brightside when the bass player gives me that look again. I’ve already come to recognize it: the furrowed brow of a man finding dog-shit on his Persian rug. Something isn’t quite right. He nods at my amp.

“How much reverb have you got on there?” I check the dial: “Erm… all of it.” A shake of the head: “We can’t hear anything you’re playing. It’s just soup. Go on, take it off.”

Two minutes later my beautiful guitar tone is stripped, shorn, naked and bleeding. Having played for three decades, I suddenly sound like a six-year-old plugging in on Christmas morning, every tiny passing scrape and clunk horribly exposed.

At this volume it feels obnoxious – like I’m proudly shouting this cacophony from the rooftops, with a Vegas-style neon sign above my head: “I am a crap guitarist! Hear me roar!”

Let’s run it again anyway. ‘Coming out of my cage and I’ve been doing just fine’… Oh God; it’s the look again: “You’re just a touch off the beat.” Somebody remind me why I’ve joined a band. It’s unbearable. It’s intolerable. No wonder all those black-metallers murder each other.

I could have stayed in the lovely, safe womb-cocoon of my home guitar room, where I’ve spent the past decade, playing to backing tracks, recording the odd thing and polishing it until I’m satisfied, with nobody to question whether that intro really needs a ping-pong delay.

Seems I’m not alone. “Nobody wants to be in bands any more – everybody wants to be a singer-songwriter,” reckons Noel Gallagher of Oasis. “The band thing is dying out. Everybody’s got a home recording studio on their iPhone now.”

Here’s the thing, though: as a fan, I warm to bands far more than solo artists. I love the whole “us-against-the-world” thing; the “take-a-bullet-for-each-other” thing. On the flipside, it leaves me cold to think of Harry Styles peeling dollars off a roll as his sessioners tramp for the exit come 5pm.

So a few months ago, when a local covers band advertised for a second guitarist, I thought, “Well, it couldn’t hurt…” It did hurt.

People talk about the catharsis of playing guitar in a band – the soul-cleansing benefits of blasting out a rock anthem with live drums and bass behind you. And it is cathartic, when it goes well. But the reverse is also true.

To play badly at band practice – or, even worse, the gig – is a festering psychological pustule that’ll leave you driving home in a daze, hating yourself and your meagre talent, wanting to feed your stupid, fumbling fingers to a pack of stray dogs.

It literally hurts too. As a stay-at-home guitarist you can get flabby. Thumb getting a little sore halfway through the backing track? Just stop playing. Don’t worry about it. Of course, you can’t do that in a band. Stopping is the cardinal sin.

I used to snigger when people called Coldplay “bedwetters.” Not any more. After playing the acoustic part for Yellow six times on the trot, I salute Chris Martin as a man with the vice-like grip of a Bond henchman. If I were him, I wouldn’t write “Make Trade Fair” on my left hand. I’d have: “Please kill me now.” Some nights, honestly, it looked like a dead crab by the end of the session.

But rock ’n’ roll can surprise you. At some unspecified point, I stopped looking for an acceptable reason to quit and started to absolutely love being in a band. Of course, it’s that camaraderie; pulling together towards a common goal and feeling like The Who on that album sleeve where they’re all pissing against the monolith.

But more tangible is that, after years of plateauing, I’ve noticed my guitar playing take the greatest leap forward since school. My bandmates were right – over those lost years, reverb had become my crack cocaine, my indulgence creeping up until everything was slathered in a glacial sheen, and sounded like Interpol trapped in Tile Warehouse.

With less of it, I’ve been forced to get neater and tidier, no longer clonking between positions or hitting strings I didn’t mean to.

My hand is getting stronger. My timing’s better too. I’m starting to understand the push ’n’ pull that people talk about with the Stones: how sometimes each member’s contribution has to be dead on the nose, but other times you can let it breathe like a conversation.

I wouldn’t always choose the covers we play (we do She’s So Lovely by Scouting For Girls, for Christ’s sake). But there are also benefits to trying someone else’s setlist: new chords, different strumming patterns, fresh inspiration.

The bass player, now a great friend, has a points system. When you play guitar at home on your own, he says, you get one point added to your lifetime tally as a musician. When you practice with a band, that’s two points; while performing with the band earns you five.

So if you’re serious about supercharging your playing – and rediscovering what rock ’n’ roll is all about – power down your DAW and pile into the nearest sticky-floored rehearsal space.

When Epiphone unveiled the Noel Gallagher Riviera in 2022, all Oasis fans instantly recognized the guitar.

This was the spitting image of the 1983 Riviera from the Don’t Look Back in Anger video; this was the Don’t Look Back in Anger Riviera. And it was one of the most important electric guitars in the history of the Manchester rock ’n’ roll institution. No question.

But, speaking to Guitar World, Oasis guitarist Gem Archer reveals that it’s not actually a Riviera that we hear Gallagher play on Don’t Look Back in Anger. Gallagher might have been Gibson all the way on this blockbuster Oasis reunion tour, but he switched codes here. This guitar came out of Corona, California.

“Yeah – I think it was a sunburst Strat,” says Archer of the Don’t Look Back in Anger guitar. “One of the first times I met Noel, I was round his house and he went, ‘Do you wanna come upstairs and see some guitars?’ And he went, ‘This is what I played on Don’t Look Back in Anger.’ I was like, ‘What?’”

Don’t Look Back In Anger was a big moment for Gallagher. It was the first time he sang lead on an Oasis single. It scored their second number one. It arrived at the last minute.

If he first got the idea for the song in Paris, it was a soundcheck before their first arena show on April 22 1995 in Sheffield when the song took shape; strumming chords onstage, some to and fro with his brother, Liam, a nonsense lyric opening up the verse and a chord progression that presented the Beatles influence writ large – they had the tune.

No time to waste, Gallagher decided to throw Don’t Look Back in Anger into the set, one of three songs he performed on acoustic guitar that night, and giving a shout out to music journalist Paul Mathur. A few weeks later, they were in Rockfield Studios, Wales, committing it to tape during the (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? sessions.

So why doesn’t Gallagher use a Strat more often with Oasis? Archer, who also plays alongside Gallagher in High Flying Birds, says it's horses for courses.

“He plays Strats with High Flying Birds, but in Oasis that’s not his thing,” explains Archer. “He doesn’t need all the bells and whistles live – it’s a direct thing, and he’s not gonna go from his wall-of-sound Les Paul to suddenly playing a Strat. It’s not needed.”

As for Archer? He uses his signature Sheraton to play lead on Don’t Look Back in Anger.

“For Some Might Say you just don’t dig in as much, and it cleans up. It feels alive in my hands,” he says. “With Bring it on Down I lay into it, and it’s sitting between Noel’s ES-335 and Bonehead’s Epi. The Sheraton has a lot of definition that I need for picking out lead lines – like on Don’t Look Back in Anger, which was done with a Strat on the record anyway.”

Earlier this year, Archer and his fellow Oasis co-guitarist Bonehead both teamed up with Epiphone for a pair of signatures that revived some of their most iconic instruments.

Guitar World's full interview with Gem Archer will be published in the coming weeks.

You won’t always know when the Guitar World editorial conclave is in session to determine the magazine’s top 20 guitar players of any given year, but as the internet might put it, there will be signs.

The heavy traffic to and from the office, as Grubhub delivery drivers beat a path to the door.

The lights, always on, reveal hunched, anxious figures – some staffers taken to chewing aspirin and sipping bourbon to cope with the anxiety at the prospect of leaving out Tony Iommi, who played his final show with Black Sabbath and reissued his signature humbuckers via Gibson, or Yvette Young, whose Ibanez Talman met Superman on a movie soundtrack, developed a signature pedal with Walrus Audio and is helping emo kids sleep with music.

We feel bad that honorable mention Nick Johnston, who stepped into Mastodon as the late Brent Hinds’ permanent replacement, didn’t make the top 20, but when the smoke emerged as the hallowed 6L6 blew during the “Eureka!” moment, this was the final list. In no particular order, here are our top 20 guitarists (and, in some cases, guitar duos) of 2025.

Jake Kiszka & Chris Turpin

The only mistake Jake Kiszka and Chris Turpin made when putting together their transatlantic Greta-Van-Fleet-meets-Ida-Mae rock alliance was by naming it Mirador – Kiszka had misspelled “Marauder” – but even that worked out okay and was conceptually relevant.

“A mirador is basically a vista or a viewpoint suspended on a high place, typically overlooking a body of water,” Kiszka told GW. “That seemed to fit, and it felt symbolic being that Chris is British and he was always looking to the West for influences, whereas I looked East and got my influences from Europe. So that’s how we became Mirador.”

The forces of kismet are keeping the wind in their sails. Or perhaps it is a more ordinary magic, as practiced by the big beasts of rock in the late ’60s and throughout the ’70s as the sonic expansion redrew the boundaries of artistic possibility. Kiszka and Turpin can see such horizons clearly; the sepia vistas of roots and blues to the shimmering silver of psychedelia, riffs, tumult and everything in between.

Turpin says it was “hugely freeing” to be playing in a two-guitar band for the first time; “There was just a natural symbiosis between us, like feathers folding around each other.”

Feels Like Gold opens Mirador’s self-titled debut album as though heaved from the earth, the guitars scratching the soil off themselves as a Headley Grange groove leans forward (BTW, Dave Cobb’s production is on point).

A project such as this deserves special instrumentation. Martin came through with Pre-War style acoustics, one-of-one custom builds complete with the Mirador logo. You’ll also hear Kiszka’s ’61 Les Paul/SG let rip – most notably on Roving Blade, which, with a little help from a ’60s Vox wah and a Fender Princeton, dropped jaws in the control room.

While we're at it, Jake and his Greta Van Fleet (and literal) brother, Sam Kiszka, made an appearance in the 2025 Dave Cobb-produced Bruce Springsteen biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. They're part of a fictional band that jams with "Bruce" at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Jake E. Lee

Jake E. Lee is Ozzy Osbourne’s true miracle man. In October 2024, Lee was shot multiple times while walking his beautiful dog, Coco. Recovering from that sort of thing takes time, and getting fit to play again was further complicated by arthritis, which involves “strengthening, stretching and steroid shots” to manage.

“The cartilage is basically gone,” he told Guitar World. “I’ve had to adjust my playing style to where I’m using mostly the elbow on the right hand, trying to use as much elbow movement as I can, while keeping the wrist movement down to a minimum.”

A lighter pick and a set of .07s helped him recover in time to give his former boss the sendoff he deserved at July 5’s Back to the Beginning all-dayer in Birmingham, England. He tore through The Ultimate Sin and Shot in the Dark.

The latter is a little on-the-nose, but you need a sense of humor in this business. This is the man who was playing with the Double O when Ozzy forgot the words to War Pigs and sung Old MacDonald Had a Farm instead, and most importantly, he was the player who brought his A-game when Ozzy needed it most. Twice.

Spiro Dussias

A guitarist whose economy picking has its own laws of physics, people simply can’t compute Spiro Dussias. He’s got people making reaction videos simply to admit a total defeat of comprehension before their heads ultimately explode a la David Cronenberg’s Scanners.

STEM researchers could probably break his technique down better than we could, but luckily Dussias was good enough to explain. He calls it “muted sweep picking.”

“It comes from experimenting with the mechanics of economy picking and what you can do with different angles and muting,” he said. “There’s this notion that economy picking gives you a more fluid or bubbly sound than alternate picking – but I’ve been proving the opposite.”

We all have heard testimonials from Tim Henson and Tosin Abasi, but Dussias’ entire social media presence is filled with bamboozled A-list players in a state of total cranial eruption.

Just listen to Negative. It’s unreal, neo-shred as sci-fi, an arpeggiated code for the mother ship with instructions to beam him back. But can we please keep him a little longer? Henson has something planned for him, and it ain’t a BMX ride around suburbia under the light of the moon.

Tom Morello

It is not for his adventures in hot-wiring the electric guitar with tools he bought in Home Depot, nor for animating a next-gen Tony Iommi riff with a hip-hop beat and then blazing some Whammy squawk over the top.

This year, Tom Morello makes our MVP list because of his powers of convening, serving as musical director for the biggest gig of the year (that didn't have two Gallagher brothers onstage), and maybe even the biggest metal gig of all time.

Hired by Sharon Osbourne to be Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s head of HR for Back to the Beginning, Morello assembled a bill of A-list hard rock and metal talent for “Metal’s Live Aid,” raising a heap of money for charity.

He also played some guitar, performing Snowblind and Breaking the Law with K.K. Downing and jamming with Aerosmith. Well, it would’ve been rude not to. And let's not forget the launch of Morello's Fender 'Arm the Homeless' guitar.

Marcus King

When Marcus King is at home, he doesn’t touch the guitar all that much and will sooner pick up a ukulele or banjo – or sit behind a piano before picking up the guitar – and you can hear that in his songwriting and his playing.

Ably backed up by six-string lieutenant Drew Smithers on the Marcus King Band’s 2025 studio album, Darling Blue, King’s playing is unimpeachable. It’s never too needy, his feel and note choice immaculate. It’s like the opposite of Larry David; King’s guitar always says the right thing at the right time.

King has spent the year in good company, getting himself sober with the help of his wife, getting Derek Trucks, Charlie Starr, Billy Strings and more to sit in on Darling Blue. He played Gregg Allman’s actual Guild Starfire bass on the sessions.

Since King emerged from South Carolina with his grandfather’s ES-345, Big Red, there’s been this promise that he'd follow in that tradition and become the next giant of Southern rock, pulling soul, R&B, blues and more into his orbit. He’s making good on it and then some.

Kiki Wong

One minute, Kiki Wong was one of among 10,000 guitarists applying for the vacant role in the Smashing Pumpkins, the next she is on the cover of Guitar World alongside Pumpkins king Billy Corgan, looking like she had been there since day one.

Wong is many things. For one, she’s the most metal player in the band. She has a different skill set from James Iha and Corgan. She looks totally different, too. But as Corgan explained, that’s what makes the Pumpkins.

“If you’re looking across the stage at the Pumpkins, James is wearing a suit. I’m wearing a priest’s dress, Jack is wearing the Manchester outfit of a lumberjack shirt and jeans, and Kiki looks like Rob Halford’s cousin,” he said. “And I go, ‘Yeah, this is the band.’”

What Wong is doing musically is extending the Pumpkins’ range. For all the honeyed melodies, the high-concept musical progressivism, they have always embraced audio extremity. Wong’s down picking has given Pumpkins a monster power-up. “We’re heavier with Kiki, which is actually to the benefit of the band live,” Corgan said.

Noel Gallagher

We will have to wait for the full story on how Oasis’ reunion went down, but we’d like to think that, after years of being called a “potato” by his kid brother, Noel Gallagher finally got hungry and popped over to Liam’s for some lasagne. Pasta fixes everything.

Or was it simply inevitable that the fraternal wound would heal and they’d put the band back together to pack out a bunch of stadiums and play for more than a million fans in the U.K. and Ireland alone? And then they hit the U.S.…

Either way, Oasis’ triumphant second act put the spotlight back on Noel, the guitar player, and the Chief did not disappoint, stepping out of the rhythm game to play lead once more, setting the guitar internet ablaze when he pulled out this mystery P90-equipped Les Paul Standard, and later releasing it as a signed Murphy Lab limited-edition model, and then as a regular Gibson USA model.

The word around the campfire is that the world’s second biggest rock reunion of 2025 will reconvene in the not-so-distant future. Clearly, there were no hard feelings that Spinal Tap stepped out of retirement to steal their thunder. More on that soon.

Pat McCrory 

There’s always one player on our year-end MVP list whom you’ll be advised to wear a crash helmet and gum-shield when watching them perform live. This year it’s Pat McCrory, the guitarist for hardcore superstars Turnstile, who of late has swapped Les Pauls for a Jackson Soloist, a high-performance upgrade for a band whose live show is worth a bruise or six weeks in bandages. No barrier, just lots of people living in the moment, etc.

Hardcore can be a cloistered medium, attracting a demographic that Thurston Moore has called “cement heads,” but Turnstile’s multimedia full-court press for their audience’s affections combines brains, brawn and soul, and if McCrory’s electrified riffs send you off a wedge monitor in celebration, well, there will be an abundance of similar-minded maniacs to catch you.

With touring guitarist Meg Mills now a full-time member of the Turnstile clan, we’re excited to see what the pair cook up next year.

Nigel Tufnel

When the news broke like the wind that Spinal Tap was getting the band back together, we had to seek out the British rock institution’s firebrand lead guitarist, Nigel Tufnel, to get the story behind the biggest reunion of the year. We hope you enjoyed it. It wasn't easy.

Secreted in the north of England, selling cheese and trading guitars, Tufnel was living the quiet life, keeping his chops up in the pub circuit, Brown Sound to go with the warm brown beer.

But for Tufnel and Tap frontman/guitarist David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap II: The End of the Beginning was a serious guitar event, with custom gear coming in from the likes of Ernie Ball Music Man, Collings and Marshall. Joe Satriani made headlines when they showed up with the Ibanez JS-3 signature models he gave them, but proving there is a fine line between stupid and clever, Tufnel’s new Marshall stole the show.

“Marshall has made for me an amplifier, the head, and if you look at the dials, it now goes to infinity,” he told GW. “Just think about that for a moment. Think about infinity – oh, my God, that’s literally infinity.”

Stephen Carpenter 

Deftones have forever been about contrasts, light and shade, war and peace, Netflix and chill, and Private Music continues in the tradition, threatening mosh-pit dynamite before Chino Moreno’s barbiturate vocals smooth out the edges, casting us into a fugue state.

They’ve been doing this since the ’90s, but it’s still fresher than just-laundered bedsheets.

Carpenter is principally in charge of building the wall of sound, and this time he has a guitar tone cleaved from analog tube fire as his digital detox finds him reengaging with old-school amplifier worship. My, does it give some of those low-end riffs some physical energy. Sometimes it does us all good to touch grass now and again.

Chris Buck

Not everyone had been paying attention to Chris Buck’s Friday Fretworks on YouTube or the social media and streaming metrics underpinning Cardinal Black’s irresistible rise. When Buck booked a small show in Nashville, the promoter was skeptical – then aghast that tickets sold out in two hours.

Thing is, Buck and Cardinal Black have been doing bigger venues, most notably playing the Royal Albert Hall in 2022, as special guests of Peter Frampton. Cardinal Black’s Midnight at the Valencia is similarly opening doors for their aggressive expansion into larger-capacity venues.

Midnight is a record of smoking-hot tones, the sound of vintage Fender combos being dimed into submission. Buck’s signature pedal from ThorpyFX, Electric Lightning, is a tube overdrive/boost with a 3-band EQ that tells you everything about his tonal proclivities. The Welsh guitarist is in his 30s, yet his heart belongs to the holy ritual of pushing air.

Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Bettencourt should have lifetime tenure in our end-of-year list. There is no greater box-office rock player alive. But lifetime tenure is officially not a thing. Bettencourt’s on this list because his performance at Back to the Beginning damn-near stole the show – also begging the question why he never joined Ozzy’s band.

“For better or worse, I’ve always had my sights set on – and I’ll never reach it, probably – becoming Randy or Edward or Brian May or Jimmy Page, and the list goes on,” he said. “You have this mission to carve your own path, whatever that is.”

Well, Bettencourt’s path has been carved by string-skipping, percussive harmonics and all kinds of juicy overdriven magic from a rig that’s basically a Marshall and a Rat distortion pedal that’s not even really on. When Extreme returned with Six in 2023, he said he was “out for blood.”

At Back to the Beginning he was collecting heads, ripping through Believer, Sweet Leaf, Changes… Even his warm-up shred in the car ride to the show was essential viewing. And we're not even getting into his MTV VMAs appearance in September.

Oh, and he formed his own guitar company, Nuno Guitars, launching with two very Bettencourt-esque S-styles, reverse headstocks, a promise to continue with the N4, and carrying a lot of the design DNA from his 35-year-long collab with Washburn.

Mk.gee

Michael Todd Gordon is his name. Mk.gee is his superhero name. The manipulation of sound is his superpower. And the guitar never stood a chance. He was always going to pick it up and bend it, mold it, reshape it, keep it lo-fi and yet somehow at the center of our attention.

Talent can take you places. But musical curiosity is its own kind of talent; it can take you strange places. This year it notably took Mk.gee into the studio with Canadian pop-superstar Justin Bieber to co-write, produce and play on Daisies, the lead single from the first of Bieber’s two new albums, Swag.

First, Eric Clapton declared his love for Mk.gee’s talents, now Bieber. If we catch Mk.gee live and he has a friendship bracelet on, it'll be an “oh-shit” moment, because we know what’s coming next… Don’t rule it out.

In other news, Mk.gee’s gourmet retro-chic tone also inspired the JHS Pedals 424 Gain Stage, as everybody and their TikToker sought out the analog fuzzy drive magic of the direct-to-Tascam sound. A heroic 2025, sir.

Arianna Powell & Olivia Rodrigo

If the Jackson Soloist is an unorthodox choice for a hardcore player like the aforementioned Pat McCrory, then it is something way out of left field for pop.

