Model: Epiphone Riviera
Color: Wine Red
Year: 1984 (serial: 40533401)
For informational and non-commercial use only. Please do NOT publish this content elsewhere.
If you share or use this information, please provide proper credit and link to the website.
I appreciate your respect for the years of dedicated, freely available research! Thanks.
Used in...
- 1995-1996
- Noel's main guitar in 1995 and early 1996
- used during the recording sessions of the (What's the Story) Morning Glory album
- used during the recording sessions of the Be Here Now album
- featured in the videos of Don't Look Back in Anger, Champagne Supernova, Morning Glory and Roll With It
Details
Some might say this is the Oasis guitar - and I concur.
This Riviera is a fairly rare version produced in Japan by the Matsumoku Kogyo factory between 1975 and 1985. Today, it's commonly referred to as the 'Matsumoku Riviera' to distinguish it from the original '60s models, as well as the later Korean and Chinese versions.
Over the last two decades, it's become highly sought-after - not only because of its strong association with Oasis but also due to its exceptional build quality, comparable to many Gibson semi-hollow models.
Contrary to various reports, Noel's Riviera is not a '70s model. Rivieras with these specific features were only made between 1982 and 1985, to be more precise.
Epiphone explicitly states that Noel's one is from 1983;2 however, judging by the serial number,3 it appears to be a 1984 model. Matsumoku serial numbers can be a bit sketchy for '70s guitars, but they are pretty consistent for the early '80s models.
Noel has kept his Riviera 100% original,4 including the stock MMK61 humbucker pickups.
Allegedly, sometime in 1993, Noel and Bonehead both bought their Rivieras. I believe that they each got Antique Sunburst models: Bonehead has played his at every Oasis gig since, while Noel's Bigsby-equipped Antique Sunburst is the one that appears on the Definitely Maybe artwork.
Later on, likely in early 1995, Noel acquired another Riviera - this distinctive Wine Red example - possibly from the Johnny Roadhouse guitar shop in Manchester.
The Wine Red Riviera was Noel's main guitar during the recording sessions for the (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which took place at Rockfield Studios in Wales between May and June 1995:5
"It's got a great 'twang' to it. I remember I did use it a lot during the making of Morning Glory. I would have played it on every track. It would be my go-to guitar at the time. I would have definitely played all the rhythm tracks on it, for sure."
According to Noel, some of the most iconic Oasis songs were written on this Riviera:6
"I think of some of the things I wrote on this guitar... I mean, I wrote Don't Look Back in Anger, in Paris, in a hotel room one night. And I wrote Champagne Supernova on that guitar. I wrote them all. [...] This Riviera... is a special, special, special guitar."
It was also used to record guitar parts for the Be Here Now album at Abbey Road between October and November 1996.
The Wine Red Riviera appears in four of the most famous Oasis videos:7
- Roll With It, filmed on 26 July 1995 in Kings Cross, London;
- Morning Glory, filmed in September 1995 (exact date and location still unknown);
- Don't Look Back in Anger, filmed on 4 December 1995 at 1145 Arden Road in Pasadena, USA;
- Champagne Supernova, filmed on 16 and 17 February 1996 at Ealing Studios, London.
In late 1994 and early 1995 Noel's live guitars were the ex Johnny Marr Les Paul Custom and the Goldtop Les Paul Standard.
The Wine Red Riviera became Noel's main guitar at the iconic Southend Cliffs Pavilion gig on April 17, 1995 - a performance filmed and later released as Live by the Sea.
It stayed his primary guitar for both live shows and studio sessions throughout 1995 and into early 1996.
The Wine Red Riviera made its last live appearances during the US leg of the tour in April 1996.
At the Maine Road gigs later that month, Noel switched to the iconic Union Jack Sheraton - with a random appearance of a SG Custom.
Then, at the Loch Lomond gig on August 3rd, the Sunburst Sheraton took over as Noel’s main guitar.
In 2002, Noel loaned the Riviera to Paul Newsome, guitarist of Proud Mary - the first band signed to Noel's Sour Mash label, whose debut album he produced. The guitar can be seen in use during a live TV performance that year.8
After more than a decade out of sight, the Wine Red Riviera resurfaced at the Chasing the Sun exhibitions held in Tokyo, London, and Manchester between 2014 and 2016, where it was proudly displayed.
