Picks and strings are a fundamental part of guitar playing, yet they’re often overlooked when talking about gear. Everyone gets lost in mysterious compressor pedal settings (what does “attack” even mean, anyway?), but simply using a different pick can make a big difference to your sound. The same goes for string gauges and brands: switching to another type can completely change how a guitar feels and resonates under your fingers.

As usual, the web is full of vague or outdated information about the picks and strings Noel Gallagher has used over the years. This blog post, which was put together starting from a few hints coming from reader Rob, aims to settle things once and for all, and might even get you geeking out over guitar plectrums like never before.

Keep reading for a complete guide to Noel’s choices, from the early ’90s to today…

While we wait for the official announcement of the regular-production version of Noel’s Les Paul with P-90s, let’s take a moment to understand what makes these pickups so special, and why guitarists still rave about this decades-old design nearly eighty years later.

I’ll admit, I’ve always been more of a humbucker person. But few things sound as glorious as a P-90 in the bridge position of a Les Paul running straight into a crunchy amp. That’s pure rock ’n’ roll!

And for the record, the one pictured above is my own replica of Noel’s recent Les Paul. More on that after the break!

Here’s another one of those geeky deep-dives into guitar pickups. A few months back, I wrote an in-depth piece on the bridge humbucker in the ex-Johnny Marr Gibson Les Paul “conversion”. Now it’s time to look at the magnetic heart of the other legendary Les Paul – the black Custom from 1978.

For decades, this has been a mystery. Over the years, I wondered whether the pickups were uncovered Gibsons, Seymour Duncans, or DiMarzios, but no clear answer ever emerged…

Keep reading after the break!

This article serves as a companion piece (or appendix) to the one analyzing Noel’s 2025 pedalboard.

A couple of weeks ago, a reader (thanks Jaiden!) sent me a photo of Noel’s rack unit. For those unfamiliar with this kind of stuff, a rack unit is essentially a portable road case that holds multiple pieces of gear (like power conditioners, signal splitters, preamps, and effects). Basically, it’s a sort of middle link between the pedalboard and the mixing desk.

It took a bit of work, but here you’ll find a detailed analysis of what each component is and what it does. Probably not quite as thrilling as the pedalboard itself, but still a very interesting read for the gear geeks out there.

Keep reading for the full breakdown of Noel’s Oasis Live ’25 rack!

Following the deep dive into Noel Gallagher’s pedalboard, it’s now time to take a look at what Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs is using for the Oasis Live ’25 shows.

As expected, his setup is fairly minimal: Bonehead’s wall of sound doesn’t rely on an array of effects, but there are still a few interesting selections worth highlighting.

Keep reading for the full breakdown.

After much speculation – sparked last year by a live clip from Noel’s studio shared by Goldie, which showed an early version of the pedalboard – we finally have a clear shot, this time from The Chief himself via his official social media. The familiar staples are present, and a few Oasis-era relics have made a surprise return.

Keep reading for the full breakdown.

LAST UPDATE: 12 August 2025