But when you think about Arianna Powell’s playing style, and more to the point, her mission (to inculcate a love of all things guitar in an explicitly pop audience and to encourage more young people – especially girls – to pick up the instrument), it makes perfect sense.

It’s a platform for next-level virtuosity, blockbuster shred and, with Olivia Rodrigo the brains of the operation, also a serious player in her own right, the mission is proceeding as planned.

“We all get DMs on Instagram from fans that are stoked and wanting to play,” Powell said. “And I can only hope that inspires them, right? [Olivia] has so many fans who are young girls and young women. It’s important to see that.”

So, yeah, booksmart with a degree in jazz guitar from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and a flair for stunt guitar, Powell is Rodrigo’s ace in the hole. She might be this generation’s Jennifer Batten, which is to say an icon in the making.

Daniela “Dany” Villarreal Vélez

Whatever you do, never let Dany Villerreal of the Warning tune your guitar for you. Lord only knows how it would wind up, but it sure wouldn’t be EADGBE.

Pitch-shifted drop tuning and weird AF alternate tunings are the not-so-secret sauce in the Warning’s competition-grade riffs. She explained to Guitar World how she tuned her baritone Fender Strat, and it still didn’t make sense.

“It is a baritone guitar, but I have it dropped as well,” she said. “So the last string is not in B, it’s all the way down to A. For some reason, I always looked at this guitar as a seven-string guitar without the first string.”

This unorthodoxy is giving the Warning’s riff-rock serious weight. Who could have guessed that a band that shot to fame as teenage sisters covering Enter Sandman would later orbit the almighty riff as adults?

The Mexican rockers grew up in full view of the internet, TV and onstage supporting blue-chip acts such as Muse and Royal Blood. Only now does it feel like they’re approaching critical mass, Villarreal Vélez’s rhythm figures rivaling Jupiter for gravitational pull.

Maya Delilah

Given her bravura take on Slow Dancing in a Burning Room (more than a million views on YouTube), there is a lot of scuttlebutt about Maya Delilah being the quote/unquote “next John Mayer,” and we hope for her bank account that this comes true.

But artistically, she’s doing just fine as Maya Delilah, a twenty-something singer-songwriter from north London, signed to Blue Note, whose debut longplayer, The Long Way Round, bears all the hallmarks of natural, unworked talent (belying the fact that Delilah is a booksmart alumnus of BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology).

Like Marcus King, she’s another artist whose voice is just as strong as his or her guitar playing, but GW has a beat to cover, and on guitar – be it the Strats you’ll have seen her with after her graduation from the Fender Next 2024 program or the bizarro Maton electric she unearthed – she has this fingerstyle approach that’s just… Well, it can be learned but it can’t be taught.

“I think the only thing it feels like it holds me back from is occasional speed,” she said. “But at this time, I feel like I get a lot more feeling when I play with my fingers as well.”

Buddy Guy

For a man who was supposed to be retiring from the road, Buddy Guy has clocked up an impressive amount of shows in 2025. But then the world’s greatest living bluesman is a force of nature, his Damn Right Encore Tour! testament to his physical and artistic momentum.

It’s only when speaking to him that you realize his age, his stories recounting the formative years of Chicago blues, and the before times, growing up in Louisiana, the son of sharecroppers, seeing a first-generation blues guitarist for the first time, and what that did to a young kid. Dress him in dungarees with a polka-dot shirt, hand him a Strat, he’s eternal.

Guy bemoans the lack of airplay for the blues, but like today’s blues artists, he is transcending the traditional routes of promo, taking matters into his own two hands by starring in Ryan Coogler’s box-office hit Sinners alongside the likes of Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Bobby Rush. He also put out a new studio album this year, fittingly titled Ain't Done with the Blues.

“Muddy Waters and B.B. King – I knew ’em before they passed away,” he said, speaking to Variety, “and they told me, ‘Man, if you outlive me, just try to keep the blues alive.’”

Muireann Bradley

The internet has made cynics of many and skeptics of us all, so when 13-year-old Irish country blues artist Muireann Bradley first put her Blind Blake cover on YouTube, some would've harbored the suspicion that this was just one of another online phenomenon, like a German Shepherd driving a speedboat. But they would be getting Bradley all wrong.

This is a player weaned on old-timey country blues. Taught by her father, her musical vocabulary and playing style is drawn from players such as Reverend Gary Davis and Memphis Minnie, and from music that’s over a century old and has been passed from generation to generation like an heirloom. Like Buddy Guy, she’s here to keep the blues alive.

Bradley shoulders that burden lightly, playing in open tunings. Her fingerstyle approach isn't a million miles away from folk – but as Keb’ Mo’ says, blues and folk are one and the same. Bradley performs on her father’s Waterloo WL-S Deluxe and WL-14 X, modern-day boutique reproductions of the a 1920s Stella and 1930s-style Gibson L-00.

Decca just signed her, remixed and reissued an expanded edition of her debut LP, I Kept These Old Blues, and it features a stellar rendition of “When the Levee Breaks,” which brings it on back to its pre-Led Zep form.

“A lot of people out there don’t seem to be aware that the original was written by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy,” she said.

“I just love Memphis Minnie; she was an amazing guitarist and incredible songwriter. There’s another amazing version of the track by Philadelphia musician Ari Eisinger, which influenced me heavily.” Bradley turns 19(!) this December.

Tim Henson

Polyphia’s sound has always been so difficult and/or dense that it was hard to imagine just how it would play live in physical spaces, where the audience is fewer than for their online presentations and yet orders of magnitude more demanding.

Tim Henson and Scott LePage make “high-information music,” as one-time collaborator and instrumental guitar guru Steve Vai would describe it. And Henson admitted to GW that the awesome spectacle of playing stadium shows and Euro festival slots has made them reconsider how to shape their sound for such occasions.

“It was really like, ‘Oh, we’re playing Playing God to 80,000 people. And I have no idea what this sounds like to the 55,000th person way in the back there!’” Henson said. “It made us realize, like, ‘Hey, we should start composing for it to work in these situations of 80,000-plus people.’ So we’re trying to, obviously, bring more energy by making it heavier.”

Henson’s strategy involves eight-string guitars, baritones and rethinking the instrument from the ground up. “We’re just making new guitars that don’t exist for the sole purpose of writing something really, really cool,” he said.

How that turns out is TBC. Henson, in the meantime, has been in perpetual motion, guesting on the Babymetal record, collaborating with Hans Zimmer on the F1 score (Johnny Marr, Guthrie Govan and now Henson? Zimmer can pick ’em), playing stadium shows with System of a Down, pulling together guests for his solo album and Polyphia’s next LP, the latter to feature SOAD frontman Serj Tankian… And so on. Just how much RAM is left in Henson’s giga-brain?

Hester Chambers & Rhian Teasdale

Watching Wet Leg simply enjoy being in an indie-rock band – and embracing it as the unreal reality that they are living through – is a legal high with no comedown. They are like a 21st-century indie-pop Devo – utterly singular, lo-fi, meta, high-volume and playing altered-states oddball disco for oddball and mainstream audiences alike.

At the fulcrum is Hester Chambers, assuming the Malcom Young position way in the back, working a Kramer Jersey Star as though it were some incognito choice. Fellow guitarist Rhian Teasdale goes over the top, 100 percent gung-ho in her role as frontwoman, heaving a fluoro-green, see-thru acrylic B.C. Rich Mockingbird.

Famously, Teasdale didn’t play guitar until they formed the band – at the top of a Ferris wheel – and approached it with the musical purpose of a pianist and the naïvety of the novitiate, and that’s how you can make a sound that… Well, how you can make a record like Wet Leg’s sophomore album, Moisturizer?

“She’s got a really beautiful way of playing and writing,” Chambers said. “She’s not restricted, not like, ‘Oh, I need to learn these chords so I can make this song.’ She just kind of plays around.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Oasis have undoubtedly had one of their biggest years since the inception of the band.

Their global comeback tour, which Johnny Marr called the “biggest reunion of all time,” has been a musical and cultural phenomenon, and is estimated to have contributed over $1.2 billion [£940 million] to the UK economy alone.

As for the band members themselves, Gem Archer and co are ready for a rest – but the end of the tour might not quite spell the end of Oasis.

“I still don’t know my ass from my elbow,” Archer says of the post-tour exhaustion in a new Guitar World interview. “It’s time to decompress.”

Fans are desperately hoping for more shows, and hopefully, more music, but Archer remains cryptic. He asserts that he doesn’t know “anything about what’s coming up” and that the Oasis machine is “not just something you can flick on”. That doesn't mean there's no hope, though.

“It’s the weirdest thing,” Archer admits. “It’s all a blur. We’ve all said that we won’t know what this was ‘till next year. When all the wheels stop spinning, you know, there’s just so much to take on board. It really was a bit of a whirlwind, you know?”

He does say, however: “Anything could happen, which could include nothing. But this was quite a thing… if stuff was happening, I think I might already know about it, if you know what I mean? It’s not something you just flick on. But Noel has said, ‘No rest for the immensely talented,’ so take that how you want.”

It seems like Oasis fans and those pining for more ’90s nostalgia will have to wait. Archer’s thoughts line up with Oasis’ official social media statement – “There will now be a pause for a period of reflection” – and, by the word “pause” instead of “period,” there’s a glimmer of hope that this is just the beginning of Oasis’ return.

Guitar World's full interview with Gem Archer will be published in the coming weeks.

Noel Gallagher’s love of the Les Paul spans all the way back to a pre-fame Oasis, where – as is the case for many aspiring rock stars – he toted an Epiphone Les Paul Standard as his main guitar.

With a record deal under his belt, you might expect that to have changed in an instant, but check out the video for Oasis’s first single, 1994’s Supersonic, and you’ll see the Cherry sunburst Epiphone taking pride of place.

However, Noel, who had struck up a friendship with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, was ‘gifted’ not one but two Les Pauls from Marr himself. The first is a Standard, which began life as a Goldtop and had the honour of being owned and smashed by Pete Townshend before Marr acquired it, and the second is a Les Paul Custom.

The Custom features an additional toggle switch for splitting the coils, which at first appears curious, but Noel removed the humbuckers and replaced them with P-90s, lifted from one of his Gibson Firebirds. In 2023, he told That Pedal Show: “It was only [years later] that [Marr] said, ‘Oh, that’s The Queen Is Dead guitar,’ and I was like, ‘Could you have fucking told me that earlier, before I butchered it?!’”

Which brings us to the Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard, which is based on the Made To Measure Gibson Custom guitar that Noel has been playing on the Oasis Live ’25 dates. If you weren’t one of the 25 punters with the readies to splurge on one of the £17,500 replicas, this is a much more ‘real world’ opportunity to get close to Noel’s stage guitar.

With a pair of P-90s, it’s from the same tonal lineage as the ‘Marr’ Les Paul Custom, initially causing some fans to set the online comments sections alight with comparisons to the Custom – as well as legitimately pondering whether this was Noel’s homage to the ‘Old Black’ Les Paul of his hero Neil Young.

Down The Riviera

Gibson and Epiphone semi-acoustics play an integral part in the band’s golden era sound, particularly Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs’ Epiphone Riviera; it’s certainly a constant of the Oasis guitar canon.

From some of the band’s smallest gigs at ‘toilet-tour’ venues like Camden’s Water Rats to the record-setting Knebworth gigs in front of a collective quarter-of-a-million fans over two nights, find a picture of Bonehead on stage, and you can, with confidence, bet your 335 that he’ll be clutching his Antique Burst Epiphone Riviera.

The story, as told to That Pedal Show in 2023 (before Oasis confirmed they would reform in 2025), goes that Bonehead and Noel paid a joint trip to Manchester institution Johnny Roadhouse Music to look for guitars.

“We were such Beatles fanatics, we were into Epiphones,” says Noel. “We both bought Epiphones [Rivieras]. He’s got a brown Tobacco one, which, funnily enough, when the band split up, he didn’t take with him – so I’ve got it now.”

The guitars in question were both made in the ’80s and are often referred to by Epiphone fans as ‘Matsumoko’ models, owing to the fact that they were produced by the manufacturing company of the same name.

Both guitars forgo the traditional Riviera configuration of mini-humbuckers and a Frequensator tailpiece, in favour of a tune-o-matic/stopbar and full-size ’buckers, bringing this era of Riviera more in line with Gibson’s ES-335. Noel’s Riviera remains ‘stock’ to its factory build, which included Maxon MMK-61 pickups, with Bonehead’s Riviera very likely to have featured the same models.

Noel’s Riviera, famously used as one of his main guitars during the What’s The Story…? sessions, was recreated as an Epiphone signature model in 2022, and while the Wine Red model from the Don’t Look Back In Anger video makes less frequent appearances, Bonehead has been using his Riviera since joining Liam Gallagher for the Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary dates, and once again in Oasis for the reunion tour.

Hidden Gem?

Gem Archer has continued the Oasis tradition of semi-hollow guitars, both as Bonehead’s replacement from 1999 to 2009, his tenure in post-Oasis band Beady Eye, as a member of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and once again as a member of the three-guitar line-up in the reunited 2025 incarnation of Oasis.

During this time, one of his most-favoured guitars was a US-made late-’60s – according to Gem’s tech with NGHFB, Dave White, when we interviewed him in 2018 – Epiphone Sheraton, which was actually (and remains) one of Noel Gallagher’s guitars.

Despite a few years away from the Sheraton, Gem was reunited with the guitar when joining NGHFB in 2017. “He just goes, ‘What guitars do you want to borrow?’” Gem told us in 2018. “I was like, ‘Well, I’ve played that one and it’s incredible.’ It’s ’60s, but I’m not sure of the exact year. I was going to buy one, but it was about seven grand!”

It is, of course, this guitar that forms the basis for the Epiphone Masterbilt Gem Archer model, which, like the original, features a trapeze tailpiece, rather than the Frequensator or vibrato‑equipped models. Luckily for Gem (and the rest of us), we don’t need £7k to bag the recreation.

• "Not only is this Riviera the most Oasis-relevant guitar of the recently launched trio, it’s the most affordable too": Epiphone Bonehead Riviera review
• "Some might say this is far from a valid Oasis signature guitar, having only come into play earlier this year": Gibson Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard review
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

No sooner had Oasis begun their Live ’25 reunion tour on 4th July 2025 than chatter started about a mystery guitar Noel Gallagher was wielding, a black Les Paul. Was it the fabled Custom he was loaned from Johnny Marr?

As the dates continued, so did the speculation until Gibson announced a 25-piece limited run, at a mere £17,500, that “paid tribute to the instrument that Noel Gallagher has been using at Oasis reunion shows,” technically a Made To Measure Les Paul that Noel had been working on with Gibson for the previous 18 months.

Surely a production version would follow, and just before Oasis kicked off their five-date run in Australia, it was announced: the Gibson USA Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard!

Specs

• Launch price: $2,999 | £2,699 | €3.099
• Made: USA
• Type: Single-cutaway, solidbody electric
• Body: Mahogany (no weight relief) with carved maple top
• Neck: Mahogany, SlimTaper profile, glued-in
• Fingerboard/Radius: Single-bound Indian rosewood /12”
• Scale length: 24.75” (629mm)
• Nut/width: Graph Tech/43.5mm
• Frets: 22, medium jumbo
• Hardware: Tune-o-matic bridge, aluminium stud tailpiece, Grover Rotomatic tuners w/ kidney buttons – chrome plated
• Electrics: 2x Gibson Soapbar P-90 single coils w/ chromed metal covers, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, individual volume and tone controls
• Weight: 10lb (4.56kg)
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Ebony nitrocellulose only
• Case: Hard case
• Contact: Gibson

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★ ½

Now, rather than any radical re-design of the Les Paul this new signature comes across as a pimped-up hot-rod. Gibson already has its Les Paul Standard 50s P-90 and really this is the same guitar with some tweaks: first off, instead of the ‘50s Vintage neck profile it swaps to Noel’s preferred SlimTaper.

The gloss nitro-cellulose Ebony-only finish is not only nicely done but is the perfect backdrop for the all-chrome hardware instead of the 50s P-90’s nickel. The specs (and some Gibson images) tell us we should have an ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge, although our sample uses the aluminium Nashville tune-o-matic with its slightly wider-travel saddles – as used extensively in Gibson USA’s Modern Collection – along with a lightweight stop tailpiece and Grover Rotomatic tuners. Further pimps include both a chromed-metal jackplate – as used on certain Modern models too – and toggle switch surround aka the ‘switch washer’.

Under the moody exterior there are no changes to the Standard’s mahogany back/maple top construction or its one-piece mahogany neck with a mid-brown, single bound rosewood fingerboard and time-honored acrylic trapezoid inlays.

While the actual soapbar P-90 pickups are the same specification as that 50s model, the difference here are the unique chromed-metal covers, a nod to the chromed dog-ear covers of another Noel favourite, the Epiphone Casino. There are no changes in the controls either, it’s the standard Gibson modern-wired control circuit that’s typically neatly done with Gibson logo’d pots and Orange Drop capacitors. Overall, it’s a pretty tidy contemporary Les Paul.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

If the five-ply pickguard is a nod to that loaned Johnny Marr Les Paul Custom, so is our Standard’s heft. There’s no weight relief here and our sample tips the scales bang-on 10lbs. That aside, it’s obviously very similar to plenty of other USA Les Pauls: it’s very familiar, nothing to get used to.

That said, Gibson’s so-called ‘medium jumbo’ fret wire feels more like a smaller ‘medium’ and our sample’s felt and measured a little low. Bends feel a little less positive and you can certainly feel the fingerboard face: it’s almost a built-in vintage-y played-a-lot vibe. The frets could also benefit from a bit more polishing and the fingerboard needs a little conditioning, if only to deepen the color.

In some quarters the SlimTaper gets some flak, not least from the ‘big is best’ fraternity. But that’s taste: the profile here isn’t exactly skinny, quite a classic ‘C’ with a little more shoulder.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

There’s nothing remarkable in the guitar’s unplugged response either, a good typically pushy ring. But it’s the single coil P-90s, that with the exception of that Les Paul Standard 50s P-90, differentiate this from the mainly humbucker-loaded USA LP models.

Using an original 1957 Les Paul Jr as a sonic benchmark, the NG doesn’t disappoint. It retains some of that Jr’s bite and mid-range attitude but smooths it a little adding seemingly both depth and clarity.

Switch off the obvious crunch and gain on your amp and go clean and there’s quite strident jangle at bridge, jazztastic smoothness at neck and a little sparkle with both pickups voiced that works in more soulful, funkier styles. But then bring back a little hair and crunch and the single-coil texture eases into Americana and a whole lot more. If only there was a Bigsby option…

But the humbucker was invented for good reason. Single coils pick up noise and hum that in certain situations can ruin the fun. It’s why numerous Gibson artists, most recently Warren Haynes, choose hum-canceling P-90 DC soapbars for his signature. In the short time we had the guitar though it was well-behaved. The pickups have the same magnetic polarity so aren’t hum-canceling in the mix position and we simply ran out of time [Gibson UK needed this example back fairly urgently] to test what effect, or not, those covers have on the sound and any noise reduction.

Potential pitfalls aside, the quality of sound, that different texture and bite ain’t to be sneezed at.

Verdict

Some might say this is far from a valid Oasis signature guitar, having only come into play earlier this year. It’s simply based on a custom-spec’d guitar, a tool for Noel’s day job, admittedly a ginormous world tour, but is Noel even still using his versions?

All of that aside, as we said, it’s a slightly different, pimped-up take on an existing USA Les Paul that quite simply might entice players to taste, or remind themselves of the P-90s different, less-smooth fat single-coil voice that has way more sonic potential than merely playing covers of the signature artist’s band. It’s quite the rock’n’roller: old or new.

Guitar World verdict: Forgot the backstory; this is a good USA Les Paul pairing a SlimTaper neck profile with P-90 single coils and rock ’n’ roll dress.

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Gibson has released a Standard USA version of arguably its most talked-about Custom Shop build of the year, bringing Noel Gallagher’s highly sought-after Oasis reunion Les Paul to the masses.

When Oasis kicked off their reunion tour earlier this year, guitar fans were considerably intrigued by Noel’s electric guitar of choice. The ebony, chrome soapbar pickup-loaded build was unlike anything else on the Gibson books.

Speculation surrounding the build rightly pointed to the inevitable conclusion that, yes, Noel had worked closely with the Gibson Custom Shop to produce a newly spec’d guitar that could meet his tonal requirements for the reunion.

Then came talk of a potential signature run, which was (somewhat) satiated by the launch of an eye-wateringly exclusive Murphy Lab reissue. Only 25 were made, each representing a particular Oasis hit. A price wasn’t listed. Those interested had to contact the Gibson Garage London directly.

Naturally, there were more than 25 Oasis fans who wanted a Noel Les Paul of their own – one, preferably, that wouldn’t carry a reported five-figure price tag – and so Gibson has answered the prayers of the masses by launching the Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard.

At $2,999, it’s more in line with the rest of the firm’s Standard artist offerings, but retains the vibe of the original. It doesn’t have the subtle Murphy Lab aging, but it does have those anachronistic P-90s with chrome covers.

