This post came about after a little epiphany I had last week. I decided to dust off a guitar I hadn’t played in years – probably not since before the 2020 lockdown. Thanks to my relentless gear acquisition syndrome, it had been pretty neglected. Nothing major, but it desperately needed new strings, some fretboard conditioning, fret polishing, and, of course, a solid setup.

Once I sorted all that out, I plugged it into the amp, dialed in a crunchy, very Brit-sounding tone, and started strumming some chords. And… holy smokes! My subpar playing had never sounded closer to Definitely Maybe. How is that?

Only then did I realize something that should have been obvious – the guitar I was holding was equipped with a Dirty Fingers humbucker, famously (or infamously) known as Gibson’s highest-output pickup. And guess what pickup Noel Gallagher had in the Gibson Les Paul “conversion” that Johnny Marr gave him? Yep, a rather obscure variation of a Dirty Fingers.

Keep reading after the break for the usual geekiness…

Everyone knows the story of the two Les Pauls that Johnny Marr gave to Noel Gallagher – the 1953 Sunburst conversion and the 1978 Black Custom (both extensively detailed in their dedicated pages). But there’s another Les Paul, arguably Johnny’s most played guitar (!), that also made its way into a few of Noel’s recordings.

The guitar in question is a 1984 Les Paul Standard in Cherry Red, fitted with a Bigsby B-5 vibrato and Seymour Duncan pickups. Over the last two decades, it has developed a cult following and earned the nickname “Meat Is Murder Les Paul“. Now, it’s been faithfully replicated in a limited run of just 20 pieces, available exclusively through the Gibson Garage in London.

Keep reading for a VERY detailed, in-depth look at this legendary instrument, which has shaped so many iconic tracks from Johnny Marr’s career with The Smiths and beyond…

To celebrate 30 years since the release of the single Whatever, the official Oasis social media accounts posted an upgraded (or let’s say, AI-upscaled) version of the iconic video clip.

While it is often remembered for a messy Noel Gallagher eating chips and sweeping the floor with a broom (“I’d been out the night before to the pub. I woke up in a bus shelter in Maida Vale!”), for us guitar geeks the video is a nice display of the guitars that were in Noel’s possession in late 1994.

Keep reading after the break for a detailed list of the instruments. I also want to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for putting up with all the fussy details about guitar knobs and stickers!

Since the very first days of my oasis obsession, few guitars have captured my attention like Noel Gallagher’s black Les Paul, forever immortalized in the Whatever video clip which – not by coincidence – was filmed on this very day 30 years ago, on December 5, 1994.

I wasn’t such a guitar nut back then, but that Les Paul looked badass and truly special. And it really is, given its background history: it is a 1978 Custom model, formerly owned by Johnny Marr, who used it to write and record various songs for the album The Queen Is Dead. For all the historical details, check out the dedicated page, which will be updated in the next few days with plenty of new material.

In February of this year, to coincide with the opening of the Gibson Garage in London, a gorgeous, uber-limited, and uber-pricey replica of Noel’s black Les Paul was released: only 20 pieces worldwide, and they were only available in-person to attendees on the official opening day. Getting one was never an option for me, but its release prompted me to assemble my own vintage-accurate replica – something I had wanted to do for years.

Keep reading this post for everything you’d like to know about the 2024 Gibson reissue and how to build a proper vintage replica.

As you might already know, Noel’s Cherry Sunburst Les Paul will be auctioned starting on 29 August 2024 – coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe. All the details are available on Sotheby’s website.

The estimate is £60k-£80k, which is quite a lot for an early ’90s Made in Korea Epiphone but hey, this is the Supersonic guitar – the one used to record the song and featured in the video! It was also Noel’s go-to guitar for both live performances and studio recordings from 1993 to early 1994.

The page of the guitar has been updated, so check it out!

And keep reading this blog post after the break for a few remarks about serial numbers and, erm, knobs. Yeah, right…

On 10th & 11th August 1996, Oasis played the legendary, era-defining and record-breaking shows at Knebworth Park. Noel’s guitar throughout the gigs was the Sunburst Epiphone Sheraton – which remained his main live guitar until the end of the Be Here Now tour in early 1998.

This instrument is undoubtedly among the most significant and iconic guitars ever played by Noel Gallagher. Knebworth aside, just think about G-MEX 1997 (when the famous Man City sticker appeared on the pickguard!) or the insanely long Champagne Supernova from Budokan 1998: it was this guitar – which sadly got lost or stolen years ago.

Finding a Sheraton with the same distinctive appointments of Noel’s one has always been challenging – until last year. Now, you can have one that looks exactly like it at a reasonable price – and it’s a fantastic guitar for the money. Keep reading for the details!

It’s been a few busy months, and updates were lacking, but there are a couple of big articles in the works coming soon!

In the meantime, check out the four-part behind-the-scenes docu shot by Anais Gallagher. Each episode documents one month of the Council Skies recording sessions at Noel’s Lone Star Studio in early 2022. The first two episodes were originally available only with the limited digital Serenade edition of the album and are now free to watch for everyone on YouTube. The fourth and final part is coming next week.

The first two episodes show Noel (and Johnny Marr!) playing a few of their electric guitars in the studio. Keep reading for the detailed list!

On Monday, April 11, 1994, exactly 30 years ago today, oasis release their iconic first single, Supersonic.

The famous photo on the sleeve was taken by Michael Spencer Jones on January 26, 1994 at Monnow Valley Studios, during the first recording sessions for Definitely Maybe.
Michael’s aim was “to show them at work in a cluttered studio environment, with guitars and amps strewn everywhere alongside other studio paraphernalia“.¹

It is one of my favorite Oasis sleeves, also because of all those instruments lying around!
Keep reading for a detailed list.

When people ask how to replicate that classic oasis sound from Definitely Maybe, one common answer is “just get a Marshall“. And then they start thinking about huge stacks and overkill 100-watts amp heads.

Noel and Bonehead did play powerful Marshall tube amps later on, but the real answer to that question will not necessarily hurt your neighbor’s ears or your bank account: the Marshall that Noel actually used is a much more modest Valvestate combo – often coupled with a small WEM Dominator Mk.III tube amp.

Keep reading this article for the in-depth analysis…