Fast forward to 30 August 2022, when Epiphone officially announced the release of a replica modeled after this very guitar - the Epiphone Noel Gallagher Riviera.9
With the original still in Noel's possession, Epiphone had direct access to it, allowing the replica to faithfully capture several unique details specific to the Matsumoku-made Rivieras produced between 1982 and 1985.
In 2023, Noel played it during an episode of The Pedal Show where he discussed his gear in depth. The interview is a goldmine of information for this website - definitely worth watching if you haven't already (the link is in the footnotes).
Later that year, the guitar was showcased at The British Music Experience in Liverpool as part of a temporary exhibition celebrating 150 years of Epiphone.10
Noel's other Matsumoku Riviera - the Antique Sunburst model fitted with a Bigsby vibrato - was also on display.
In November 2023, as a part of their On the Bench series, Epiphone shared detailed shots and information about the Wine Red Riviera.11
Noel's quotes included a curious anecdote:
"In the early days, that guitar went through baggage claim somewhere and at the other end some fu**er had scratched 'THFC' (Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club, I guess) into the body... I had to play gigs with 'THFC' on the guitar before I could get home and have it polished out!"
One of the photos also confirms that the serial number I identified years ago - after countless hours of research - is indeed the correct one!
In November 2024, the iconic Wine Red Riviera made another public appearance, this time displayed at the Live Forever: Oasis 30th Anniversary Exhibition held at the Roppongi Museum in Tokyo.12
Also shown were the Gibson Les Paul "conversion", the Bigsby Epiphone Riviera from the Definitely Maybe album cover, the Union Jack Sheraton and the Jetglo Rickenbacker 330.
Sticker
The guitar famously featured a small, round Manchester City logo on the pickguard, just below the neck pickup.
It was likely added in early September 1995, sometime after the Tokyo Garden Hall gig on August 26 but before the filming of the Morning Glory video.
The sticker was later removed sometime after 2002; by 2014, when the guitar was displayed at the Chasing the Sun exhibitions, the MCFC logo was no longer present.
DISCLAIMER
This is a fansite. It is not affiliated with Noel Gallagher, his management or his record label.
For informational and non-commercial use only. Please do NOT publish this content elsewhere.
If you share or use this information, please provide proper credit and link to the website.
I appreciate your respect for the years of dedicated, freely available research!
Visit the “Info & About” page for contact details and more.
Thanks!
- Don’t trust other serial numbers that have circulated online over the years — the one provided here is the correct serial number for Noel’s Wine Red Matsumoku Riviera. This was based on my thorough personal research and was officially confirmed by Epiphone in November 2023. ↩︎
- https://twitter.com/epiphone/status/1564600826961747968 ↩︎
- Matsumoku serial numbers – archived from the original ↩︎
- That Pedal Show, 2023 ↩︎
- Epiphone Noel Gallagher Riviera – Gibson TV ↩︎
- That Pedal Show, 2023 ↩︎
- Thanks to the Oasis Timeline Project, created by live4ever user oasisunited ↩︎
- A video of the Proud Mary performance is available on YouTube; thanks to live4ever user mahsteve! ↩︎
- Epiphone unveils Noel Gallagher Riviera – Guitar.com ↩︎
- Noel Gallagher’s Epiphone Guitars Showcased at the British Music Experience – Gibson.com ↩︎
- https://www.instagram.com/p/CzvqJ9esEId ↩︎
- https://oasis-liveforever.jp/en/ ↩︎
The Chief's Guitars - Noel Gallagher's guitars: a complete guide - Oasis and NGHFB 
In the grainy King Tuts footage, Bonehead can be seen playing a ‘Stratocaster’ whilst Noel is playing a Riviera. Later, Bonehead is seen taking the Riviera off. Perhaps they shared one at first? I vaguley remember reading that Johnny Marr had taken Noel guitar shopping in Doncaster and he’d found a brown Epiphone. Maybe that was the Bigsby one?
LikeLike
Very good point about King Tut’s. Thanks.
The Johnny Marr bit that you mention comes from Take Me There by Paul Mathur – if I recall correctly. Noel and Johnny went guitar shopping in Doncaster, in the same shop where Noel had previously bought a brown Riviera. Which, IMO, is most likely the Bigsby one.
LikeLike