According to Gibson, the originals found on Noel’s guitar took “a lot of time getting right”, and were specially voiced to accommodate his guitar tone at exceptionally high volumes without compromising on clarity or sonic integrity.

Gibson says the Standard version is “built to Noel Gallagher’s specifications for the Live ‘25 tour”, so it sounds like the same pickup recipe is used here – or, at the very least, closely inspired by them. The chrome pickups are joined by chrome hardware – poker chip toggle included – to keep it in line with the source material.

Elsewhere, it boasts a five-ply pickguard – something usually reserved for Custom models – as well as a non-weight-relieved mahogany body with a bound maple cap, a SlimTaper mahogany neck, and 22-fret fingerboard. Grover Rotomatic, an ABR-1 bridge and Noel Gallagher’s signature on the rear of the headstock can also be found.

“This guitar is simply too iconic and cool not to be released more widely and made available for more fans to get their hands on,” says Lee Bartram, Head of Commercial and Marketing EMEA at Gibson.

“Noel’s original Gibson Custom version of this Les Paul was the first guitar he played during the biggest rock ’n’ roll reunion of the 21st century. This Gibson USA version embraces that legacy, capturing a historic moment in British and global live music.”

The Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard is available now for $2,999.

Visit Gibson for more.

The 1960 Gibson ES-355, damaged during a heated argument on the night that Oasis broke up in 2009 – however, the band's Wonderwall acoustic guitar, which represents a huge part of the Manchester band’s folklore, failed to sell.

The two instruments were the headline pieces in a bumper sale of Oasis memorabilia as part of Propstore Auction's Music Memorabilia collection. The pre-sale interest in the two guitars, though, failed to hit the heights once bidding began.

The ES-355 was part of Noel Gallagher's rig when the band travelled to Paris to headline the Rock en Seine festival in August 2009. But, as tensions between the Gallagher brothers – which had been bubbling for some time – came to a head, the ES-355 felt the brunt of their frustrations.

“[Liam] goes to his dressing room and picks up a guitar [the ES-355], comes back and starts throwing it around like an axe,” Noel said of their band ending bust-up. “He’s swinging this guitar around, and he nearly took my face off with it. It ended up on the floor, and I put it out of its misery.”

Ironically, the Bigsby-loaded guitar had been bought from a Parisian guitar shop in the late 1990s. It has since featured on the road and extensively in the studio. It sold for £289,900 (approx $386,000) after nine bids, having had an estimate of £250,000-500,000 (approx $266,00 - $665,000).

The Takamine FP460SC acoustic used to record one of the band’s biggest hits, meanwhile, was gifted to an engineer after his Fender acoustic was caught in the crossfire of another Gallagher fallout.

“It was the morning after a heavy night and Liam was worse for wear,” Nick Brine, the engineer, told the BBC. Noel's Fender Jaguar was first smashed to bits by his brother, before he turned his attention to an acoustic, without realizing it wasn't Noel's. The Takamine was then gifted to Brine as a peace offering.

Despite its prestige, it failed to sell at auction. It had an estimated value of £200,000 - £400,000 (approx $266,00 - $532,000). According to Popstore's site, offers are still being accepted for the guitar.

In related news, the mystery Les Paul that Noel Gallagher has been playing during the band’s latest reunion shows has been launched as a signature model on a limited run.

The guitarist has also satisfied the gear nerds by revealing what's currently on his pedalboard.

This year’s Oasis reunion tour has been widely cited as a musical phenomenon, with many calling it the event of the year.

And after reuniting for their first shows in 16 years, who could blame fans – and those in search of a good dose of nostalgia – for the palpable excitement, really? Among Oasis’ many fans is Johnny Marr, who famously loaned a struggling Noel Gallagher a 1960 Gibson Les Paul and, later, a black 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom, when the band was starting out.

Now, in a new Guitar World interview, Marr gives his two cents on the resounding cultural impact of the Oasis reunion tour.

“It's an amazing thing that I saw, from the minute the reunions were announced in the UK, at least three quarters of the country were cheered up,” he notes. “Because Noel's my friend, of course, to give you a serious answer, I'm very happy that he's reunited with his brother. That's a great thing, obviously, but the concerts had such an elevated atmosphere and a real positive message of the power of music.

“When I was in America, because people know that I play with Noel, so many people were telling me that they went to the concerts and how amazing these concerts were, and sometimes, it was people you wouldn't think were fans of Oasis,” he relates.

“So it became like a cultural phenomenon, with the main inspiration being about unity. That's something that is very much in need in today's world. So they've done something really great, not only for themselves, but really for a lot of people. They brought a lot of people joy. And it's something I've never seen in my lifetime. Biggest reunion of all time.”

As for whether he ever got the call to, perhaps, guest star at one of the shows, Marr replies with a laugh. “Well, there were three very, very loud guitar players up there, because Gem [Archer] has got a big sound as well, and between Bonehead [Paul Arthurs] and Noel, I think there's plenty of decent jackets up there as well. They don't need me in a good jacket either!”

In more recent Oasis news, band co-founder and rhythm guitarist Bonehead recently announced he's temporarily pulling out of the rest of the reunion shows following his cancer diagnosis.

Oasis guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs has pulled out of a portion of the band’s reunion tour after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The guitarist co-founded the group in the early 1990s and contributed to their first three albums before departing in 1999. He has returned for their 2025 reunion, but his cancer diagnosis has put his plans on temporary hold.

Revealing his diagnosis in an Instagram post, Arthurs says his need for treatment rules him out of shows in Seoul, Tokyo, Melbourne, and Sydney.

“Early this year, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The good news is I'm responding really well to treatment, which meant I could be part of this incredible tour,” he writes. The portion of the tour he has already been involved in included a five-date homecoming in Manchester, where they are believed to have played to over 400,000 fans.

“I'm really sad to be missing these shows, but I'm feeling good and will be back ready to go in time for South America,” he continues. Their South America tour is due to start in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 15.

During Oasis’ hiatus – which came after a guitar-smashing bust-up between the Gallagher brothers in 2009 – Arthurs was a key figure in Liam Gallagher's solo band. He also filled in for Gem Archer in Beady Eye in 2013 and 2014.

The latter years of that period were blighted by his battle with tonsil cancer. He was welcomed back into the band in light of the Gallagher brothers rekindling their once fractured relationship, and it has been a tour of high points so far.

A fill-in guitarist to cover Arthurs’ leave of absence has not been confirmed at the time of writing.

Noel Gallagher’s Murphy Lab-aged Oasis reunion Les Paul has been released as a limited-edition signature guitar. The guitarist’s pedalboard has also been revealed in all its glory.

Gallagher has been embracing guitar solos across the tour, as part of a three-guitar tandem with Arthurs and Gem Archer.

A 1960 Gibson ES-355 that was “smashed up” by Liam Gallagher on the night the band split in 2009 is heading for auction alongside the Takamine FP460SC acoustic guitar used to track Wonderwall.

The two guitars symbolize the highs and lows of Manchester’s biggest band. They’re part of a 150-strong collection of Oasis items set to be sold as part of a Propstore auction.

The Cherry Red, Bigsby-appointed ES-355 tells a tale of the fractious side of the Gallagher brothers’ relationship. There was no brotherly love lost on that fateful night in Paris, and it all came to a head just before they were due to step out on stage at the Rock en Seine festival.

“It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight,” Noel Gallagher wrote on the band’s website that night. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”

In 2011, Noel had claimed his brother had wanted free advertising spaces in the band’s programs to promote his Pretty Green clothing brand as the straw that, slowly but surely, broke the camel’s back. In truth, things hadn’t been harmonious in the Oasis camp for some time. This was the inevitable final outburst.

“He was quite violent,” Noel said of his brotherly bust-up. “He storms out of the dressing room and picks up a plum. He threw it across the dressing room and it smashed against the wall. I kind of wish it had ended like that because it would have made a great headline, ‘plum throws plum and finishes Oasis,’” but it didn’t end like that.

“He goes to his own dressing room and picks up a guitar [the ES-355], comes back and starts throwing it around like an axe. He’s swinging this guitar around and he nearly took my face off with it. It ended up on the floor and I put it out of its misery.

“There were people who were in the band, not saying anything. We were all involved in it and nobody was saying anything. So I thought, ‘I’m fucking out of here.’’

The guitar’s history, even if tainted, means it is expected to sell for £500,000 (approx $671,000).

The Wonderwall acoustic, which was gifted to one of the band’s sound engineers after another guitar-smashing argument between Noel and Liam saw his Fender obliterated, is also headed to the auction block, with an estimate of £200,000 - £400,000.

For more information, head to Propstore.

Oasis made their long-awaited comeback this summer, with the Gallaghers expected to pocket £400m for burying the hatchet.

Noel Gallagher has already revealed what’s on his Oasis pedalboard and has worked with Gibson for a Murphy Lab-aged Les Paul, which is getting a very limited run.

After weeks of speculation, Gibson has released a supremely limited run of electric guitars based on the mystery Les Paul that Noel Gallagher has been playing on stage during the ongoing Oasis reunion.

When Oasis reunited for their first show in 16 years earlier this year, gear fans quickly took note of Noel’s new guitar of choice: an elusive Gibson Les Paul, which sported nickel P-90 pickups and a relic’d ebony finish.

It was the six-string that has helped Noel re-embrace guitar solos as he slips back into the role of lead guitar player, and after much discussion surrounding what the guitar actually was, Gibson shared some telling details about the origins of the instrument.

Then, to the delight of many Oasis fans, Gibson teased a signature guitar release may very well be on the cards.

Well, that has finally arrived, with Gibson announcing the Custom Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard – a meticulous recreation of the OG Murphy Lab Custom Shop model.

Limited to a mere 25 examples and available exclusively from the Gibson Garage London, each instrument is said to represent “one of the classic Oasis tracks performed during the Live ’25 tour”, thanks to accompanying handwritten lyric sheets composed and signed by Noel himself.

The Gallagher LP features Light Aging from the Nashville Murphy Lab, and comes equipped with custom nickel-covered P-90 pickups – a rare, relatively unheard of appointment that Gibson spent “a lot of time getting right”.

As per Gibson’s Lee Bartram, the pickups were designed to accommodate Noel’s guitar tone at exceptionally high volumes without compromising on clarity or sonic integrity.

Other appointments include a ’60s Slim neck profile, a mahogany body with a maple top, Grover tuners and, on the rear of each model, Noel Gallagher’s signature.

“Gibson is honored to support Noel Gallagher in what has become one of the biggest music reunion tours in recent history,” says Lee Bartram, Head of Commercial and Marketing EMEA at Gibson.

“When he reached out, the challenge was to create a guitar with a striking, unique look while ensuring it produced the sound needed for the Live ’25 tour. Based on the feedback from fans so far, the team has certainly nailed it.”

What’s even more intriguing is the fact Gibson has hinted at more Oasis-themed releases to come from its partnership with Noel. Could the firm revisit its ‘trickle down’ release model a la Greeny and Adam Jones, and produce Gibson USA Standard and Epiphone variants of the Live ’25 Les Paul?

Bartram continues, “To kick off what is going to be a very exciting few months for our partnership, we have this truly unique collector’s package with each guitar accompanied by handwritten lyrics from Noel representing an Oasis track, meaning no two guitars will be the same. It’s the perfect way to start our Live ’25 celebrations, with more to come.”

A price hasn’t been confirmed, but owing to the sheer exclusivity of the model and all the accoutrements that come with it, we imagine it won’t be cheap.

It arrives as one of 2025’s most anticipated signature launches. As Bartram himself stated previously, “At the time of initial designs, I had no idea what the guitar was intended to be used for – I think it’s safe to say it has become the talk of the town every time it is used.”

The Noel Gallagher Les Paul will be available in-store from August 21.

Visit Gibson Garage London for more.

In related Oasis gear news, Noel Gallagher recently gave fans a close-up look of his high-end pedalboard and amps of choice.

Oasis’ return to the stage for the first time in 16 years has understandably grabbed the headlines but in guitar circles, Noel Gallagher’s mystery Gibson Les Paul has been a riveting sub-plot.

After relentless online speculation, the firm's Head of Commercial, Marketing & Cultural Influence, Lee Bartram, finally revealed the guitar's backstory. Chief picks include its nickel-covered P-90 pickups, a SlimTaper neck profile and its Murphy Lab relic work.

“I think it’s safe to say it has become the talk of the town every time it is used,” he had said. “I’ve had so many people reach out wanting to know what it is and if we can build one for them.”

A week later, the firm has dropped its biggest clue yet to the fact that the electric guitar might be more than a one-off custom job. An Instagram post showing Noel signing the back of a black, aged Les Paul, with the caption, “Available at the Gibson Garage London, 21 August 2025,” has got fans understandably excited.

Whether this will materialize in the form of a standard production run or an ultra-exclusive Murphy Lab drop (we suspect the latter) remains to be seen.

However, astute onlookers will note that the guitar that Gallagher is signing doesn’t look to be as heavily aged as the one he’s been sporting in UK stadiums. That suggests a signature guitar release proper is indeed right around the corner.

Gallagher has also been embracing guitar solos on the latest run of shows with Oasis, and recently satisfied gear oglers by revealing what’s currently on his pedalboard.

And in related news, Noel Gallagher once bought one of Peter Green’s Les Pauls – but erased Green’s signature to get back at the store owner who sold it to him.

Now Oasis’ hotly anticipated reunion is well underway, the details behind Noel Gallagher’s mystery Les Paul have finally been revealed.

Many gear oglers have been drooling at Noel’s high-end pedalboard, which was revealed via an Instagram post last month, whilst simultaneously scratching their heads as to what the story (ahem, morning glory) was behind the mystery Gibson Les Paul that has been a star performer during the band's return.

After plenty of speculative guesses, Gibson EMEA's Head of Commercial, Marketing & Cultural Influence, Lee Bartram, has now revealed all about the electric guitar, which has been in development for “at least 18 months.”

“It came from a conversation around creating a Les Paul that would accommodate P-90s at high volumes, without compromising on the sound and tone of the pickup,” he tells Gibson Gazette.

“At the time of initial designs, I had no idea what the guitar was intended to be used for. But, as development continued, it was important to create a guitar that would give different sonic layers to a lineup of three guitarists [with Gallagher augmented by Gem Archer, and Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs] playing to stadium-level attendances.

“The guitar needed to be loud and capture the vibe of those earlier shows, without compromising the output and tone of the pickups.”

Based on a 1960 Les Paul Standard (pickups aside) with a maple top on a mahogany body, it features a SlimTaper neck profile and Grover tuners. And yes, as many suggested, its ebony finish has been gone through a light aging process in Gibson’s Murphy Lab.

“The pickups are Gibson Custom P-90s as stock, with no additional wiring,” Bartram adds. “Noel has a great understanding of what he wants from a pickup. He knows that Gibson invented the P-90, and we didn’t want to mess with a winning formula.

“Having aged nickel covers on the pickups is relatively unique, however, and something the Gibson Custom Shop spent a lot of time getting right. The results look great, and the pickups sound amazing at volume.

“Not knowing originally where that guitar was going to end up, it’s been quite emotional to see it being used during the biggest reunion tour ever,” he adds. The band played to 300,000 people across their five Manchester shows alone.

“I think it’s safe to say it has become the talk of the town every time it is used – I’ve had so many people reach out wanting to know what it is and if we can build one for them.”

Gallagher's Definitely Maybe Les Paul Standard smashed its estimate when it sold at auction in September. More recently, one of the band's engineers has explained how he ended up with the Wonderwall acoustic in the wake of a Gallagher brother bust-up.

Sound the A-lister pedalboard klaxon. Noel Gallagher has shared details of his touring rig for Oasis’s long-awaited reunion shows, and in the parlance of our times, it is biblical.

Gallagher’s ’board features some stompboxes any of us might own. Heck, hands up who’s got a TC Electronic Polytune 3 guitar tuner. There’s a Keeley Electronics Compressor, aka, the industry standard, and a Dunlop Cry Baby Mini wah pedal.

Okay, there’s a strip of masking tape across this Boss digital delay pedal but that looks like the high-functioning but readily available DD-7, and it is good to see the hard-working Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb Delay in a top pro’s signal chain, too.

But Gallagher has sold some records, and a whole bunch of concert tickets; he's flush at the moment. So of course there are some museum pieces here, too. Pedals that you can’t buy anymore. Like the BSM Finest Treble Booster Model OR 2004. David Gilmour fans might recognize this one. It is based on the Orange Treble & Bass booster that he used with Pink Floyd back in the day. It’s a connoisseur’s pick.

Sadly, the mastermind behind BSM pedals, Bernd C. Meiser, died last year, and the company has since closed.

There are some other high-end units. Gallagher could pare this setup down to just his Strymon TimeLine multi-delay, Strymon El Capistan tape echo pedal, the Empress Echo System and the reverb, he’d have the makings of a seaworthy worship guitar rig. That would be biblical.

But the pedal we’d kick a hole in a stained glass window for is the SIB Echodrive. The big yellow tape reads 117V, and that is because this thing isn’t working off his pedalboard power supply; it’s a tube-driven, powered by the mains, echo/delay that changes hands for ridiculous money and sounds incredible [just listen to it below].

Designed by Rick Hamel, it has a 12AX7 preamp tube in the circuit, a heap of controls, a tone of mojo, and you’ll have to part with a grand – easy – if you find one second hand. Reverb recently did a segment on it, ‘Is this the best delay pedal? There was a lot of evidence in the affirmative.

Gallagher, however, is said to use it for its preamp mojo – that's one very expensive tone-sweetener, if true, but then given the amount of money (and time) we put into tone seeking, maybe it works out in the long run.

Okay, what else is here? Gallagher likes his boosts and tastefully structured gain stages (and the custom switching system to keep all of this in order). There is a Kingsley Amplifiers Page boost pedal, another stompbox driven by a 12AX7 tube. Another mainstay of Gallagher’s live sound is his Pete Cornish Soft Sustain 2 – he has been leaning into his guitar solos for these shows, and this drive pedal will give them serious oomph. Again, nothing too high-gain.

He also has a trio of ZVEX Lo-Fi Loop Junkies, which judging by the masking tape across them are pinch-hitters, each set up for Champagne Supernova, Rock and Roll Star and Do You Know What I Mean. And that completes a serious board.

His backline comprises four tube amp combos, with a pair of Marshall JTM45s, and a pair of Hiwatt Custom 50s. That's a pretty good time right there.

Noel Gallagher's guitar rig isn't the only thing that has caught our attention this early on in the Oasis reunion – he's also re-embracing his role as a lead guitar player.

It was a historic weekend for music fans, not just because of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning farewell show – but because Britpop legends Oasis played their first shows together in 16 years.

Liam and Noel Gallagher’s hugely anticipated reunion was one of the biggest musical and cultural stories of 2024. The two brothers put aside their bitter rivalry, ended their decade-long feud and made every guitar fan's dream come true when they confirmed – after much speculation – they’d be reuniting for a staggering 41-date tour.

Now, the dust has settled on those first few Oasis reunion shows, which took place over the weekend at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and the message from those in attendance has been received loud and clear: the Gallagher brothers sound better than ever.

You need only watch the thrilling pro-shot footage of the pair belting out Acquiesce in front of thousands of emotional fans to fully grasp the gravity of the reunion, and if there were any remaining doubts over whether Oasis still had after all these years, they have now been well and truly put to bed.

Part of the reason Oasis have managed to make such a fine comeback and return with such an incredibly revived sound is, of course, down to the stellar OG musicians recruited for the job – Gem Archer and Andy Bell among them – but also Noel Gallagher himself, who seems to be something of a guitar player reborn.

One of the biggest talking points to emerge from those first few shows is that Noel is already looking – and sounding – seriously confident behind the guitar, and while his rhythm chops have never been in question, it’s his lead playing that has left a mark.

Noel looks like a lead player reborn going into this new era of Oasis, and after taking a step back from the role during his High Flying Birds days – during which he’d largely delegate lead duties elsewhere or forego them entirely – Gallagher is clearly relishing his return to guitar solos.

Indeed, some of Oasis’ catchiest solos and licks were crafted and executed by Noel, whose simple-yet-melodic mastery of the pentatonic box resulted in cuts such as Don’t Look Back in Anger, Champagne Supernova and Some Might Say.

Noel, by his own admission, took a step back from solos when Oasis split, but his passion for lead playing never left.

Speaking to MusicRadar in 2011, following the launch of his solo debut, Gallagher admitted, “In Oasis, I was doing a completely different thing than what I’m doing now. I was playing lead guitar. And… I do miss that. I miss being at the end of the stage and just turning up my fucking amp as loud as possible and kissin’ the sky. I do miss that, I have to say.

“[What] I'm doing now, yeah, it's different, so I have to rein in my natural urges to go for it. I'm part of the rhythm section now, so I've got to hold things down. I can't just go off on the guitar. But I'm enjoying that, really. I've got to say, I'm a much better rhythm guitarist than a lead guitarist."

Because of the nature of the gig, Noel never answered his heart’s call to resume this role in High Flying Birds, instead largely taking up the rhythm guitar. Gem Archer, who joined the lineup, often took on solos on stage, while engineer Paul Stacey recorded some in the studio.

