Model: Epiphone Supernova
Color: Man City Blue
Year: 1996 (Gibson prototype #1, serial: X960005650)
1997 (later prototypes & production models)
Used in...
- 1996-1997
- used during the recording sessions of the Be Here Now album
Details
Sometime in 1995 Noel was approached by Gibson Artists Relations with the possibility of designing a signature model guitar for Epiphone.
The project was first revealed in the February 1996 issue of Total Guitar Magazine. The interview with Noel and his guitar tech Jason Rhodes had taken place after the soundcheck for the Leicester gig, on 17 November 1995 - as mentioned by Paolo Hewitt:1
"Later at the soundcheck, with Liam having not yet arrived, Noel started playing a new riff: it would later grow into a song entitled 'Me and My Big Mouth'. […] Then he and Jason were interviewed for Total Guitar Magazine. Noel revealed that Epiphone had asked him to design a guitar. It would be called The Noel Gallagher Epiphone."
Originally, the guitar was called "The Chieftain". Noel suggested the name "Supernova" in the Total Guitar interview and it was later chosen as the definitive one:2
"I've been talking to Epiphone today. They're going to do a Noel Gallagher signature guitar and stick it on the market. They've built us one which is a cross between a Riviera and a Sheraton. It's going to be quite cheap as well. We call it The Chieftain. Maybe they should call it the Epiphone Supernova..."
The Supernova is essentially a Riviera with a few differences: for instance, the three-way pickup switch was moved to the upper horn after a personal request from Noel:3
"What I'm going to do is have the pickup selector switch moved to another side of the guitar. It pisses me off where it is now."
The fretboard inlays are split parallelograms - as featured on Gibson ES-345 models - while the pickguard and the truss rod cover have a matched white pearloid finish.
The first prototype had a trapeze tailpiece: however, Noel didn't like it so the instrument was returned to the factory and the trapeze was replaced with a conventional stop-bar tailpiece.4
The metallic light blue finish, that on the Supernova was aptly renamed "Man City Blue", is a colour that Epiphone used on a few guitars produced in Korea in the '90s: its real name is "Icy Blue" or simply "Metallic Light Blue". It appears code-named as "ML" on serial number labels.
Basically, it is Epiphone's version of Gibson's famous "Pelham Blue".
It is said that Noel spotted an Icy Blue, Made in Korea Epiphone Emperor Regent in the Gibson Artists Relations showroom: that very guitar was gifted to him after he said that he wanted his signature model in the same colour.5
The very first prototype of the Supernova - that you can see in the photos above - was actually made by Gibson in Nashville, USA.
Starting from a conventional ES-345 body, Gibson reshaped the headstock to that of an Epiphone Riviera, moved the switch as per Noel's request, painted the guitar in the selected metallic blue finish and added the custom pearloid pickguard and truss rod cover.6
According to the current owner, in certain light the original Gibson crown symbol can still be spotted under the paint on the headstock.
The pickups (probably Gibson '57 Classic humbuckers) and the full braided wiring were the standard ones used on the ES-345 donor.
As mentioned above, the original ES-345 trapeze tailpiece was later replaced with a stopbar after Noel requested the modification.
Essentially - tailpiece aside - prototype #1 was a Gibson ES-345 in drag.
Noel played a couple of prototype Supernovas - including the first one made by Gibson - during the recording sessions for the Be Here Now album at Abbey Road and Ridge Farm studios, between late 1996 and early 1997.
As told by guitar tech Jason Rhodes:7
"He's not gonna be using it on tour, but he got a couple of prototypes in, and he used 'em in the studio. [...] He used it on loads of tracks, the intro to Magic Pie on Be Here Now was the Supernova."
A Supernova can be spotted in a few photos taken by Jill Furmanovsky. There is only one known photo of Noel playing the Supernova (seen above in this page - scanned from the February 1999 issue of Q Magazine).
Prototype #1 was listed for auction in November 2023, estimated between £35k and £70k. It didn't sell (the highest bid reached £32k), but it later appeared in the hands of a well-known collector.
In February 2024 it was put on sale at Denmark Street guitars, at an asking price of £30k.8 It may have been sold: the ad was taken down after a few days.
It is unknown if later prototypes were made in the USA, but they may have been Korean-made pre-production guitars: actually, the production version of the Supernova was made in Korea starting from Spring 1997.
It was produced until early 2006 in various colours and factories: the early models, i.e. the ones made between 1997 and 2000 by Peerless, are known to be way better than later versions.9
Epiphone also gave Noel at least one production model (serial R97P0550): in 2000 he donated it to a raffle draw raising money for the Diana Princess of Wales Treatment Centre, signed with 'Best Wishes Noel Gallagher x!' to the front of the body.
In March 2022, this guitar was sold at an auction for £2.4k.10
An often seen photo of Noel with a production Supernova - that also featured on the cover of the November 1997 issue of Guitarist magazine - is actually fake!
It was photoshopped from a shot taken in the first days of November 1994 by Gered Mankowitz: Noel's short hair and younger look give it away!
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- Getting High: The Adventures of Oasis – Paolo Hewitt, 1997 ↩︎
- Total Guitar Magazine, February 1996 – Thanks to keke from the live4ever forum! ↩︎
- Total Guitar Magazine, February 1996 ↩︎
- PropStoreAuction: lot #574 ↩︎
- This story was told by the current owner of Supernova prototype no.1 – who incidentally also owns the Icy Blue Emperor that was gifted to Noel! I’m not naming him here for privacy reasons, but if he’s reading this page and he wants to be named please just drop me a message! ↩︎
- PropStoreAuction: lot #574 ↩︎
- Total Guitar Magazine, October 1997 ↩︎
- Thanks to Manualex from the live4ever forum! ↩︎
- A definitive, in-depth article about the Supernova history and different models is in the works! ↩︎
- Guitar Auctions: autographed 1997 Epiphone Supernova ↩︎
The Chief's Guitars - Noel Gallagher's guitars: a complete guide - Oasis and NGHFB 