Gretsch Country Gentleman

Stock photo of a similar model (source: Gitarren Total)
Model: Gretsch Chet Atkins "Country Gentleman"1
Color: Walnut
Year: 1976

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Used in...

- 1995

- played during the performance of Wonderwall at Top of the Pops (October 1995)
Details

As far as it is known, Noel played this Gretsch live only once, at Top of the Pops in October 1995. I previously thought the guitar could have been merely loaned to him, but a very reliable source confirmed that it is a 1976 model that was actually owned by Noel.

A Gretsch with similar vibes - a Walnut Chet Atkins Tennessean - was one of George Harrison's favourite guitars during the Beatles heyday.

Maybe the Harrison connection is the reason why Noel decided to show it off during the mimed performance of Wonderwall at Top of the Pops.

Presumably, the name of the song itself came from George Harrison's 1968 album Wonderwall Music.
A few people pointed out that it might have been the same guitar once owned by The Stone Roses' guitarist John Squire. However, as noted in the comments by S. Hoock, it is definitely a different instrument - thanks for the confirmation!

According to Noel, he wrote Live Forever on John's Gretsch:2

"I wrote it on John Squire's Gretsch Country Gent because one of the roadies lived at Mark Coyle's house and it ended up at my house. When I played it at the next rehearsal Bonehead said, 'You've not just written that fucking song. That's from somewhere else.' I'd listened to enough music to know that was a classic. It was Mark Coyle that came up with the drumbeat because when he was checking the drums on the last Inspiral Carpets tour I would play these chords. It's funny how a song changes everything."

Sometime in 1993, John's Gretsch was played acoustically by Noel at Mark Coyle's house to record the track Married With Children.3

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  1. Thanks to Zander and stb0821 in the comments for pointing out that the original version of this page had the wrong Gretsch model listed! ↩︎
  2. http://www.stopcryingyourheartout.co.uk/2021/05/noel-gallagher-on-writing-oasis-live.html ↩︎
  3. https://forum.live4ever.uk.com/post/593333/thread ↩︎

6 thoughts on “Gretsch Country Gentleman”

  1. Zander's avatar

    Note that Noel’s is a double cutaway, George’s is only a single cutaway.

    This Gretsch *could* be John Squire’s from the Stone Roses (as seen in all live footage pre-1994). Mark Coyle had the guitar in his possession and it was John’s Gretsch that Noel used to record “Married With Children” on.

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  2. stb0821's avatar

    Noel’s Gretsch is not “Chet Atkins Tennessean”. Seems to be “6112 Country Gentleman”.

    George Harrison used both Tennessean and Country Gentleman, but there are no sound hole (just painting).

    George’s Gretsch in this pic is definitely “Tennessean”.

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    1. Lazy Guitar Anorak's avatar

      Thanks! I don’t know much about Gretsch guitars. I’ll check deeper and update the page soon.

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    2. Stefan Hoock's avatar

      The Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar that was used by Noel Gallagher on Top of the Pops in October 1995 when the band mimed to ‘Wonderwall’ is most definitely not the same model that was used by John Squire, unless Squire had two of them from different years. Squire’s Gretsch 6122 Country Gentleman was made in 1964 or early 1965 (it has a SuperTron pickup in its neck position, which is a distinctive feature of examples that were made in 1964 or 1965), whereas Gallagher’s Country Gentleman (which was probably made in the early 1970s) not only has a different pickguard than Squire’s Country Gentleman, but it also has real soundholes (unlike Squire’s Country Gentleman), a different colour, different pickups and different control knobs/hardware.

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      1. Lazy Guitar Anorak's avatar

        Thanks for the insight, I will update the page in the coming weeks! I know nothing about Gretsch models and it is evident!

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