There was also that unfortunate video that went viral of Gallagher fluffing his lines while performing Don’t Look Back in Anger back in 2023.

With the return of the Oasis, though, Gallagher is now well and truly re-embracing his solo side, and has even gone as far as to venture outside the box of his usual plucky, pentatonic-heavy style, pulling in some new techniques and licks to boot.

From a guitar fan's perspective, seeing Gallagher rekindle his passion for leads is, as mentioned, one of the reasons why the Oasis reunion has got off to such a high-flying start.

From the mountain of fan-filmed footage available, a goosebump-inducing, vibrato-heavy riff through the Live Forever solo – his first time performing it in years – is a particular highlight, while the pick scrape that launches the band into Slide Away is another indicator of a man thoroughly enjoying the return to a role he held down all those years ago.

Noel’s Champagne Supernova solo, though, is what sums up this new lease on lead-playing life that Gallagher is going through. Hair-raising bends, and some tremendous whammy bar work on the Bigsby, are utilized with impressive effect.

That Noel is playing more solos for an Oasis reunion shouldn’t come as a surprise, really, but given the length of time between the break-up and make-up, it’s nice to see Noel isn’t just tentatively picking up the reins again; he’s fully leaning back into the role of lead guitar player – and the Oasis reunion is all the richer for it.

From million-dollar auction sales to unbelievable yard sale finds, legendary gear has been bought, sold, acquired, and lost through many bizarre means.

Engineer Nick Brine, however, remarkably got Oasis’ iconic Wonderwall guitar straight from the source, after his own cherished acoustic guitar had been mistakenly destroyed during a Gallagher brother bust-up.

Brine had first worked with the band on (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and returned to the studio for its 1997 Abbey Road-recorded follow-up, Be Here Now.

As the millennium beckoned and Britpop hit fever pitch, the swaggering Mancunians were at the height of their powers – but so too was the Gallagher brotherly rivalry that underpinned it. Brine’s guitar would get caught in the crossfire.

“It was the morning after a heavy night and Liam was worse for wear,” Brine tells the BBC ahead of the band’s hotly-anticipated return to the stage.

“Noel had said something about him in the papers and Liam kicked off. I’m in Abbey Road’s famous Studio Two setting up equipment and hungover myself, then looking up I saw a guitar come flying over from the control room.

“It was Noel’s Fender Jag and it smashed to bits,” he continues. “I ran to the control room and Liam also made a big dent in Abbey Road’s mixing desk.”

No stranger to the chaotic and often violent turns that the Gallagher brothers’ relationship repeatedly amounted to, Brine kept his distance. But the guitars kept coming.

“Then I see another acoustic guitar flying over the top and in a thousand pieces on the floor,” he says, “and realize that’s my guitar.”

Despite seeing his cheap ’70s Fender disintegrate before his eyes, Brine stuck to the tried and tested plan.

“I thought it best if I didn’t say anything. Noel came in and said, ‘What the hell is going on?’ It kicked off.

“Noel saw his guitar smashed up, then pointed to my smashed guitar and said, ‘Whose is that?’ Liam replies, ‘That’s your guitar too,’ to which Noel replies, ‘It ain’t mine!’”

“I sheepishly put my hand up and said, ‘Actually Liam, it’s mine.’ Then there was a big argument about who was going to buy me a new one. I told them it’s not valuable but it has quite sentimental value as my mum gave it to me.”

Liam felt a trip to London’s music store-lined Denmark Street, where Brine could buy “whatever guitar I wanted”, would prove sufficient compensation. Noel had other ideas.

“Noel replied to Liam, ‘What the hell do you know about guitars?’” Brine remembers. “There was another kick-off about who was going to buy me a new one.”

In the end, Noel convinced Liam to call Brine’s mother and apologize profusely for the guitar’s destruction. Then they handed him a piece of history: the Takamine Acoustic that had famously stared during their blockbuster Knebworth show and on MTV Unplugged. It was also used to track Wonderwall.

Auction houses have guessed it could be with up to £100,000 (approx. $140,000) if Brine were to sell it, and he’s had to take out insurance on it, just in case. But that estimation may be a little meager, considering Noel Gallagher’s Definitely Maybe Les Paul sold for nearly double its $100k estimate last year.

“I was gobsmacked,” Brine says. “I said, ‘It's OK, it’s fine,’ but Noel insisted I take it. It more than made up for the smashed guitar, I couldn’t believe it.”

A score of Oasis alumni are rumored to be participating in the band’s hotly anticipated reunion – one former bass player has already confirmed – while Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock says he turned down the chance to fill that bass role once after being disappointed by their live show.

Former Oasis bassist Andy Bell has seemingly confirmed that he'll be returning to the stage with Noel and Liam Gallagher on this summer's reunion tour. Bell, who's currently part of shoegaze stalwarts Ride and played with Oasis between 1999 and 2009, recently commented on the reunion in an interview with Austrian newspaper Oe24, and stated, “I’m in, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

He continued, “We'll see each other on tour. Or rather, you'll see me – I'll hardly be able to see you in the audience.”

The Gallagher brothers have not yet confirmed Bell's participation – however, his long-rumored involvement has been confirmed by sources close to the band speaking to NME.

Alongside Bell, other musicians involved with the Gallagher brothers at different points in their careers are expected to join – including Oasis and Beady Eye alumnus (and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds six-stringer) Gem Archer, Oasis co-founder, rhythm guitarist (and occasional bassist/keyboardist) Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, and drummer Joey Waronker – who has time with R.E.M. and Roger Waters on his CV.

Bell joined Oasis back in 1999, replacing Paul McGuigan, who had quit during the recording sessions of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, the band's fourth album. At the last minute, Bell, originally a guitarist, had to learn bass and learn the breadth of Oasis' catalog before his first show with them.

“I hadn’t played bass to any great degree before I tried out for Oasis,” he told Guitar World in a 2023 interview. “So when I was invited to come out, when I got on the plane, I didn’t have a bass. So I couldn’t even try to learn anything before I got there. But I knew the chords to the songs, and I did my best to play the root notes; but I have to say, I probably wasn’t that good on the first run-through.

“The other thing was that I was playing bass with my fingers, and Noel said, ‘Guigsy played with a pick. Try it that way.’ And when I did, I found I could attack the bass in a way that sounded a lot more like Oasis.”

As for whether being in a band with Noel and Liam Gallagher was as tumultuous as the media made it out to be, Bell replied, “I would have to say yes. I’ve been in many bands over the years, but that was my first brush with true greatness on a worldwide scale.

“But in terms of global superstars of music, being in Oasis was just so huge. To be in a band with those guys was a huge learning experience. And their charisma – it’s a real thing. It was another level. And later, one of my proudest moments was that Oasis would start its set with a song I wrote called Turn Up the Sun. That was just unbelievably cool.”

Putting their rivalry aside, the Gallagher brothers will reunite this summer for 41 dates, kicking off in stadiums in the UK and Ireland before moving on to Canada and the States in August and September.

Julien's Auctions has recently announced the return of its Music Icons sale – and this year's two-day sale includes over 700 collectible items from some of the world's biggest music icons.

The sale includes several guitars that were stage- or studio-played by the likes of Eric Clapton, Kurt Cobain, Brian May, Melissa Etheridge, and Bob Dylan, to name a mere few.

“This incredible collection brings together the instruments, fashion, and personal items that shaped the soundtrack of our lives – from the guitars that changed music history to the unforgettable looks worn by the world’s biggest stars,” comments Martin Nolan, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Julien’s Auctions. “It’s a celebration of artistry, legacy, and the timeless power and endless enjoyment of music.”

Among the gems, guitar aficionados can find Cobain's 1989 Takamine FP360SC left-handed electro-acoustic guitar, played during Nirvana’s 1991 Hilversum Sessions recorded in North Holland, which is expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000.

Elsewhere, Eddie Van Halen's stage-played circa 2007 Charvel EVH Art Series – black with red and white stripes – which the virtuoso played (and signed) on October 5th, 2007 in Uncasville, Connecticut is estimated to fetch $20,000 to $40,000.

Another Nirvana link-up comes by way of a 1989 Warwick Dolphin Pro I bass, which Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic played during a session in Hilversum, also in 1991, just before the band’s performance at Amsterdam’s Paradiso. It’s estimated at $100,000 to $200,000.

Eric Clapton's 1980 Santa Cruz FTC-15 is also part of the auction. This acoustic guitar – owned and played by Clapton – was crafted by Santa Cruz luthier Richard Hoover, who in 1980 received a handwritten letter from an “E. Clapton.” Upon opening it, Hoover discovered it was indeed from Eric Clapton, who had seen the FTC in a magazine and wanted to know how he could “lay my hands on this particular model.” The guitar is expected to fetch upwards of $40,000.

Also featured is a Gibson Les Paul Special DC Tribute in cherry red, signed and stage-played by Joe Perry during Aerosmith’s 50th-anniversary concert in 2022 in Boston, which is estimated at $30,000 to $50,000. David Bowie's name also makes an appearance with a signed 1998 Seagull S6 Mahogany Spruce acoustic, played during his final Australian performance.

Other notable guitars include a Noel Gallagher-autographed Suzuki Hummingbird in cherry burst, and a 2012 ESP Ronnie Wood signature Telecaster, signed by the Rolling Stones guitarist and accompanied by a handwritten lyric: “Have you heard about the midnight rambler?”

An exhibition of the Music Icons highlights will be on display at the Hard Rock Cafe Piccadilly Circus in London from May 9 to May 13, before heading across the pond to the Hard Rock Cafe New York from May 21 to May 31. The collectibles will then hit the auction block on May 30 and 31. For more information, visit Julien’s Auctions.

Late last year, the original Mary Kaye Strat – one of the most iconic Fender electric guitars of all time – sold for $227,500 at an auction hosted by Julien's.

2024 Year in Review: Given their extensive warring and all-too-public exchanges, it’d be fair to say the Gallagher brothers are in a class of their own when it comes to sibling rivalry.

Which is why news of their long-awaited return dominated headlines around the world. It’s the reunion many of us were hoping for but few ever expected to materialize, and ultimately a big moment for guitar music in general.

Those overdriven cowboy chords and stadium-conquering chorus hooks will be omnipresent throughout 2025, and who knows, they might even result in more guitars being picked up.

Though no official confirmation of the resurrected lineup has been made at the time of writing, it looks as if Noel Gallagher will be joined by latter Oasis member and High Flying Bird Gem Archer on guitar, and original member Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs will also be likely to make an appearance.

In other Gallagher-related news, the Cherry Sunburst Epiphone Les Paul Standard used on Definitely Maybe (and in the Supersonic music video) sold at auction for just over $175,000, which works out as roughly 250 times more than what a new model would retail for today.

Glen Matlock, who rose to fame and notoriety as the bass player in the Sex Pistols has revealed he turned down the chance to play with Oasis because he finds them “boring”.

The Manchester indie rock giants broke the internet – and several ticket sites – when they announced their reunion earlier this year, but Matlock wasn’t found in the queue for tickets.

Speaking to British music publication the NME, he said he gave weight to the offer, but had several reasons for rejecting their approach.

“I’ve always seen Oasis as a bit Status Quo,” he says. “To hear one song once was enough. I just find them kind of samey.”

The famously outspoken low-end purveyor did then curtail his answer, making sure he remained diplomatic.

“I know the guys,” he goes on. “Nice blokes. I’ve gotta be careful what I say because I bump into Noel [Gallagher] quite a lot. He lives around the corner from me.

“I think Liam is fantastic. He sings great – he’s like Johnny Rotten but can carry a tune. He’s got a magnetic stage personality: he can just stand there and it’s riveting. The rest of the guys? No. I think they’re boring live.”

He says the approach was made in the “‘95 or ‘96” but was put off the gig after seeing them perform in London.

“I got invited to see ‘em at Earl’s Court. I left. It was boring,” he says. “I went again to see ‘em in upstate New York with [Blondie’s] Clem Burke. Nah – I couldn’t wait to go.

“[Band manager] Alan McGee asked me. So I went to see ‘em and I thought, ‘The last thing they need is someone else standing still.’”

Matlock isn't the only high-profile player to have considered joining the UK rock icons. The Smiths' Johnny Marr nearly joined Oasis – and famously gifted Noel Gallagher with his '78 Les Paul Custom.

The guitar would featured on mega hits by both bands, including The Queen Is Dead and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Its legacy was celebrated with a special reissue last year.

Earlier this year, Noel Gallagher revealed he once bought one of Peter Green’s Les Pauls, but erased Green’s signature to get back at the store owner who sold it to him.

A 1962 Fawn JMI Vox AC15 Twin, believed to be John Lennon’s first Vox amp, is up for auction tomorrow (November 14). Lennon is thought to have used the amp during The Beatles' early shows at the Cavern Club and in recording their debut album, Please Please Me, at Abbey Road Studios.

“John, Paul, George, Ringo, the first time they ever performed together in the Cavern Club in Liverpool, this Vox AC 15 twin amp was the amplifier that they used,” comments Mark Hochman from auction house Propstore.

“It had been previously purchased around about three or four days earlier by Lennon himself and their manager, Brian Epstein, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

The historic amp is estimated to sell for between approximately $127,000 (£100,000) and $254,000 (£200,000), with current bids already exceeding the former figure.

In the video below, session musician Stuart Sidney puts the amp through its paces – courtesy of another piece of British music history, Noel Gallagher's Custom Silver Sparkle Gibson Les Paul Florentine guitar.

Back in July, Guitar World reported that the 1962 Vox AC15 Twin, bearing serial number 4583, had resurfaced on an auction site in December 2023, where it was subsequently purchased.

The previous owner, presumably unaware of the serial number’s link to Lennon and the Fab Four, had painted the exterior matte black. Once the connection was discovered, the paint was meticulously removed to expose the original Fawn covering.

The brown diamond-pattern grille cloth and Goodman Alnico speakers were also restored to a period-correct format. Despite general scuffing and clear signs of age, the amp remains in remarkably good condition.

Since the initial Guitar World report, further research and photographic evidence indicate that Lennon’s AC15 Twin remained with The Beatles longer than first thought, until late 1963.

The live sale section of Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia auction, will begin at 10:00 AM EST/3:00 PM GMT tomorrow (November 14).

For more information, head to Propstore.

In the final issue of Total Guitar, the esteemed British guitar magazine is celebrating 30 years of history with an epic search through its sprawling archives. One of the highlights that has been unearthed is a classic interview with Noel Gallagher – where he discusses the time Oasis nearly had Johnny Marr as a second guitarist.

The interview dates back to a moment in time when the Britpop band were finishing work on their fourth album, Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants.

During that interview at Wheeler End Studios, just outside London, Gallagher reflected on handling nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album due to the departure of two founding members: guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs and bassist Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan. He also revealed how Smiths legend Johnny Marr had been ready to step in if needed.

“I never really wanted to play lead,” Gallagher admitted. “I’m more of a rhythm guitar player. That’s how I write.”

“Johnny Marr offered his services to the band. He said, ‘If you can’t find anyone I’ll step in for a while’. And we said, ‘Fine’. But then we recruited Gem [Archer]. Johnny was just gonna save us if we didn’t have anyone.”

Marr and the Gallagher brothers go way back. In addition to sharing the common thread of being from Manchester-Irish families, the veteran guitarist met Oasis when they were still relatively unknown.

As the story goes, Marr noticed they were taking a long time tuning between songs, so he loaned Noel a couple of his guitars, including a Les Paul previously owned by The Who's John Entwistle.

For Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, Gallagher continued the tradition of using Marr's guitars.

“I got this Les Paul from Johnny,” he said. “There were really modern pickups in it and I didn’t like it. So I tossed the pickups out, took some from another guitar, and put them in this.” He quipped, “It’s a better guitar now, so he’s not getting it back!”

Following the band’s much-hyped reunion announcement, a handful of Oasis guitars – including Noel’s Definitely Maybe Epiphone Les Paul – exceeded initial estimates at a recent Sotheby’s auction.

A handful of Oasis electric guitars have smashed their upper estimates after going up for auction mere weeks after the influential Brit rock band announced their long-awaited return.

Following some brief but intense speculation, the Gallagher brothers officially confirmed that they’d be reuniting for a comeback tour later this year, with dates currently penciled in at London, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin.

The shows will mark the first time the brothers have played together ever since their infamous bust-up behind the scenes at the 2009 Rock en Seine festival in Paris, which involved the destruction of an ES-355 – which sold at auction.

But bubbling underneath the buzz surrounding Oasis’ long-awaited return was a Sotheby’s auction, which has seen the sale of some notable Oasis electrics – including Noel’s Definitely Maybe Epiphone Les Paul.

And, despite having an upper estimate of just over $100,000, the Epi LP ended up selling for closer to $200k – approximately $173,500, to be precise.

While it’s not quite enough to make it on to the list of the most expensive guitars ever sold at auction, it does weigh in as quite possibly the priciest Epiphone to be sold under the hammer.

To put it into perspective, it’s likely that Gallagher didn’t pay more than a few hundred pounds for the beginner electric guitar when he first acquired it. As such, to see its value rise to almost $200,000 is rather surreal.

But as mentioned, the guitar’s newest custodian – who may or may not have been swept up by Oasis fever at the time of the auction – will no doubt justify the hefty price tag by pointing to its cultural significance.

This is, after all, the guitar that paved the way for Oasis, and that helped them navigate their earliest sessions as they began their journey towards Brit rock domination.

“In December 1993 when Oasis recorded their first single, Supersonic, at the Pink Museum recording studio in Liverpool, all he had was an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, a used WEM/Watkins Dominator MKIII combo and a Roland RE-201 Space Echo,” Guitar World’s Chris Gill wrote of the Epi’s significance.

That Epi Les Paul wasn’t the only Oasis guitar to fetch a handsome fee at auction. Noel’s Epiphone EA-250, which also featured on the cover of Supersonic, went for approximately $63,077, while a Flying V – which was also once owned by Johnny Marr – sold for around $47,291.

Visit Sotheby’s to find out more.

Oasis has officially confirmed a long-awaited reunion tour, with the Brit rock icons announcing a string of live dates that will take place across summer 2025.

Over the weekend, the internet was abuzz with speculation that a reunion was imminent, after posts teasing an Oasis-related announcement – published to both Noel and Liam Gallagher’s social media channels – made their way online.

During his set at Reading Festival on Sunday (August 25), Liam also dedicated a song to his former Oasis bandmate. This came after Noel heaped praise on his brother, with whom he hasn’t played live since 2009, during a recent interview.

It turns out such friendly exchanges were just a precursor to ‘Oasis Live ’25’ – a 14-date tour of the United Kingdom with shows in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin.

“The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned,” a statement from the band says. “The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”

According to a press release, plans are in motion to take Oasis Live ’25 to other continents next year.

Oasis has famously not played together since they broke up in 2009, after a fiery bust-up between the Gallagher brothers backstage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris led to the group’s split. The guitar that was apparently behind the altercation was sold at auction in 2022.

In the years that have followed, fans have clamored for one of the most influential British rock bands to reunite, with their long-awaited return now finally becoming a reality.

The only question that remains is, who will be joining the Gallagher brothers in the reformed Oasis lineup and, specifically, who will be playing guitar alongside Noel?

The band’s founding member and original rhythm guitarist, Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, will certainly be in contention for the role, and will no doubt be a fan favorite casting, having been present at the height of Oasis’ fame.

Not only that, in the past Liam has also reportedly made Bonehead’s recruitment in any potential Oasis reunion a key condition to his own involvement. Whether that has been the case this time round, though, remains to be seen.

Gem Archer, who replaced Bonehead and subsequently played in both Gallagher brother’s solo projects, is another name that will be closely linked in the lead up to the live dates. However, speaking to Guitar World in January, Archer implied a reunion was completely off the cards.

“If anyone thinks we'd be getting back together or getting on some sort of track, it’s just not one of those things that’s happening,” he said of a potential Oasis reformation. “So when those conversations come up, or my daughter asks, I say, ‘Look, no. Shall we have a fucking cup of tea?’”

Archer, however, does have the benefit of being a member of Noel's High Flying Birds band, and was also part of Liam's Beady Eye project. Bonehead, meanwhile, has sporadically played with Liam over the years, most recently during his Definitely Maybe tour.

As for the bass role, Andy Bell – who replaced founding bassist Paul Francis McGuigan – has already expressed his interest in joining an Oasis reunion, despite the fact it could clash with his ongoing Ride commitments.

When asked whether he'd be keen to hit the road with Oasis again during a conversation with Guitar World last year, Bell said, “Oh, absolutely. If that happens, I’m there for it, mate.”

But then there are current reports suggesting no-one else from previous iterations of the band will be invited back for the reunion. Whatever the case, we imagine all will be revealed in the coming months.

Tickets for Oasis Live ’25 will go on sale Saturday. A full list of dates can be found below.

