Model: Fender Telecaster
Color: Paisley Red AKA Pink Paisley
Year: '90s
Used in...
- 2000-2006
- played live during the Standing on the Shoulder of Giants and the Brotherly Love tours
- featured in the live DVD Familiar to Millions
Details
The late '60s were defined by the proliferation of psychedelia.
In 1968, Fender decided to jump on the bandwagon and add a Paisley wallpaper (bought from the local paint shop) with a layer of clear coat on some of their guitars. This is how the famous - or infamous! - Pink Paisley Telecasters were born, which were only made in 1968 and 1969.1
Fender reissued them a few times since the mid '80s: most of the reissues were made in Japan, with some exclusive pieces being made in the USA Custom Shop over the years.
The guitar acquired a legendary status when James Burton, Elvis Presley's side guitarist, started to play the Pink Paisley Tele that Fender gave him as a gift.2
Original '68-'69 Paisley Telecasters are very rare and incredibly expensive.
The one owned by Noel is most likely a Japanese reissue made in the '90s.
It first appeared in April 2000, during the USA leg of the Standing on the Shoulder of Giants tour: it replaced the Custom Telecaster that Noel had been playing in Go Let It Out, Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger.
According to what Noel stated in a MSN Webchat in April 2000, it features Seymour Duncan Antiquities pickups;3 stock pickups & electronics were indeed the only weak spot of '90s Japanese Fenders.
The Pink Paisley Tele was used throughout the remaining dates of the Standing on the Shoulder of Giants tour, and then also for the Tour of Brotherly Love with The Black Crowes in 2001.
Sometimes it was replaced with the Mapleglo Rickenbaker in some songs - mainly for Go Let It Out.
It became iconic in the Oasis fandom since it appeared in the Familiar to Millions live DVD, recorded at Wembley Stadium in July 2000.
Gem Archer owns a Paisley Telecaster too: it is a 1998 model and it features a cream pickguard instead of the original transparent one.
Curiously, Noel and him bought Paisley Telecasters on the same day:4
"I also use [...] a Paisley Telecaster, which I got back in 2001. It’s funny – Noel and I got Paisley Teles on the same day, without knowing it, and then turned up at the gig with them! They're brilliant guitars and Mexican-made, so they only cost us 500 quid."
Actually, I believe that Gem might be wrong on two details: the year was probably 2000, and as far as I know (or can find on the web) Paisley Teles were never made in Mexico, but only in Japan and in the USA. Judging by the price, they must be Japanese reissues.
Noel and Gem are both playing their Paisley Teles in a 2006 live performance of Guess God Thinks I'm Abel that is available below: interestingly, Noel's Tele is shown with a cream pickguard too.
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The Chief's Guitars - Noel Gallagher's guitars: a complete guide - Oasis and NGHFB 