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.”