• July 4th - Cardiff, Principality Stadium
• July 5th - Cardiff, Principality Stadium
• July 11th - Manchester, Heaton Park
• July 12th - Manchester, Heaton Park
• July 19th - Manchester, Heaton Park
• July 20th - Manchester, Heaton Park
• July 25th - London, Wembley Stadium
• July 26th - London, Wembley Stadium
• August 2nd - London, Wembley Stadium
• August 3rd - London, Wembley Stadium
• August 8th - Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
• August 9th - Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
• August 16th - Dublin, Croke Park
• August 17th - Dublin, Croke Park

The Epiphone Les Paul that Noel Gallagher used during the recording of landmark Oasis album Definitely Maybe is set to go up for auction.

The Epi LP will be sold by Sotheby’s, which – owing to the musical and cultural significance of the entry-level electric guitar – has set an upper estimate of more than $100,000, making it possibly one of the most expensive Epiphones of recent years.

Definitely Maybe is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential British rock albums ever committed to tape. Released in 1994, Oasis’ debut studio album introduced the world to hits such as Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, Live Forever, Shakermaker and more.

Many of those tracks were born with the help of this particular Epiphone Les Paul, which can also be seen in the music video and on the cover artwork for the record’s lead single, Supersonic.

According to Chiefs Guitars, the LP in question is Cherry Sunburst example that was specifically used during both the band’s first and second attempts to record the album.

In early ’94, after some creative differences and personnel changes that followed the initial attempt, Oasis set about re-recording Definitely Maybe. This time, Gallagher used this Les Paul – alongside a Gibson Les Paul and Flying V that had both been gifted to him by Johnny Marr – to complete the record.

As per a Sotheby’s press release, that Flying V – which was used to record Cigarettes and Alcohol – will also be going under the hammer.

During Oasis’ early days, Gallagher developed an affinity for Epiphones for two reasons: their affordability, and the fact they had been championed by the Beatles.

Speaking in 2023 during the British Music Experience museum’s 150 Years of Epiphone celebration, Gallagher noted, "I wanted to start playing Epiphones because of the Beatles. I didn't know anything about guitars then.

“They looked good; they felt good, I could make them sound good. I'm a songwriter, not a guitar player. You know, that's my thing. I'm not one of those people who can sit in a guitar shop and play lots of things.

“I will literally play an E chord, and if it had sounded great and felt good, I would have just said, 'Yeah, I'll take it."

Sotheby’s Popular Culture auction will take place on August 29.

Visit Sotheby’s to find out more.

This month on Bought & Sold, Gem Archer drops by to reveal what is in his current rig for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, and to discuss a life of gear, from first and favourite electric guitars to his best bargains – and he has some advice for anyone who is trying out a guitar.

But as ever, we start at the beginning: that moment when Archer's relationship with gear got serious.

What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money?

“The first was basically half of my own money. I saved up half and the other half came from my uncle, who used to live with us. I really wanted a Rickenbacker because I was a massive fan of The Jam and The Beatles.

“I’d been around all the shops in the north east of England, and my uncle ran in one day, saying, ‘There’s a shop that’s got a Rickenbacker,’ and the first thing I said was, ‘What colour is it?’ I’d saved about 100 quid and I think he put in about 200 quid; I think I was about 15. I loved it so much that I used to sleep with it under my bed!”

What was the last guitar that you bought?

“A Les Paul Custom. I bought it off my mate, who was in one of my old bands, Heavy Stereo. I’ve done this before where you buy a guitar off your mate, but they always have the option of getting it back. I had this Gretsch Country Gentleman and it was fantastic but not really my thing. So he got that off of me and I got the Les Paul off him.

“It’s the main Les Paul Custom I’m playing live and I love it. I hope he never wants it back! I think it’s an ’89 and it looks like it’s been played. I stuck a Bigsby on it to complete the look. It’s the bollocks, man. I sanded down the back of the neck, and there ya go.”

What’s the most incredible bargain you’ve had while buying gear?

“It’s a guitar I’ve still got, a 1965 Epiphone Casino. I bought it back in ’91 when I got my first record deal. There used to be a paper called Loot, basically a [classified advert publication] selling anything – and I mean anything. So I saw an ad for this Casino and I was like, ‘Right, I’ve got to have it,’ and got it for 400 quid. It’s just amazing; I’ve two other Casinos, but that one is the one.”

What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve experienced?

“Well, I’m in my studio now and I’ve got an Echoplex that I paid a lot for and never used [Laughs]. I turn it on now and again to see if it works – and it’s the big, clunky plastic one, the one that you want. And, of course, we’ve all bought too many pedals. You know how it is where you’re up late at night, you’re on YouTube, you order something and it’s just a load of bollocks when it comes [Laughs].

“But I’ll tell you what I bought [that I didn’t regret], a Klon clone, which we’ve all got so many of. It was one of those JHS [Pedals] Notaklön pedals and it’s great. The best part about this one is that it was 80 quid and I just like the Ikea[-style] packaging. Even the manual looks like an Ikea thing, and after I put it together, I ended up with this wonderful pedal I ordered five months ago.”

Have you ever sold a guitar that you really regret letting go?

“There’s a 12-string Rickenbacker that was my old guitar for a long time. I was in a three-piece band in London and needed to pay rent, so I lined up all my guitars and chose one to sell. It was one from the 80s and it played so well.

“That was such a good period for those guitars, and just around a year before I got asked to join Oasis, I sold it. I always hoped I would be able to buy it back because it was one of those guitars that we all, as guitar players, romanticise or mythologise.

“And there’s another, a non-reverse Firebird that I played a lot when I was in Oasis. I had about seven Firebirds at one point, which was ridiculous, and the red one – which I got for 400 quid, too – and the black one were the main ones I played. It got to a point where if I closed my eyes, I couldn’t tell which was which, so I ended up selling the black one to my old mate James [Walbourne], who plays in The Pretenders. I still say to him, ‘If you’re ever getting rid of that guitar, I’d love to have it back,’ but he always says, ‘No way!’”

What’s your best guitar-buying tip?

“If it’s an acoustic – or any guitar, really – ask them for a tuner and get it in concert pitch. I’ve found over the years that a lot of acoustics tend to be tuned down a bit, which makes them sound a bit better, so get it in tune. And if it’s an electric, don’t plug it in first; play it to feel how it is and really take your time to see how it sounds unplugged.”

Do you have a favourite spot to shop for gear?

“That’s a really good question because they’re all kind of going away, you know? It hurts to walk down Denmark Street in London – it used to be Tin Pan Alley and when we’d tour, we’d all go there. But I don’t know… Chicago Music Exchange is still great. But too many of them have the same things, like, there used to be a place called Black Market Music in LA and they’d have odd stuff that you’d never seen before, let alone for sale. It’s tough now, and a lot of it is online.”

When was the last time you stopped and looked in a guitar shop window or browsed online and what were you looking at?

“Recently, I was buying some slides on Denmark Street. I’ve got too many slides, though none of them are the one. And even though I’ve got too many, I’m always looking at Rickenbackers and Firebirds, just because I think they look great. I’ve gotten a bit out of hand with Firebirds, but I always go back to what Keith Richards said: ‘Give me five minutes with any of them and I’ll make them all sound the same.’ [laughs]”

Given the choice, would you rather have a great guitar and a cheap guitar amp or a cheap guitar and a top-notch amp?

“A really good guitar. Always. Even with a cheap amp, you can get something out of it. But a bad guitar… it doesn’t work. It’s got to be that way round for me.”

If you had to choose humbuckers or single-coil pickups for the rest of your career, which would it be?

“You’re assuming I know the difference! [Laughs] I’ve got a close friend, who I won’t mention by name but is a fantastic guitar player, who doesn’t know the difference and said to me, ‘Right explain it to us.’ But, for me, it would be humbuckers because you can probably cover more ground with them.

“You can turn them down and get that sound, or you can turn them up and push. I would say they’re more adaptable, but it’s a tough question to answer for the rest of your life!”

Gem's go-to rig

“Right now, there’s this Epiphone Sheraton that’s actually Noel’s. I don’t know what it is, but it’s got it. Noel used to play it in Oasis and love it, and then we split up and when he asked me if I wanted to play with him again in 2017, and if I wanted to borrow any gear, I said, ‘Have you still got that red Epi?’ He said, ‘Oh, yeah,’ and that was it. It’s got mini-humbuckers, like the Neil Young-looking ones.

“My pedal setup is constantly changing. It’s mostly changing levels of gain, some reverb and tremolo. I’ve got to come up with a lot, though, because there’s a lot of sounds I’ve got to cover playing with Noel. But it’s just fucking rock ’n’ roll, so I like the Fulltone stuff and I like Wampler and Strymon stuff, too. With all that, my main amp is a Fender ’57 Twin reissue because it can take all that sound, meaning all the levels we play at.”

• Council Skies is out now via Sour Mash.

As a teenager, Bill Ryder-Jones was the lead guitarist of The Coral, whose single Dreaming of You was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2002. He didn’t just play guitar on the track – which came off the band’s self-titled debut record – but also played trumpet and nabbed a co-producer credit.

Ryder-Jones stuck with The Coral until 2008 before going solo, taking up session work with Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner and launching Yawn Studio, where he produces artists from his hometown village of West Kirby.

With his trusty ’63 Gibson ES-335 and one of Peter Green’s guitars in hand (more on that later), Ryder-Jones is as busy as ever on the recorded music front, with his latest record lechyd Da having landed via Domino Records on January 12.

At 40, and with a host of credits under his belt, his viewpoint on the guitar has changed – as has his skillset. “I think I might struggle to play some of my parts from when I was 16,” he laughs. “But I think I write better guitar parts now, as I’m looking for very sweet-sounding and melodic things.”

How did your latest record, lechyd Da, get started?

“It started after I met this girl, and we’d send each other songs that meant something, as you do. I’d send her one, she’d send me one, and we made a collaborative playlist on a streaming site with all sorts of songs that I loved. 

“The songs she’d send back all had something in common – I don’t know what but there was something in them, and it became an idea to make a record that had the same feeling as the songs we’d been showing each other. It was quite romantic.”

Where are you pulling inspiration from?

“In terms of guitar playing, I’m not sure I think of myself as that much of a guitarist anymore. It used to be my whole life where I’d be sitting around at home and playing guitar. But now I use it as an instrument like I’d use any other.

“I still love [The Verve’s] Nick McCabe’s playing. His choice of notes and textures were great – he was a really wild player. And in terms of songwriting, I’m still sort of in love with the same kinds of things I loved when I was 16: Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, and The Beatles, of course.”

What did your process look like in terms of dialing in the sounds to achieve the overall vibe on lechyd Da?

“My approach is quite simple. I love my nylon-stringed guitar, which is Spanish. It really works well for my songs, and I have a mic technique that works well. As for the electrics, I’ve got a 1963 Gibson ES-335, so it’s either that or – and this is a bit of a brag – one of Peter Green’s Gibson Les Pauls, which does dual sounds well.

“I have a ’57 Fender Custom Deluxe amp that works nicely, and a Fender Bassman. It was mainly those two, so there’s no real trickery. When I’m playing, if it’s a lead part, it’s got to serve a purpose. I’m not quite as fluent as I probably was in my 20s, so it’s mainly about finding the right melody.”

So how did you end up with the Peter Green Les Paul?

“Oh, well! It’s another name drop – it was given to me by Noel Gallagher in 2006 when I was 23. The Coral were making a record in Noel’s studio, Wheeler End Studios, and I’d used this Les Paul for most of it, not knowing it was Peter Green’s. 

“I think Johnny Marr had given Noel a guitar, and maybe he felt it was customary that he do the same. I had no money at the time – my only good guitar was my 335. Of course, I had guitars that I loved, but in terms of guitars that were worth more than £500, the 335 was all I had.”

Did Noel tell you how he’d ended up with it?

“When he gave it to me he told me a story about how a guitar shop owner didn’t want to sell it to him. The guy didn’t know who Noel was – he’d somehow not heard of Oasis. But Noel saw the guitar on the top shelf behind the counter and said, ‘Can I have a go with that Les Paul?’

“And the guy behind the counter goes, ‘Erm, you do know that was Peter Green’s, and it’s signed by Peter Green, right?’ He reluctantly got it down. Noel spat on his T-shirt and rubbed off the signature! And he said, ‘Doesn’t matter now – I’ll take it anyway.’

“That’s a very Noel thing to do and a very funny story. I woulda loved for it to have Peter Green’s signature. I probably would have sold it by now, and had a house! But I’m so very thankful I didn’t do that. It’s a cracking guitar. It’s got the out-of-phase pickup, and it’s so bloody heavy, so I can hardly play it.”

Just so we’re clear, was that a fake signature that Noel rubbed off, or did he rub off Peter Green’s actual signature?

“Oh, he purposefully rubbed off Peter Green’s signature to make a point to the guy in the guitar shop. Noel thought he was being a bit rude, you know?”

Noel is a great example of someone who plays guitar but probably identifies as a songwriter first. Do you see that in what you’re doing now?

“I couldn’t make any comparisons between Noel Gallagher and myself. He’s fucking Noel Gallagher to start! Obviously I remember how Oasis changed my life, being a Northern lad in the ‘90s, but I consider myself a musician first. I like making music, and it happens that I sing on it, too, because that’s what you do, right?

“I’ve met Noel on several occasions, and – especially in my early days – I had the greatest respect for Noel’s playing. His style is very signature. You don’t have to be overly dexterous as it’s a lot of blues pentatonic.

“That was a great way to have a great introduction to playing rock ‘n’ roll when you didn’t have any sort of musical education. His most powerful songs are largely major chord-based, and there’s not a lot of madness going on in the chord structures, which I like because I like to keep things simple.”

You made some outstanding music with The Coral. How have you changed as a guitarist since then?

“I don’t think I’m as good as I was. I’m better in some ways, but I’m also not as good as I was. Back then it was my whole life; my job was being in a band.

“I was actually out last night with [Coral rhythm guitarist] James Skelly for a few drinks. He’s always been very sweet about my playing and my importance in the early days. But I don’t know – I was always trying to impress him!

“That’s really what I was striving for back in those days. These days, I can still make some decent sounds, but I don’t always get a chance to do some of that stuff because the music doesn’t call for a lot of big guitars. I’m much more interested in sort of subtle lines and earworms.

“One thing that’s remained constant for me is the playing of a guy like John Head from Shack. He’s always tasteful and never does too much. I’m much less impressed by guitar playing than I was, and I’m more into melodies now.”

You also contributed some guitars to the Arctic Monkeys‘ Fireside from AM. What was that like?

“The AM thing was done remotely, but I knew Alex Turner because I’d already worked with him on his solo EP Submarine. I love Alex’s writing, and I did learn a lot because his songwriting craft is up there with the very best.

“He’s got an amazing mind for creating a song and knows where to take a song. And he’s got a very singular, individual approach to writing lyrics. He’s not a fucking bad guitarist either! He can construct amazing melodies; he’s one of the greatest writers alive. 

“But AM was done while the Arctic Monkeys were in LA and I was in London. I had done a few lines, and he said, ‘I want you to do something that Bill would do.’ I felt like I should do something the Arctic Monkeys would do, but Alex said, ‘We’ve asked you because we want you to do Bill.’

“After that, things were much easier. I put a reverb pedal on and just did what came naturally. The whole experience was wild – an honor, really. But he hasn’t asked me again; they haven’t asked me back, so I couldn’t have been that good!”

Alex is always open-minded about what he’s doing; maybe he’ll ask again in the future.

“And maybe I’ll say yes again in the future! I could do with the fucking money, I’ll tell you that much!”

Which of the songs on lechyd Da is most representative of the player you are today?

“I think there’s some really nice guitar on How Beautiful I Am. It’s got that sort of thing I was talking about earlier, and it’s got one of the few guitar solos on the record. It might be the only solo, so I’d have to pick that.

“Playing over minor chords like that can be a challenge because when you use blues pentatonics, it takes things somewhere else. It makes things a bit more melodic, whereas I used to largely stay in one position and let the chords move around me.

“I’m now more interested in sort of jumping through the scales of corresponding chords; I think that makes things more conversational. But in terms of writing, all these songs are incredibly meaningful. That’s why they’re on the record.”

What’s next for you?

“I’m just been on tour and I’ve got some production stuff on tap, too. I’ve got some good artists booked into my studio. Then I’m going to write another EP for the end of the year, I believe, to ‘keep the campaign alive’, which was the phrase used to sell me on the idea!

“But now, I’m gonna go for a pint! I’ve been at it all day and it’s meant to be my day off, so I’m going down the pub to relax a bit. Other than that, I try not to think too far ahead.”

• Iechyd Da is out now.

From his early gigs with The Three O'Clock, Jellyfish and The Grays, Jason Falkner learned quickly that the music business is filled with left turns.

Thankfully, Falkner – who recorded the indie classic Bellybutton with Jellyfish in 1990 – has long had songwriting chops and accompanying licks for days, leading to five solo records, numerous studio works with Air, Noel Gallagher, Daniel Johnston and Cheap Trick, and mega gigs with Beck and St. Vincent.

Whether playing bass or guitar, he keeps things fresh, quirky and highly textural. That keeps him in demand, no matter the genre or the gig. Lately, when he’s not on the road with Beck and St. Vincent, he’s pondering his long-awaited sixth solo record, which he admits has taken “an embarrassingly long time”.

What sorts of sounds were you attracted to as a young guitarist?

“I was a classical piano kid starting at six years old, and then I got into FM radio stuff, like Led Zeppelin, Boston and Queen. I remember thinking my guitar sounded distorted when I first plugged it in – I felt it would sound like Tom Scholz!

“My parents had avoided getting me a guitar, but they finally relented and got me an early ‘70s Fender Mustang when I was 13 and new wave was kicking off. New wave, punk and classic rock were all things that came from different schools but were always present in my brain then.”

You joined The Three O’Clock and then Jellyfish not long after. What was your rig like around then?

“In The Three O'Clock, I had one guitar – the Fender Mustang from my parents. A bit later I also had a John Lennon Rickenbacker [1958 325] and I used both in that band. As for amps, I only had a little Gibson one my parents gave me, which was a 12-watt that got lost. I often borrowed amps from friends.

“But in Jellyfish, I became more sophisticated with gear and I got obsessed with Vox AC30s. Jellyfish producer Albhy Galuten had a gear hookup with vintage shops in LA, and we’d rent all this Holy Grail stuff. I had five AC30s to choose from, and we’d jog back and forth depending on the song.”

No more Mustang by then?

“We had all these amazing guitars, and the producer noticed me fooling around with my Mustang, which had lost the whammy bar. I developed a technique where I’d strike a chord and push down on the tube sticking out from the bridge where the whammy bar went – I’d push that forward and jog back and forth. That was my vibrato.

“It sounded so fucking cool, and the producer said, ‘You’ve created your own thing. That’s your guitar.’ And it was no joke – it was original, so I used the Mustang mainly.”

Gear aside, what memories do you have of putting together Jellyfish’s Bellybutton?

“We did the demos in San Francisco in the summer and plowed through them. They had written many of the songs, and I remember liking them a lot. I certainly thought I’d eventually be able to write more, which was false hope.

“I felt like I could flex my classic rock inclinations more, which was cool because previous bands had been more psychedelic and bubblegum stuff. I was excited by the idea of getting a little heavier.”

It didn’t work out with Jellyfish – but do you look back on the record fondly?

“I still love how sparse that record is. While tracking as a live trio, I got most of my guitar sounds down in one of the booths with an AC30. If you listen, my rhythm parts disappear whenever I play a solo because it’s the same take, which was a classic way to make a record.

“Since then I’ve become all about multiple overdubs and having a wall of guitars, so that was a different kind of experience.”

How did your gear evolve once you started your solo and session career?

“I’ve always just recorded whatever I felt the song needed until it was done. I’m a big fan of the art of reduction, where you pull things instead of adding. But I’m so in love with the electric guitar; that thing, to me, is a living, breathing thing.

“I have a crazy collection of oddball guitars. All of them are extremely playable – I never keep anything junky. People will come say, ‘What the hell is that?’ And then they pick it up and say, ‘Holy shit, it plays just like a Les Paul.’ And I say, ‘That’s why I have it!’”

Which of those guitars do you most often turn to?

“A ’61 Fender Jazzmaster, which is Fiesta Red with a matching headstock. I’ve been playing that on stage a lot with St. Vincent lately. Another is a first-year [1981] Hammer Prototype; it’s such a cool guitar. I got into that from James Honeyman-Scott; it's just like his.

“I loved seeing him with it because it didn't look like some stupid heavy metal guitar or nonsense like that. Nick Lowe also played one, which is probably how James Honeyman-Scott got into it, as Nick was involved with the first Pretenders record.

“I also have a couple of Framus guitars from the ‘60s and some ‘60s Hagstroms, too. Some of them are very rare, like my Retroscape Impala, one of my favorite guitars. And then I have some early ‘70s Guilds called Aristocrats; they look like a Les Paul.

“I have stuff by Gretsch and Dean, with the giant V headstock and others. I’ve got tons of weird guitars. There’s no reason you’ve never heard of them, like they suck. They’re all great guitars.”

You’ve been with Beck for a long time. How did that happen?

“We met in the mid to late ‘90s. He used to come to my shows, but he was already very successful. Around that time, we became pals, and he’d say, ‘Hey, man, we should really do something together.’ He didn't just want to collaborate – he wanted me to be in his band, which eventually happened.”

Your first record with Beck was Sea Change. Was that that like?

“The guy is just so creative. He’s a real trailblazing musician and writer. We bonded early over a lot of obscure things that are generational for us. We both love weirdo, outsider stuff, and hip-hop, which led to having no set way to approach things. I learned early on that he doesn’t nitpick, and it was and is a very easy musical friendship.

“He invited me to the studio for the Sea Change sessions. The first thing I did was grab my ’73 Fender Telecaster Custom and play this little wiry guitar thing that ended up on Paper Tiger.

“I found out the string part on that was done around the guitar lines I’d recorded. If you listen, you can hear the strings follow this spidery lead thing I did, which I took as a huge compliment.”

You appeared on Noel Gallagher’s Who Built the Moon? and Council Skies.

“I only play bass on those records. I also played bass on the last few Primal Scream records. The whole bass thing is interesting because I didn’t have a bass for the longest time. I would just tune my guitar way down to where the strings were super-loose!

“By doing that, I created this style of playing, and once I got a real bass, I kept doing all these palm mutes where I was playing with a pick, but I was resting my hand before the bridge. I’m not the first to do that, but I figured it out on my own and combined it with an Ampeg amp with just a single 18-inch speaker and a Fender Mustang bass. 

“I get a nice, throaty, low-mid quality of that bass since it's short-scale and has pickups positioned between the neck and the bridge. That bass, combined with the massive bottom end of the speaker, is like my favorite thing in the world – that’s the combo I use with everything I play bass on.”

What’s playing with St. Vincent been like?

“Oh, she’s phenomenal. She’s an amazing guitarist and songwriter. I absolutely adore her. The thing with her happened during the lockdown in 2021, when I was just sitting around my house, recording songs, and drinking too many margaritas because I thought the world was ending.

“I got a call asking if I’d be interested. The first thing we did was Saturday Night Live, and then, when things loosened up, I went on tour with her for a couple of years.”

Balancing that with your duties with Beck and your solo career must be challenging.

“Playing with St. Vincent is one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever done. I assumed she would be more of a dictator musically but was pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise. She’ll hear me play things and ask, ‘What’s that? It’s so cool – how did you do that?’

“I can add things to her songs that may not be on the record, and she’ll like them and say, ‘Hey, can you teach me that?’ It’s been a truly rewarding experience, and I’m hoping to tour with her and Beck this year. I don’t think I’ll be able to do everything with her once Beck ramps up again, but I’ll be able to do some.”

Do you plan to release another solo record soon?

“I’m trying to figure out the best way to put it out. It’s been too long and I’m thankful to my fans for being patient. They’re very vocal – in a good way – about being disappointed that it’s taking so long, which I appreciate. 

“If I'm being honest, I am most excited about finally getting my solo record and doing some touring to support that, which I expect to happen this year. So it’s gonna be pretty busy.”

• Follow Jason Falkner on Instagram.

The late Peter Green was the custodian of a number of high-profile electric guitars – not least the famed Greeny Les Paul, which is currently owned by Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, having previously passed through the hands of Gary Moore.

But that particular Les Paul was just one of a number of Gibson single-cuts that once populated the blues guitar legend's six-string arsenal. Indeed, Green had owned another Les Paul that actually ended up crossing paths with Noel Gallagher.

Notably, this guitar had once bore the signature of Green himself – an addition that would have made the highly desirable vintage guitar even more valuable. However, if you were to visually appraise the Les Paul today, you'd find no such signature.

Why? Well, because Gallagher decided to completely remove it from the guitar in order to get back at the person who sold it to him.

The guitar in question is currently in the possession of The Coral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, who, in an upcoming conversation with Guitar World, traced the Les Paul’s history – and recalled how the Oasis man robbed it of its signature to spite who he thought to be a rude store owner.

“It was given to me by Noel Gallagher in 2006 when I was 23,” Ryder-Jones says by way of introducing the LP. “The Coral were making a record in Noel’s studio, Wheeler End Studios, and I’d used this Les Paul for most of it, not knowing it was Peter Green’s.”

As for how Gallagher got his hands on it before him in the first place… well, that’s another story. As Ryder-Jones recalls, the Oasis man had spotted it in a guitar shop, though was met with some hesitation from the cautious store owner, who was both unaware of who Gallagher was, and uneasy with the prospect of handing over a genuine Green-signed guitar.

“He didn’t know who Noel was; he somehow had not heard of Oasis,” Ryder-Jones goes on. “But Noel saw one of the guitars at the top of the shelf, like behind the counter, and said, ‘Can I have a go with that Les Paul?’ 

“And the guy behind the counter goes, ‘Erm, you do know that was Peter Green’s, and it’s signed by Peter Green, right?’ He reluctantly got it down and gave it to Noel.”

Gallagher, evidently irked by the manner in which the store owner had conducted the exchange, decided to play a wildcard: “Noel spat on his T-shirt and rubbed off the signature. And then Noel said, ‘That’s alright; doesn’t matter now. I’ll take it anyway.’”

To the average guitar fan, it sounds like a borderline unbelievable anecdote. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to erase Peter Green’s signature from an actual Peter Green guitar.

Gallagher, though, was quite clearly (and, to a degree, rather admirably) unfazed by all that: he just wanted the guitar.

“He purposefully rubbed off Peter Green’s signature to make a point to the guy in the guitar shop,” Ryder-Jones clarifies. “He [Noel] thought he [the guitar shop employee] was being a bit rude, you know? 

“But he said, ‘Yeah, I want that guitar,’ and the guy was like, ‘That belonged to Peter Green; he signed it,’ and Noel got it, rubbed it off, saying, ‘That’s alright; it’ll come off,’ and he took it.”

Of course, Ryder-Jones is chuffed with the guitar as it is – and he’s quick to note that it is “a very funny story” – but there is a part of him that wished it still bore Green’s signature.

“I woulda loved for it to have Peter Green’s signature, as I probably would have sold it by now, and had a house [laughs],” he jokes. “But I’m so very thankful I didn’t do that; it’s a cracking guitar.”

Keep your eyes peeled on GuitarWorld.com for the full interview with Bill Ryder-Jones.

Gibson has rekindled its partnership with Noel Gallagher to produce an ultra-limited, special-edition reissue of the Oasis legend’s 1978 Les Paul Custom, which will be released to celebrate the grand opening of the Gibson Garage UK.

Notably, the incredibly classy electric guitar is based on the same ‘78 LP that was given to Gallagher by Johnny Marr. The guitar quickly became a studio and stage stalwart for Noel, who used it extensively for both live performances and recording sessions.

For example, the Les Paul – which Gallagher identifies as one of his favorite instruments – can be heard on (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, and also starred in the music video for Whatever.

As mentioned, this particular six-string has been created to mark the opening of the Gibson Garage UK, which will officially open its doors to the London public on Saturday, 24 February. As such, only 20 of these instruments will be made, and they will be available exclusively from the store.

Further still, all profits from the sale of the personally hand-signed ‘78 Les Paul Customs will be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

“The Les Paul Custom that Johnny gave me in 1994 was always one of my favourite guitars and it carries a lot of history,” Gallagher said in a statement. “The reissues are great, they feel almost identical. I am delighted they are being sold to support the Teenage Cancer Trust.”

It’s a statement release from the two parties, so it comes as no surprise that Gibson has made every effort to make the ‘78 LP as close to the source material as possible. 

To do so, the brand’s Custom Shop Murphy Lab was involved in the project, with the guitar featuring a lightly aged Ebony finish, uncovered humbuckers and classic Custom flourishes, including the block inlays and sleek binding.

As Gallagher himself says, the guitar has a pretty intriguing history. It’s well documented that Marr gifted instruments to a young Gallagher while Oasis were still finding their feet – in fact, the 1978 Les Custom wasn’t even the first one that the Smiths legend bestowed to his compatriot.

Before that, Marr lent a struggling Gallagher a 1960 Les Paul, which ended up smashed after Noel attempted to deal with a stage invader at a gig.

As the story goes, Marr then received a call asking for another guitar to take its place. In response, he supplied a replacement 1978 Les Paul Custom. The same Les Paul, it turned out, that featured on The Queen Is Dead.

“Me giving Noel those guitars has become such a big story over the years, but people don’t realise that at the time he wasn’t who he is now,” Marr told The Guardian. “He was just a kid from Burnage.

“I had no idea Oasis were going to go on to such big things. I did it because he was in need, because I was lucky and had lots of guitars, and because I wished someone had done it for me.”

Over the years, Gallagher treated the ‘78 LP to a few tonal and cosmetic adjustments, including swapping out the original humbuckers for a pair of P-90s that he had cribbed from a Gibson Firebird, and covering the body with some gnarly stickers. The control knobs and pickguard were also changed during Gallagher’s custodianship. 

“Somewhere down the line, the pickups had got damaged, and I had taken them out,” Gallagher said of the Les Paul (which looks like a totally different beast now) in an interview with That Pedal Show. “That guitar is the heaviest piece of equipment I’ve ever picked up.”

For this release, the Les Paul has been revived in its original-looking format, complete with the humbuckers, cream pickguard, amber control knobs, and the coil-tap switch that Marr had originally had implemented into the instrument – the same coil-tap, it should be noted, that helped create the opening lead line of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

That it’s been revived for such a good cause makes this release all the more significant. 

“These guitars are steeped in their own musical history celebrating the iconic moment one British music legend gifted a priceless guitar to another, like the handing of a baton,” said Teenage Cancer Trust Head of Music and Entertainment, Jane Ashton.

“Our sincere thanks to Gibson guitars, long-term supporters of Teenage Cancer Trust, and our Ambassador Noel Gallagher. The money raised will make an enormous difference in the lives of young people with cancer and could fund two Outreach nurses for an entire year, helping us to reach more young people in the UK no matter where they live.”

Only 20 of Gallagher's hand-signed '78 Les Paul Custom will be made, and they will be exclusively available at the opening of the Gibson Garage UK this Saturday. A price is yet to be revealed.

This isn't the first time Gibson has partnered with Noel Gallagher to produce a guitar. In August 2922, the brand recreated two of Gallagher's prized guitars – the 1960 ES-335 and Epiphone Riviera.

As a mainstay of the British guitar scene, Gem Archer has influenced countless young players to pick up the instrument. With workmanlike technique and a catchall mentality, he made noise with his bands The Edge, The Contenders and Whirlpool. In the mid-'90s he broke ground with Heavy Stereo, a glam-meets-hard rock act that recorded a monster yet overlooked record, Déjà Voodoo, in 1996.

Archer fronted and had high hopes for Heavy Stereo. “In Whirlpool we got away from guitar music, and I had to go back to the drawing board because I wanted to get back to basic guitar,” he tells Guitar World. “That's what led to Heavy Stereo – and soon we signed to Creation Records. That's when I first met Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, and Andy Bell, who was with Ride.”

While Heavy Stereo didn’t stick, Archer’s reputation as a capable player with a good attitude and knack for penning quality tunes did. That led to Noel Gallagher calling on him in 1999 when Oasis’s original rhythm guitarist, Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, split at the height of their Britpop fame.

The new arrival was far from a hired hand – Gallagher didn’t just draft him in to play rhythm guitar, but to help reshape the dynamic of Oasis. “Bonehead was part of getting that wall-of-sound thing,” Archer says. “He was there even before Noel joined. Once Noel got there, it was, ‘Right, Bonehead, it’s barre chords for you, and I’ll handle everything else.’ It was fucking brilliant and we all loved it.

“When I joined, on the first day, we were doing Cigarettes and Alcohol and he said, ‘Can you do this part?’ I said, ‘Oh, wow, that's lead!’ I told him, ‘Sure I can. Let’s go!' And it was the same thing with Morning Glory – he asked me to do some leads.”

For 10 years, Archer was an anchor for the Oasis sound, lending his talents to the live record Familiar to Millions (2001) and three studio records: Heathen Chemistry (2002), Don’t Believe the Truth (2005) and the band’s final record, Dig Out Your Soul (2008). Soon afterwards, a guitar-bashing bust-up between Liam and Noel in Paris in 2009 led to the end of Oasis.

Archer then hooked up with Liam for his post-Oasis band, Beady Eye, leading to two more albums – Different Gear, Still Speeding (2011) and BE (2013) – before eventually rejoining Noel as a member of his High Flying Birds, where he remains.

Asked to explain the chemistry between him and Noel, Archer says: “When we do Don’t Look Back in Anger or The Masterplan, it’s different live than on record. God knows, after 24 years of playing music together, we know each other well. We have an understanding; a certain wavelength.

“But Noel still writes songs that have me saying, ‘Wow. That’s the best you’ve ever written,’ and we’re off again!”

What inspired you to pick up the guitar?

“It was a combination of being too young to know why I was drawn to it, and seeing Elvis movies, Beatles cartoons and bits and pieces of things here and there. You start being drawn to something.

“I remember seeing guys who played football with guitars on stands in the dressing rooms and thought, ‘Oh, those look great!’ I didn’t know if they were fucking basses or guitars, but I thought, ‘That looks fucking alright.’”

Do you remember your first guitar?

“I don’t remember what type it was, but apparently I had my first guitar when I was four. I asked for it and broke it, running to show it to my auntie! I’ve still got a little dent in my head where the guitar hit me!”

That dent might be the catalyst for your creative muse…

“I can still feel it now… The funniest thing is when I was young, I thought the more knobs a guitar had, the better! I’d say, ‘Oh, look at that,’ not knowing what a Telecaster even was. And then I saw a Les Paul, which had more knobs, and I thought, ‘That must be better!’”

When did your mindset begin to change?

“I got my first proper guitar when I was around 10. I’d been playing violin and cello at school, and I liked violin because my teacher played guitar too. My violin teacher wore jeans and looked cool, but my piano teacher, man, was a pain in the fucking ass. He wouldn’t let me pack it in, but eventually my dad did.  

“Then one day I went around to this guy’s house with my uncle, and that’s when I first heard two guitars together. I was shown a D chord, and the whole experience was a lightbulb fucking moment for me. I’d never heard two guitars together before.

“I took lessons with that guy for two years, which was fucking brilliant. The things he showed me cracked the code for me and I went from there.”

How did your first proper band, The Edge, form?

“After I got done with that teacher, I went to a different school, and that was where The Edge got together. It was just a couple of guitars, which came from hearing a lot of the music coming out of Liverpool, Glasgow and Manchester – our local scene was nonexistent.

“We took it as far as we could go in the north east of England, doing lots of Jam, Blondie, Undertones, Buzzcocks and Vaselines covers. When I was around 20, I moved the band to London.”

“The Contenders was basically The Edge part two – it was like The Edge, but the London version. I thought, ‘Right, let’s have a little reinvention.’ The new version of the band was essentially built around this 12-string Rickenbacker I had.

“I got that guitar because I had been unemployed and got a housing benefit, but they overpaid me – so I took that money, bought the Rickenbacker, and moved to London very quickly!”

Is that the only guitar you had when you formed Whirlpool and then Heavy Stereo?

“For a long time, the Rickenbacker was the only guitar. But it was good enough because I loved the sound; and in the three-piece setting, it was great plugged into a Marshall. It gave me this big sound, and I often used a WEM Guild Copycat tape delay, which I didn’t fully understand then – but it gave me a mega sound.

“When we formed Whirlpool we got more into samplers and loops. We got a record deal with Food Records and made an album, but it got hung up in hell and had us going in circles, which lead to Heavy Stereo.”

Digging into the basis of Heavy Stereo’s distorted guitar sound, what gear were you using when you recorded Déjà Voodoo?

“I had sold the 12-string Rickenbacker by then because I needed to pay rent! I lined up all my guitars and said, ‘Right, sadly, that one has to go.’ So for Heavy Stereo, all I used was an Epiphone Casino, and I believe I had a Gibson Les Paul Studio Deluxe with mini humbuckers.

“I also had an Epiphone J-200 acoustic, and I used to weirdly feed that into a DOD FX55-B distortion pedal. I liked the lack of sustain it gave.”

Where were you and Heavy Stereo guitarist Pete Downing pulling influence from at the time?

“I was going for that T. Rex thing. I only had a Vox AC30 then, and Pete had a master volume Marshall. We didn’t have many pedals, so we were always using our amps to push for that ballsy, distorted thing. Pete was maybe a bit cleaner-sounding, so I guess I was the one who really was going for the more broken-up sounds.”

From there, you joined Oasis. What led to Noel giving you more lead opportunities than he’d done with Bonehead?

“In the early days, I think Noel and Bonehead would just put it all on 10 and say, ‘We’re gonna flatline the crowd,’ you know? But then (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? comes, and suddenly they had Whitey [Alan White] on drums, and there’s a whole different dynamic. They were using acoustics and things got more complex.

“Things changed when Andy Bell and I joined. I remember Andy learning Wonderwall exactly as it was on the record, and Noel said, ‘Can you give it another try?’ I went to him and said, ‘Give it a little Sid Vicious,’ and Andy said, ‘Right. Got it.’

“With Andy and me in the band, Noel could do other things. I can tell you that there was never a directive to play barre chords.”

You had some beautiful amps onstage with Oasis. What did your typical touring rig look like?

“It evolved from when I joined in ’99 to the end of ’09. I often had at least two amps on stage; sometimes, Noel would have even more. My main amp was a Vox AC50, which was very bulky, but it’s different than a Marshall or Fender – it has a lot of meat on its bone. I often had a Marshall head with that.

“As for Noel, believe it or not, his all-time favorite amp is a Fender Blues Junior. We always had amps that would give us clarity, even if the gig was massive. A mainstay of the Oasis sound was an Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9. 

“When I first joined I had no pedals, so I’d turn the guitar down to clean things up and turn it up for more grit. But Noel said, ‘Don’t turn down, man – we hit the fucking boost, and we go up.’ So, we always had the Tube Screamer, and we also always had the white Boss Delay DD-3, and another massive part of the sound was the SIB Echodrive – this big metal box with a valve in it.”

And how about guitars?

“I mainly went with Gibson Firebirds, which fit alongside Noel well. I wanted something with a different tonality, which I especially got with my red one; it has fantastic insulation. That guitar was so amazing while doing Champagne Supernova!

“And I’d often borrow Noel’s Epiphone Sheraton, which was and is the fucking best. When he asked me to play with him with High Flying Birds in 2017, he said I could use any of his gear that I wanted. I immediately asked if he still had the red Epiphone Sheraton, and he said, ‘Yeah, I do,’ and I said, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ll join.’ I use it on all sorts of songs.

“But I also use a Gibson ES-355 and a Paisley Telecaster, which I got back in 2001. It’s funny – Noel and I got Paisley Teles on the same day, without knowing it, and then turned up at the gig with them! They're brilliant guitars and Mexican-made, so they only cost us 500 quid.”

Noel seems more focused on rhythm guitar, making you important. I assume he has a lot of trust in you after all these years. 

“Yeah, I think he does. We’ve got a long history and evolved to where I understand what Noel will do guitar-wise, which is good because the High Flying Birds are different.

“I’m asked to cover a lot of different approaches and sounds, which can be tough because some of the stuff on the records has me saying, ‘This isn’t humanly possible!’ But Noel has always said, ‘That’s the studio version, but this is live – the nuances change.’ I really like that, and we both get that.”

You've navigated the choppy waters of being in a band with Liam and Noel over the years, and you’re still here today. What’s your secret? 

“Ah, I’d be a fool to think I knew the secret to that! There must be something in our mutual Northern souls that allowed the same influences and mindset to seep in. And as far as Liam and Noel go, none of us will ever know the depth of where some of those emotions come from. It’s better left between the two.”

That's a good lesson for anybody who speculates on their musical future.

“Oh, yeah, that’s for sure. That whole conversation is one I don’t really like to get too deep into, you know? It could go on forever and get nowhere. But the funny thing is there’s no escaping it.

”A few months ago my daughter, who is 24 – smart as a whip and a good kid – said to me, ‘Dad, can I ask you a question?’ I said, ‘Go on,’ and she said, ‘Are you lot getting back together?’ I had to laugh; I said, ‘Oh, not you too!’ And she goes, ‘Well, you’ve been up to Manchester.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, to shoot a video!’

“If anyone thinks we'd be getting back together or getting on some sort of track, it’s just not one of those things that’s happening. So when those conversations come up, or my daughter asks, I say, ‘Look, no. Shall we have a fucking cup of tea?’”

First came Epiphone’s 150th anniversary guitars; now the brand’s celebrations have been given a venue. A new exhibit – using the guitars of Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher to chart the history of the Epiphone brand – is set to open at the British Music Experience museum in the UK city of Liverpool.

The temporary exhibition is set to run from September 27, 2023 to January 14, 2024 and will feature four of Gallagher’s most-prized Epiphone models. 

Among the exhibits is an Epiphone Riviera with Bigsby, which was captured on the cover of Oasis’ debut album Definitely Maybe, another Riviera (this time in burgundy) as featured in the Don't Look Back In Anger video and an Epiphone Frontier FT110 acoustic guitar, which was used in recording of the band’s second album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory.

The brand itself will also be lending copies of some of the signature guitar builds it has completed for Gallagher over the years, including the Epiphone Supernova.

Gallagher is one of Epiphone’s most renowned endorsees, particularly in his native UK, and has long been associated with the brand, whether for his Union Jack-finished Sheraton, or taking cues from the Beatles and John Lennon in wielding a Casino.

Indeed, it was Liverpool’s most famous export that inspired Gallagher’s love of the brand in the first place, so there is a certain poetry to the fact that his guitar collection will alight, momentarily, in the Beatles’ hometown.

“I wanted to start playing Epiphones because of the Beatles,” says Gallagher. “I didn’t know anything about guitars then. They looked good; they felt good, I could make them sound good.

“I’m a songwriter, not a guitar player. You know, that’s my thing. I’m not one of those people who can sit in a guitar shop and play lots of things. I will literally play an E chord, and if it had sounded great and felt good, I would have just said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take it.’”

“Epiphone has been at the heart of every significant musical movement for 150 years and what a fitting way to celebrate by being part of this exhibition in Liverpool,” says Lee Bartram, Gibson’s Head of Commercial, Marketing and Cultural Influence EMEA. 

“The guitars on display can be heard and seen on some of the most important recordings and momentous performances from a UK artist in recent years and we would like to thank Noel Gallagher and The BME for their support in telling the story of Epiphone; we can’t wait to see what the next 150 years will bring.”

As previously mentioned, alongside the exhibit, the brand has also launched four limited-edition Epiphone 150th anniversary guitars: the Wilshire, Sheraton, Zephyr DeLuxe Regent and Crestwood Custom.

For more information on the forthcoming Epiphone and Noel Gallagher exhibit, head to the British Music Experience.

There are few better-value interviewees than Noel Gallagher, and now the former Oasis/High Flying Birds man is the latest subject of Gibson’s in-depth Icons series. 

The conversation is packed with brilliant tidbits and amusing tales from Gallagher’s playing career: from his time as a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, into Oasis and beyond, but his story about Oasis’ first show will prove highly relatable to any player that’s stressed themselves out prepping for their first gig.

“I'm sat on a flight case or the top of an amp, jamming with Oasis and we've got a gig on Tuesday,” says Gallagher [around 16.50]. “And it suddenly dawns on me that I've never played guitar standing up. Not only that, I don't own a fucking strap!” 

While, in retrospect, this might not seem an insurmountable challenge, to the young (and penniless) Gallagher, it was a major concern. 

“This is Sunday night and I'm skint and I’ve never played guitar standing up,” summarizes the guitarist. “That seems like a preposterous fucking notion now, but I can only tell you that the Monday was probably the most stressful fucking day of my entire life.”

The first hurdle was overcome when he tracked down an unnamed member of Inspiral Carpets – then an international touring act – who leant him a strap, but sadly this did not fully alleviate his stress.

“I had to borrow a guitar strap. Borrow!” emphasizes Gallagher. “And then [it was] going home and putting the guitar on for the first time and spending, I'd say, a good hour looking in the mirror going, ‘Where am I gonna [hold it]? Is it there? Is it there?”

The decision meant a lot to the young guitarist – indeed it still does. “I think where you hold your guitar for the first time is crucial,” imparts Gallagher. “It signifies how much of a cunt you're going to be.”

According to the guitarist and songwriter, too high makes you unattractive (“you're not getting no fit birds mate, I'll tell you that for nowt”) but go too low and you’re a goth. The optimum position, in his opinion, is in the middle – something he dubs “The Gunslinger”.

“Anyway, I nailed it – clearly…” says Gallagher, dryly. “And it benefited me, because remember going to the gig and I was more stressed about standing up [than performing]...

“Thank fucking God it was before phones and cameras, because there would be some pretty fucking awkward footage of it now, but you know, an exhilarating experience all the same.”

Check out the full conversation above for more on Gallagher’s playing, guitars and to hear his explanation of the happy accident that was the Oasis sound. Indeed, for more on the latter, check out our guide to nailing Noel Gallagher's guitar tone on tracks like Supersonic.

Welcome to Guitar World’s weekly roundup of the musical highlights from the, erm, world of guitar. Every seven days (or thereabouts), we endeavor to bring you a selection of songs from across the guitar universe, all with one thing in common: our favorite instrument plays a starring role.

Maya Delilah – Pretty Face 

What is it? The latest single from 22-year-old British singer-songwriter Maya Delilah, who – after amassing a huge following via Instagram and TikTok thanks to her soulful six-string chops – releases Pretty Face to celebrate her new partnership with Blue Note/Capitol Records. It’s a perfect intro into the sonic universe of Delilah, which sees her emotive vocals orbit around a mixture of elite phrasing, impeccable feel and irresistible tone.

Standout guitar moment: Though Deliliah spends most of the track strumming away, she gives herself the opportunity to let loose on the fretboard around the 2:00 mark, breaking free from the shackles of rhythm guitar to belt out a blues-y, bend-heavy solo that literally oozes soul.

For fans of: John Mayer, David Ryan Harris, Madison Cunningham

– Matt Owen

Yo La Tengo – Fallout

What is it? The lead single from This Stupid World, the beloved Hoboken, New Jersey indie trio’s first new non-instrumental album in five years. Few bands have aged as gracefully into their fifth decade as Yo La Tengo, and Fallout, quite simply, is everything that’s so damn good about them in a four-and-a-half-minute package – snarling layers of distorted riffing that cleverly disguise sweet-as-candy pop songwriting.

Standout guitar moment: Ever the Neil Young fan, guitarist/singer Ira Kaplan – perhaps unconsciously – tips his cap to one of his heroes by stabbing a single chord over and over and over again at around 2:50. On first listen, you might expect those to be the opening bars of one of Kaplan’s trademark bizarro fretboard freakouts, but after all these years, he doesn’t need to race frantically up and down the fretboard to offer that same cathartic release.

For fans of: My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground

– Jackson Maxwell

Kiichi Chaos – Metality (The Vitality Anthem)

What is it? A modern-day renaissance man, Matt Heafy is apparently never settled unless he’s putting out new music. After Trivium put out their latest album, In the Court of the Dragon last year, Heafy turned his sights to Ibaraki, a black metal side project, under which he released his first album, Rashomon, earlier this year.

And now, in the relative downtime from both projects, Heafy has released a new single under a new moniker: Kiichi Chaos. This time, Heafy – a keen gamer himself – lends his formidable song writing talents to Team Vitality, a French esports organization who play first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or CS:GO, competitively.

“Metal and gaming are two constants in my life that I hold near and dear,” Heafy states. “I've always found that gaming and metal go so well together... it's as if they belong together.”

Standout guitar moment: The riff that kicks in from the 0:47 mark following a melodic choral section is Trivium-esque, with galloping palm-muted chugs and ever-so-heavy arpeggiated low-string runs.

For fans of: Trivium, All That Remains, Killswitch Engage

– Sam Roche

David Knudson – No Ways No Means (feat. Tim Kasher of Cursive)

What is it? 2022 has become one of the most prolific years in David Knudson’s career. Four years on from the demise of Minus the Bear, the sonically inventive guitarist released his debut album, unveiled a new song with Botch, and even announced live shows with the mathcore heroes.

As if that weren’t enough, he’s now releasing a new EP, Undo / Redo, and No Ways No Means, which features the vocal talents of Cursive’s Tim Kasher, is the first single: a fuzzed-up hard-rock stomper that will have MTB fans bopping in an angular fashion.

Standout guitar moment: That main riff has something of a Morello feel to it, but check that octave-up solo with wild whammy (or Whammy?) bends: there aren’t loadsa notes, but the delivery is perfection.

For fans of: Minus the Bear, Cursive, Sparta

– Michael Astley-Brown

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Pretty Boy (feat. Johnny Marr) 

What is it? Manchester, England, has produced some of the biggest bands – and in turn, some of the biggest guitar players – of all time, boasting alumni such as Oasis and The Smiths. Now, two of those Mancunian guitar gods, Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr, have teamed up for a new single, released under the former’s High Flying Birds name. It’s a perfect combination of the pair’s respective playing styles, filled with jangly leads, punchy rhythms and some acoustic layering for good measure.

Standout guitar moment: The acoustic and bass both do a grand job of holding down the fort for the first few minutes, but what follows the breakdown at the 2:30 mark is especially tasty – a wall of rhythm riffs that play host to an infectious lick.

For fans of: Oasis, The Smiths, Sam Fender

– Matt Owen

Buffalo Nichols – Meet Me In The Bottom

What is it? Side A of his new two-sided single, Meet Me In The Bottom is a thrilling expansion of the Milwaukee bluesman’s sound. Punctuated by a fuzz-blasted bass line and dramatic punches of feedback, the song – a re-working of a blues classic – is a magnificent roller-coaster ride that grabs you from the first bar and never lets go. 

Standout guitar moment: While distantly related to the blues, Nichols’ thrilling lead breaks – especially the second one – more readily recall the mind-expanding sounds of the psychedelic ‘60s, with their droning, almost sitar-like melodies and quick-fire pickin’.

For fans of: The Black Keys, The Doors, The White Stripes

– Jackson Maxwell

Iggy Pop – Frenzy 

What is it? A standalone single from the Godfather of Punk, who has tapped Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith for three-minutes of raw riffage. With production hero Andrew Watt behind the desk, the one-time-only supergroup smash speakers left right and center, serving up one of the most raucous 180 seconds we’ve heard in quite some time.

Standout guitar moment: We can’t think of a track title that would better describe Frenzy, with the single-note stabs and warbling riffs exploding into an off-the-chain, wah-loaded throwdown for the outro.

For fans of: The Stooges, Guns N’ Roses

– Matt Owen 

Vended – Overall

What is it? With the potent blood of metal royalty coursing through their veins, it’s no surprise that budding five-piece Vended have a sound that’s undeniably Slipknot-esque, with drop-tuned, distorted guitars, pummeling rhythm sections and spine-tingling sound design elements.

But for the stylistic cues the group have taken from their metal titan fathers, vocalist Griffin Taylor and drummer Simon Crahan – along with guitarists Cole Espeland and Connor Grodzicki, and bassist Jeremiah Pugh sure are paving their own path.

And another brick in that road is laid with the band’s ferocious new single, Overall, a dynamically varied metalcore cut peppered with enough weighty riffs to get any pit spinning.

Standout guitar moment: Lead guitar is generally abstained from to leave more room for straightforward riff brutality, and no riff hits quite as hard as the one in the breakdown from the 2:21 mark.

For fans of: Slipknot, Tallah, Tetrarch

– Sam Roche

Longheads – Glossolaila

What is it? Throw King Gizzard, the Doors and Black Sabbath into a melting pot, add a dash of desert rock and you get UK four-piece Longheads, who dropped new EP Mars Doesn’t Feel Like Home Anymore this week. The whole thing is a tripped-out journey that oozes atmosphere from every note, but Glossolalia is a relatively succinct summary of the band’s groove-heavy psychedelic approach.

Standout guitar moment: The second that solo kicks in against a backdrop of phaser-set-to-stun rhythms is a trip in itself.

For fans of: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, All Them Witches, Black Mountain

– Michael Astley-Brown

Samia – Mad At Me

What is it? The rising singer/songwriter’s first collaboration with pop mastermind (and ex-Vampire Weekend guitarist) Rostam Batmanglij, Mad At Me is the most outwardly accessible song of Samia’s career so far. Loaded with bubbling synths and packing an effortless chorus, the second single from Samia’s forthcoming album, Honey, signifies that she might not be an ‘under-the-radar’ talent much longer. 

Standout guitar moment: There’s not a whole lot of guitar on this tune, but what little there is – particularly that heavily-processed, feedback-coated lead after the first chorus – sure makes its mark. 

For fans of: MUNA, Vampire Weekend, Phoebe Bridgers

– Jackson Maxwell

Voice Of Baceprot – PMS

What is it? A hard-riffing, melodic new single from Indonesian trio, Voice of Baceprot. Short for perempuan merdeka seutuhnya (“completely independent woman”), PMS celebrates women who are breaking stereotypes and boundaries in all forms.

Impressively dynamic and varied, the track flips consistently between hard-rock riffing and more melodic chorus sections, even carving out a section from the 2:04 mark for bassist Widi to do a spot of noodling.

Standout guitar moment: Guitarist and frontwoman Marsya lets loose with a solo from the 1:37 mark, crafted with simple-but-effective melodic runs and occasional spurts of alternate picking.

For fans of: Burgerkill, DeadSquad

– Sam Roche

Noel Gallagher has teamed up with fellow English guitar legend Johnny Marr on his new single, Pretty Boy.

The first taste of the upcoming fourth album from Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – which is due to arrive next year, almost six years after the band’s last full-length, Who Built the Moon? – Pretty Boy finds former Smiths man Marr serving some of his trademark jangly electric guitar riffing over a bed of quick-strummed acoustic guitar. Watch the track’s music video below.

As Gallagher explains, Pretty Boy was the first track he wrote, demoed and finished for High Flying Birds’ yet-untitled fourth record, “so it’s only right that it’s the first thing people get to hear”.

“Massive shout out to my mainest man Johnny Marr for taking it somewhere special,” he says, adding that the first person to spot his cameo in the track’s music video “wins a packet of Flamin’ Hot Wotsits Giants” (a British snack similar to Cheetos).

In an interview with the Daily Star earlier this year [per Music News], Gallagher described much of the new High Flying Birds album as having an “orchestral” vibe.

“There is a track on the album called Dead to the World, which is one of the best songs I have ever written,” he said. “It gives people goosebumps. It’s quite orchestral and a bit like [1969 film] Midnight Cowboy.” 

Gallagher added: “The whole album has got a vibe. There’s 10 songs and six of them have got strings.”

The former Oasis guitarist also revealed that the album “took [him] a year to write”, adding that those who have heard it so far have given their approval.

“People are coming to the studio and you play them the track and they’re like, ‘Fucking hell! I’m getting goosebumps listening to that’,” he said. “I forget because I’m so into [it] now that it’s just a bunch of songs that I want to finish so I can write some more.”

Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher have enjoyed a decades-long friendship, with the former loaning the latter guitars in the early days of Oasis in the early ‘90s.

As the story goes, Marr attended one of the band’s early gigs after they had generated some buzz around Manchester, but was not impressed with how long Gallagher had spent tuning his guitar. “You could go get a pint and come back, and he’d still be tuning,” he told Far Out Magazine.

At Marr’s suggestion that he buy himself a new guitar, Gallagher – who was unemployed at the time – retorted: “Alright for you, isn’t it? I’ve got like 12 quid.”

So he offered to loan Gallagher one of his guitars: a sunburst 1960s Gibson Les Paul and formerly owned by The Who’s Pete Townshend. The budding Oasis man accepted, and the guitar quickly became his main six-string, and was used to write Live Forever, from the band’s 1994 debut, Definitely Maybe.

But some time later, while on tour, Noel’s brother Liam became involved in an altercation when an audience member rushed the stage, prompting Noel to take a swing at the invader with the loaned guitar. 

As a consequence, the guitar was badly damaged, but fortunately Gallagher was able to convince Marr to issue him a replacement, this time the black Les Paul he used to write the entirety of the Smiths’ 1986 album The Queen is Dead.

But this guitar was sent to Gallager with a word of warning. “This one’s well heavy,” Marr wrote. “If you take a big swing with this one you’ll take the fucker out!”

In another interview with Stereogum, Marr described Gallagher as “a hell of a lot more than meets the eye”.

“He’s very disciplined,” he said. “He’s one of the most disciplined people I’ve ever worked with, without a shadow of a doubt. Maybe even the most disciplined. Incredibly industrious. 

“Then there’s the other side of his life. He can’t walk 100 meters around the British Isles without people stopping him for selfies, and he’s not insane. [Laughs] I would be, without a doubt. I only have to get stopped five times and I go into a meltdown about culture. He’s a very impressive dude.”

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ new album is yet to receive an official release date, but it’s slated to arrive next year.

Cast your mind back to 1996 and the height of Britpop, and there’s every chance this guitar will ring a vivid bell. Oasis had released their second album, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, ‘Cool Britannia’ was in full swing, and Noel Gallagher was busy reigniting the nation’s six-string passion. His Wine Red Epiphone Riviera played a huge part in this.

Not only was it featured in the Don’t Look Back In Anger video, but it made an appearance in the promo for Champagne Supernova too, alongside loads of live performances.

While Noel had plenty of nice electric guitars by this point, it’s for the reasons above that the Epiphone stood out to so many, and, crucially, fans could go and buy an Epiphone at affordable prices without having to ‘compromise’ with the affordable version of a Gibson to get the same guitar as their hero. It was an Epiphone that Noel was using. 

All this, of course, is our booze-tinted-goggles build-up to the fact that Epiphone has finally released an affordable Noel Gallagher guitar. Yes, there was the Supernova, but that wasn’t an ‘organic’ model in Gallagher’s guitar rack in the way the early-’80s Riviera was, and it’s also long-discontinued.

But it presents a conundrum – why would you buy this guitar, priced at around $200 more ‘on the street’ than Epiphone’s stock production Riviera? That’s what we’re here to find out. But first, a bit of history.

The Riviera shares a lot of its features with Gibson’s ES-335. Noel’s guitar was a Japanese-made catalogue Epiphone from the early ’80s, and at the time, the guitar was offered in two finishes: Antique Sunburst or Wine Red. 

It also came with humbuckers as standard, and was fitted with Epiphone’s Frequensator tailpiece – which kept the total length of the bass strings longer, while shortening the treble strings. The idea being that the fundamental frequencies of each would be accented. 

A quick comparison between the current Riviera and the Noel Gallagher signature model will show you two key differences. First are the pickups – the stock version is fitted with traditional mini-humbuckers. Second is that tailpiece we just mentioned: Noel’s guitar swaps the Frequensator for an Epiphone LockTone stopbar.

We get the full-size humbuckers, the correct finish, the parallelogram fretboard markers (orientated to the left, as with Noel’s original), even the ‘crown’ headstock inlay. So spec-wise, it’s based on the correct era of Riviera to match Noel’s, and basically saves you some messing about with swapping hardware and pickups. Not bad at all for $200. 

Enough comparison, then, and time to delve into the Riviera we have to hand. It starts with a five-ply, laminated maple body, and there’s a maple centre-block running through the middle to help tame feedback. The neck is also made of maple, featuring a SlimTaper profile and volute, while the Indian laurel fingerboard is a familiar 24.75-inch scale length with 22 frets. 

As mentioned, it’s a dual-humbucker configuration, in this case a pair of Alnico Classic PROs in both positions, and continuing the theme of familiarity, they’re wired to a three-way switch and individual tone and volume controls for each pickup. In essence, everything is as we’d expect. 

The first thing that hits us on removing the guitar from the included Epiphone hardcase, is just how understated the signature element is. If you know, you know; if not, it’s only the signature to the rear of the headstock that denotes this as Noel’s replica. 

Outside of this, it’s a really nice-looking Epiphone in a cool finish that’s otherwise unavailable. 

The SlimTaper neck is one of the biggest surprises – it’s thin, but doesn’t feel too modern, particularly given that if we’re going for Noel’s playing style, there’s a strong mix of open and barre chords required as well as lead playing. This sets a decent middle ground for both, and makes the open-string voicings nice and easy.

Tone-wise, it’s all very much as you might expect, too. The neck sounds are big, full and round, and begging for some crunchy overdrive. The reward is classic indie rhythm sounds, and an addictive bluesy lead tone. We did find ourselves parked on the neck pickup for longer than normal, but if that fat darkness is a bit too much for you, the middle and bridge positions will offer additional spike and sparkle. 

Ultimately, this guitar fulfils its purpose, and is more evidence that a semi‑acoustic isn’t simply for vintage rock ’n’ roll or blues – although it obviously excels at this, too. Open it up a bit and you’ll get meaty rock rhythm and lead tones, but more than anything, this guitar inspired us to want to play it.

Specs

• PRICE: $899 / £789
• BODY: Maple, laminate with centre block
• NECK: Maple
• FINGERBOARD: Indian laurel
• FRETS: 22
• PICKUPS: Epiphone Alnico Classic PRO 
• CONTROLS: 2x volume, 2x tone, 3-way switch
• HARDWARE: Nickel
• LEFT-HANDED: No
• FINISH: Dark Wine Red
• CASE: Yes
• CONTACT: Epiphone

Noel Gallagher’s eye-catching Gibson Les Paul Florentine is up for sale for a second time on Propstore Auction as part of its upcoming Best of British Music auction.

The guitar itself, which is held in high regard by the former Oasis man, was supposedly gifted to Gallagher by Gibson back in the late ‘90s, and featured heavily both in the studio and during high-profile live appearances across 1997 and 1998.

Specifically, the Silver Sparkle single-cut can be heard on Oasis’s third studio album, Be Here Now, which became the biggest-selling album of ‘97. Gallagher then took his prized Florentine on the road to accompany him for Oasis’ Be Here Now world tour.

Gallagher’s attachment to the sparkly instrument is clear. Speaking to Spin magazine in 1997, the Oasis guitarist called it the “best guitar” in the world.

“That's the best guitar in the world,” Gallagher said of the instrument. “It's not one of the best guitars, it's the best guitar. 

“The thing about that guitar is it's got that extra... You know what I mean?” he added. “When you've got everything turned all the way up, this one gives you more. It goes to '11'.”

In terms of appointments, the Les Paul Florentine – built to reduce the weight of a solidbody Les Paul – features a none-more-glittery finish, nickel-plated hardware and an ebony fretboard with block inlays, as well as its trademark “U” Underworld sticker underneath the stopbar tailpiece.

It’s the second time the Les Paul is up for grabs after it was first snapped up by Oasis super-fan Richie Moore, who once discussed the story of his acquisition with Guitarist.

According to Moore, he spotted the guitar in 2001 at a guitar show in Manchester, England, when he was informed that Gallagher and his guitar tech Jason Rhodes had put the guitar up for sale through New Kings Road Vintage Guitar Emporium while having a gear clear-out.

After putting down a deposit and beating the auction’s unmatched reserve price, Moore took out a loan for the guitar and added it to his own collection. 

However, despite gigging with it extensively, Moore was forced to sell the one-off instrument for financial reasons, though was eventually reunited with it when its third owner passed away.

According to the listing, it remained a “treasured possession” in his catalog, and is in “very good condition”.

The Les Paul has an estimated value of £300,000 – £500,000 (approx. $340,000 – $570,000), and has a current absentee bid of £170,000, which is approximately $193,000.

Gallagher's glittery guitar will be auctioned on November 4. For more information, head over to Propstore Auction.

After multiple teases, Gibson has finally unveiled two all-new Noel Gallagher signature guitars: a replica of his late ‘80s Epiphone Riviera and a recreation of his number one 1960 ES-355.

Spearheading the lineup is the meticulously crafted, limited-edition ES-355 – restricted to only 200 units – which takes inspiration from the original 1960 semi-hollow model that has been Gallagher’s go-to guitar since the late ‘90s.

Appearing on stages and studios throughout the decades, the guitar was originally purchased by Gallagher in 1997, though was deemed too nice to play and thus initially kept as a collector’s item.

That was until the early ‘00s, when Gallagher took the guitar out of its slumber and began to use it as his main touring instrument.

In terms of specs, the signature Sixties Cherry six-string looks to be a like-for-like aesthetic and functional recreation of the original guitar, complete with a Murphy Lab aged finish to replicate the years of wear and tear Gallagher’s own axe has picked up over the years.

At its core, the semi-hollow stunner sports plain maple laminate top, back and sides, which are paired with red spruce bracing and a maple centerblock. Atop the body sits five-ply top binding, while three-ply binding graces the back.

Elsewhere, a SlimTaper-profile mahogany neck is partnered with a 22-fret ebony fingerboard, which flashes the standard mother of pearl block inlays and single-ply binding.

The highlight of the guitar, though, is its luxurious gold hardware, which also sports an aged finish. An ABR-1 bridge lines up alongside a Bigsby B7 tailpiece, as well as True Historic Black Top Hats with gold inserts, a True Historic amber switch tip and a gold Varitone switch.

Other notable appointments include unpotted Custombucker neck and bridge pickups, a classic ES control layout, gold Grover Kidney tuning machines, five-ply bound headstock and a “Stereo”-embossed truss rod cover.

Of his new ES-355 replica, Gallagher commented, “Fuck me, what a guitar! I’ve actually sent my main one back to storage, something I haven’t done since the day I bought it… that’s how good it is.”

Lee Bartram, EU Head of Marketing & Cultural Influence EMEA at Gibson Brands added, “This is the guitar associated with Noel Gallagher since the late 1990s, we have taken our time over the details, we have worked closely with the artist and we have produced not only a truly remarkable recreation of the original but also a beautiful instrument which can be appreciated by all. 

“This project has been a labor of love for over 10 years and I’m extremely proud of what has been produced by amazing artisans in Nashville.”

Joining the Gibson ES-355 is a signature Epiphone Riviera, which takes inspiration from another Gallagher staple: an early ‘80s Riviera that featured in the music videos for Don’t Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova.

The guitar was also used during Oasis’s 1995 David Letterman appearance, and was taken out of Gallagher’s personal collection to inspect during the design phase of the project.

Available in both right-hand and left-hand iterations, the Dark Wine Red Riviera – which was teased by Cesar Gueikian last week – features five-ply layered maple top, back and sides, and houses a five-ply layered maple center block.

A SlimTaper-profile neck is topped with a 22-fret Indian laurel fingerboard, which in turn is adorned with period accurate pearloid trapezoid inlays and a more contemporary Graph Tech nut.

Just like Gallagher’s original, the signature Riviera features a pair of humbuckers and a Stop Bar tailpiece, as opposed to the mini-humbuckers and Frequensator or Tremotone tailpieces of the original. Specifically, a pair of Alnico Classic Pros are wired to a standard Riviera control layout.

Other nods to the model it’s based on include an “E” print on the white pickguard and truss rod cover, a brown sound hole label and Black Witch Hat with Silver Insert control knobs.

“That guitar played a part on so many songs in the '90s it’s ridiculous” Noel Gallagher said of the Epiphone Riviera. “The Epiphone is excellent, really very good. [It] sounds exactly like my original one, it’s a belter.”

Noel Gallagher’s Gibson ES-355 and Epiphone Riviera signatures are both available now for $9,999 and $899, respectively.

To find out more about each model, head over to Gibson or Epiphone.

He’s done it again. Cesar Gueikian has taken to Instagram to tease yet another upcoming Gibson electric guitar.

The Gibson brand president has been mighty active on social media as of late, sharing a sneak peek at Adam Jones' Silverburst Les Paul Custom and giving glimpses of as-yet-unannounced instruments we hypothesized could be the first-ever Murphy Lab acoustics.

Even more recently, Gueikian sparked discussion when he posted snaps of a mystery model, with fans speculating he was playing a guitar that will introduce an all-new body shape to Gibson’s repertoire.

Now, though, it looks as though Gueikian has turned his attention to Epiphone’s signature guitar department, after he shared a video of him wielding what looks like a Noel Gallagher Riviera model.

In a chain of clips posted to Instagram, Gueikian was spotted donning what looks to be a Gibson Custom Shop Noel Gallagher ES-355 – more on that later – but immediately swapped it out for another semi-hollow, an Epiphone Riviera.

Now, we don’t think it’s too much of a leap to suggest Gueikian was making his way through Gallagher’s upcoming signatures. After all, a similar looking six-string was indeed used by Gallagher in the music video for Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger.

Plus, the Riviera Gueikian is playing is equipped with two humbuckers, rather than the mini-humbuckers that are usually found on vintage Rivieras. You won’t be surprised to hear Gallagher’s original Riviera – which shared similarities to a 1983 model – was also fitted with full-sized humbuckers. Coincidence? We think not.

Gallagher’s own Riviera featured further deviations from the original blueprint, such as a tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece in place of the common Frequensator or Tremotone tailpieces – specs that are also apparent on the model Gueikian is playing.

With that said, we’d argue the evidence is pretty strong that a recreation of Gallagher’s Don’t Look Back in Anger axe is on the way.

Gallagher’s Riviera saw plenty of other action in 1995, though, and was used during Oasis’s show on David Letterman. It was reportedly used heavily in the recording of Morning Glory, and featured in another music video for Champagne Supernova.

Gueikian’s Gallagher-themed videos also showed off the former Oasis man’s upcoming signature Gibson ES-355, which was teased by the guitarist in May this year.

Now officially confirmed for an August 30 release, the signature model will recreate Gallagher’s cherished 1960 model, which was once described by the artist as “the greatest guitar I’ve ever played”.

Oh, and just for good measure, the Riviera hype was further fueled by Gibson Director of Brand Experience Mark Agnesi, who commented on the announcement post, “That 355 is rad, but tell me more about that Epiphone on the far right.” 

Check out both guitars in the picture below.

The two semi-hollows will join up with Gallagher’s Gibson J-150 acoustic guitar – a signature instrument based on his original flat-top that can be found in the Little By Little music video.

The influx of Gallagher guitars may come as a surprise to some, after the High Flying Birds leader told Guitar World in 2015 that he “kinda can’t be fucking bothered” to design a signature model with Gibson and Epiphone.

In that same interview, however, Gallagher did say, “Really, if I was to sit down and design a guitar, it would be exactly the same as the one I fucking play.”

Noel Gallagher’s once-prized Gibson ES-355 – the electric guitar reportedly behind the break-up of Oasis – has sold for €385,500 (approximately $403,254) after it was put up for auction last month.

The Bigsby-equipped beauty sold for less than what the auction host, Artpèges Gallery, had anticipated, and pulled in just under its $550,000 estimation.

Nevertheless, It’s still a significant sum of money – not quite enough to get it on the list of most expensive guitars ever sold at auction, mind – and one that was commanded by the ES-355’s association with both the Gallagher brother and Oasis’ volatile split in 2009.

As the story goes, the ES-355 in question was present when Oasis were gearing up to hit the stage for their headline slot at 2009’s Rock en Seine festival in Paris.

Minutes before the group were set to make their appearance, however, Noel and his brother Liam were reportedly engaged in a bust-up that resulted in the ultimate destruction of the guitar, with Noel alleging his brother had smashed his prized six-string.

The damage was extensive, leaving the ES-355 in need of a neck refit after it had been detached from the body.

A few years after it had been battered and bruised, the guitar was restored by Philippe Dubreuille – a luthier who has worked on instruments for Jeff Beck, Iggy Pop and Mark Ronson. From then on, it joined the rest of Gallagher’s High Flying Birds six-string lineup.

It’s notable that, although Gallagher was synonymous with a cherry red, gold hardware-equipped Gibson, the model that has been sold wasn’t his number one ES-355. Instead, the axe in question – identifiable from its longer pickguard – usually filled the second chair to Gallagher’s main example. 

Per The Guardian, Artpèges co-founder Arthur Perault said he was “pretty happy” with the outcome of the auction, which took place at the Hôtel Drouot yesterday (May 17).

To find out more about the guitar and its story, head over to Artpèges.

In other Gallagher news, the songwriting powerhouse's near-mythical relationship with the ES-355 model is set to continue with renewed life, after he teased he'll be teaming up with Gibson later this year for a signature version of his beloved Cherry Red six-string.

Noel Gallagher has teased a new signature version of his beloved Cherry Red Gibson ES-355 electric guitar on social media. 

Captioned with the words "August 2022..." and soundtracked to his 2011 song AKA... What a Life!, the brief video features a number of shots of the guitar in question, and Gallagher wielding it on stages across the world.

Gallagher's ES-355 is fitted with a Bigsby, and features a six-position Varitone switch near the tone and volume knobs. From what we can see in the video, it would seem that the Gibson signature version of the model will follow suit in that regard.

The guitar – a 1960 model, according to Gallagher – has long been the Oasis guitarist and songwriter's number one instrument, one he referred to in a 2015 Premier Guitar interview as "the greatest guitar I’ve ever played."

The impressive-looking six-string would be his second Gibson signature guitar, following last year's Gibson Noel Gallagher signature J-150 acoustic guitar.  

In an interview with Guitar World in 2015, Gallagher was asked if he'd ever design a signature model with Gibson or Epiphone, to which he said, "I’ve been asked and I kinda can’t be fucking bothered, do you know what I mean?"

However, Gallagher presciently added, "Really, if I was to sit down and design a guitar, it would be exactly the same as the one I fucking play. 

"My main guitar, my 355, is in no way unique. It hasn’t got any unique, specific features on it. It’s just a fucking great guitar. It sounds great, has great pickups. I mean, what more could you do to a guitar? The guitar itself is really not important. It’s the fucking player, isn’t it?"

In other Gallagher-related ES-355 news, a Gibson ES-355 that Noel's brother, Liam, smashed during a fight between the brothers prior to Oasis's set at the 2009 Rock en Seine festival in Paris is currently up for auction.

Following the fight, Oasis canceled their headlining performance and broke up for good, with Noel announcing in a statement that he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer."

A Gibson ES-355 once owned and used by Noel Gallagher, which was smashed on the night iconic British rock band Oasis broke up more than a decade ago, is set to go up for auction.

As the story goes, Gallagher’s Gibson ES-355 – an electric guitar model the Oasis man has played almost religiously throughout his career – was present prior to the band’s set at the 2009 Rock en Seine festival in Paris.

Minutes before they were set to take the stage, however, a bust-up between Noel and his brother Liam ultimately resulted in the destruction of the guitar, with Noel alleging that Liam had smashed his prized six-string during the altercation.

The damage was extensive: as per photos supplied by auction host Artpèges, the neck of the guitar had been completely removed from the body.

Following the fight that night, Oasis canceled their headlining performance and called it quits for good, with Noel announcing in a statement that he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”.

Liam Gallagher has since denied smashing the ES-355, claiming that Noel had in fact destroyed one of his guitars during the argument instead.

“No, it was the other way round, he smashed one of mine,“ he said in 2009. “I’ve still got it in pieces. It’s a shame, it was a nice guitar.“

Gallagher had become almost synonymous with the ES-355 model at this point. Purchased alongside another, almost-identical model – save for a shorter pickguard – between 1996 and 1997, the Gibson in question was used heavily in the studio and throughout 2008’s Dig Out Your Soul tour.

As for its significance in Gallagher’s playing career, the axe usually played second fiddle, at least as a live guitar, to Noel's other ES-355, which he can be seen playing in the picture at the top of the page.

Two years after the guitar was smashed, Gallagher’s ES-355 was restored by Philippe Dubreuille, who has worked on instruments for Jeff Beck, Iggy Pop and Mark Ronson. After it was salvaged, the Gibson returned to active duty as part of Gallagher’s High Flying Birds six-string lineup.

In Artpèges' own words, “This ES-355 symbolizes on its own the soul and the history of the group: smashed in the last storm of August 28, 2009 at the Rock en Seine festival, it embodies the intense and tumultuous career of one of the most iconic ‘90s group.

“It was one of Noel Gallagher’s most important guitars,” it continued. “This ES-355 has become the symbol of Oasis’ breakup.”

Accompanying the guitar, which will be sold in its original hardcase, will be a letter of authenticity signed by Noel Gallagher himself. 

The auction is slated to take place on May 17, with the Gibson ES-355 carrying a starting price of €150,000. The auctioneers estimate the guitar will eventually sell for more than €500,000 (approximately $550,000).

If such a prediction comes to pass, Gallagher’s Gibson will find itself well outside the bracket of most expensive guitars sold at auction, which is currently headed up by Kurt Cobain’s $6,010,000 Martin D-18E.

For more information, head over to Artpèges.

It's not the only high-profile guitar auction to be announced in recent weeks, after Kurt Cobain's Smells Like Teen Spirit Fender Mustang was slated to hit the auction block for the very first time later this year.

Noel Gallagher might be one of the most commercially successful guitarists on the planet, but he's not afraid to admit he has some gaps in his guitar knowledge. For instance, until recently, the former Oasis, current High Flying Birds man didn't know how to play the stratospheric main riff from AC/DC's Back in Black.

That was until his 10-year-old son Sonny – who is relatively fresh to the guitar himself – taught him how to play it. 

In a new conversation on Radio X (via MusicRadar), Gallagher admits that he “genuinely did not know how to play” the riff, and explains how his son finally helped him crack it.

“He's doing good on the guitar,” Gallagher says. “He showed me [how to play] Back in Black, which is a famous riff. He's a rocker, he likes AC/DC and Queen, it's fucking great.”

“I hope he hasn't started too early so that when he gets to 18 he's bored of it,” he continues. “He's my little protégé. My plan was always not to say, ‘Right, Dad's a musician, you're going to be a musician, because I know loads of kids who have done that and by the time they get to 21 they've given it up. So my plan was just to leave musical instruments around the house.

This isn't the only time since Sonny started playing guitar that Gallagher has felt the heat regarding his riff knowledge.

“He was practicing a few things, [including] Smoke on the Water. And then he came home from school one night and said, ‘Can you play Thunderstruck by AC/DC?’ I sheepishly went, ‘No’.

“He was like, ‘Guy, in our school, can play it and he's grade 2. What grade are you?’ I was like, ‘I'm grade £76 million, son. That's what I am, how about that?’ But big up Sonny. He made me a very, very proud dad.

Gallagher also recalls watching Sonny play in a band as part of a recent school concert, saying he had a “little knot” in his stomach because “he's only 10”.

“He's not been playing that long, he's not even been interest in it that long. There was a projected thing that came up of what they were going to play. And it came up: 20th Century Boy by T. Rex. I was like, 'Get in there, son!'

“He had it down, he had the riff and he played a blinder. He even did a little [raises arm up] at the end. I've never been so proud of anything or anyone in my life. It was amazing.”

Earlier this year, Gibson announced a luxuriously appointed new acoustic guitar for the High Flying Birds leader, the Noel Gallagher J-150.

Noel Gallagher is known for having a pretty damn sweet guitar collection that includes vintage Gibson Les Pauls and ES-355s, Epiphone Sheratons and Rivieras, Telecasters, Rickenbackers and much more. 

However, long before Oasis became a multi-Platinum-selling sensation, his rig was about as modest as it gets. In December 1993 when Oasis recorded their first single, Supersonic, at the Pink Museum recording studio in Liverpool, all he had was an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, a used WEM/Watkins Dominator MKIII combo and a Roland RE-201 Space Echo (back when one could be bought for a few hundred bucks instead of a few thousand like today). 

The Dominator combo is the secret weapon here, as the amp was unfairly maligned by tone snobs for decades and has only recently caught the attention of collectors. Marshall’s legendary 18-watt amps famously appropriated the circuit of original early '60s Watkins Dominator, with its distinctive V-shaped cabinet and two-tone blue-and-white cosmetics.

But even though the appearance of the Dominator changed drastically over the years, its basic circuit underwent only minor updates, such as swapping a solid-state rectifier for the tube version, ditching the tremolo circuit and changing the EQ from a single tone knob to separate treble and bass controls. As a result, even Dominator models from the '70s still deliver similar mojo to an 18-watt Marshall for a lot less bucks.

Gallagher initially overdubbed several rhythm tracks in an attempt to build a wall of sound, although engineer Dave Scott later stripped down his rhythm part to only a pair of tracks during mixing.

Gallagher’s Epiphone Les Paul through the Dominator is the first guitar track heard, joined around the 30-second mark by a heavier, fuzzier rhythm guitar played by Bonehead using a Gibson SG through a Marshall JCM900 half stack. 

Gallagher employed the same Epiphone/WEM rig for the lead overdubs, but Scott employed a handful of tricks to make the parts stand out, including placing the Dominator in a stone room with close and distance mics and recording a second unison overdub with the tape varispeed slightly sped up to thicken the guitar tone via natural detuned chorus. 

It appears that Gallagher didn’t use his Roland RE-201 Space Echo during the session, but he did use the tape delay unit in live performance to replicate the thick, slapback-like lead guitar sound crafted for the recording.

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• Definitely Maybe (Remastered) is available now via Big Brother Recordings Limited.

Six months after it was announced back at NAMM 2020, and after a slew of teasing details from the Oasis legend himself, Gibson has officially launched the limited-edition Noel Gallagher J-150 signature acoustic guitar.

The luxurious six-string is a recreation of Gallagher’s original instrument that made its first appearance during a promo video for the Oasis track Little By Little, and will be restricted to an ultra-limited, 200-unit run.

In terms of specs, Gallagher’s guitar remains true to its J-150 roots. Build-wise, it boasts AA flamed maple back and sides with a premium Sitka spruce top, as well as a two-piece maple/walnut stringer neck with slim-J-150 profile.

20 Standard Small Crown frets are featured on an Indian rosewood fingerboard, with the elegant offering also sporting Mother of Pearl Graduated Crown inlays, gold hardware and a hand-rubbed Historic Thin Vintage Sunburst finish.

Under the hood, the guitar sports a traditional hand-scalloped X-bracing system, with an additional LR Baggs Anthem under-saddle pickup paired with soundhole-mounted controls for Volume, Mix, Phase Inversion, Battery Check and Mic Trim.

Other appointments include a rosewood two bar SJ-200 Moustache bridge, bone saddle, TUSQ bridge pins and an SJ-200 pickguard.

When quizzed about how close the recreation got to the original instrument, Gallagher commented, “I was shocked. This looks like it looked the day that I bought it.

“It was hanging up in the shop and I picked it up, and I just did this,” recalled Gallagher, before strumming an E major. “I said, ‘I’ll take it.’ The guy started laughing and said, ‘Do you want a plectrum?’ I said, ‘No, it feels fucking great.’

“I instantly fell in love with that guitar,” he continued. “But this one… I mean, when I think back now at the songs that I’ve written and the amount of time I’ve spent holding this guitar, it just becomes a part of you.

“There’s just something about it. I find it very, very easy to write songs on.”

The Gibson Noel Gallagher J-150 signature is available now for $4,299, and comes complete with a custom case, signed label and a reproduced hand-written lyric sheet.

Head over to Gibson for more information.