Gibson Trini Lopez

Oasis on a TV show, Italy, Oct. 2005 (Photo: IPA)
Model: Gibson Trini Lopez Standard
Color: #1 - Cherry Red
       #2 - Sparkling Burgundy
Year:  1967 (#1 serial: 849401 - owned by Andy Bell)
            (#2 serial: 870xxx)1

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Used in...

- 2002-2025

- featured in the video of The Hindu Times (#1)

- played live by Noel between 2002 and 2006 (#1)

- kept at home as one of Noel's go-to guitars (#2)

- played live by Gem Archer in Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and Oasis (#2)
Details

Noel Gallagher's name comes up in almost every article about the Gibson Trini Lopez (alongside the inevitable Dave Grohl reference), despite the fact that he hasn't played one on stage for over two decades.

The Trini Lopez Standard is a variation of the ES-335, introduced in late 1964 as a signature model for the eponymous artist.2 Its most distinctive features are the diamond-shaped soundholes, split-diamond fretboard inlays, and the Fender-ish (or perhaps Gibson Firebird-inspired) headstock. In terms of construction and electronics, however, it is essentially identical to a regular ES-335.

The Trini Lopez Standard (easily my favourite ES variant, by the way) was discontinued in 1970. Gibson first reissued it in 2009 as a limited-run Custom Shop model.3 Further limited reissues followed in 2014 and 2015, in Cherry Red4 and Ebony5 respectively. Incidentally, Tim Smith, then guitarist for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, played a 2015 Ebony model at various gigs throughout 2016.6

Since 2019, the Trini Lopez has been back in production as a regular model - albeit in relatively small annual batches. These latest versions are also the most faithful to the original 1964 specification. Gem Archer played a recent Ebony reissue throughout the Live '25 tour.

As for the Trini Lopez guitars played by Noel, it appears that he used at least two different examples, both dating from 1967.
Trini Lopez #1 (Cherry Red)

The Gibson Trini Lopez that Noel played between 2002 and 2006 in Oasis most likely does not belong to him.7 It should be the 1967 model, finished in Cherry Red, that Andy Bell bought in Los Angeles in the early 2000s.

It may have been played during the recording sessions for the album Heathen Chemistry, but its first appearance was in the video for The Hindu Times, filmed in early 2002 at Abbey Road Studios.

Then, between 2002 and 2004, Noel played Andy's Trini Lopez for live performances of The Hindu Times and Wonderwall. During the Don't Believe the Truth tour in 2005 and 2006, Noel also used it for A Bell Will Ring and Mucky Fingers.

Gem Archer also played it for a few radio sessions. It may have been used during the recording process of the Don't Believe the Truth album.
After the tours, the Trini Lopez was heavily damaged during transport. In Andy's words8:

"Actually Noel borrowed it for a couple of Oasis tours. The tour finished and I went back to Sweden... and it came through the post. [...] I opened the case and the head was off! And I was like... How could it make it through a world tour and then just like arrive at my door in pieces?"

The guitar was repaired by famous luthier Philippe Dubreuille (who also repaired Noel's infamous ES-355 no.2 later on). A vintage Bigsby B-7 vibrato unit was also added sometime during or after the repair.

Andy played his Trini Lopez throughout the Beady Eye tours and in the studio, and he still plays it with RIDE. Since 2024, though, he's retired it and he's been using another vintage Trini on tour.9
Trini Lopez #2 (Sparkling Burgundy)

Noel's own Trini Lopez is a little bit different: it is finished in the rare Sparkling Burgundy colour (no, it's not Cherry Red!) and until 2022 it featured a stopbar instead of the distinctive Trini Lopez trapeze tailpiece.
The stopbar was most likely a modification made by the previous owner.

The guitar was bought in November 2005 at Music Land Key in Shibuya, Tokyo. The actual moment when Noel plays and then buys the guitar is featured in the Lord Don't Slow Me Down docufilm. He even joked about a "half-price" discount!

Noel has never played the guitar live, and in a 2011 interview he stated that he hasn't "used the Trini Lopez on a track since Don't Believe The Truth".10

However, in 2009, he had mentioned actually having it at home:

"I've always got an electric guitar sitting around. On the stand at home I have a 1967 Trini Lopez; if I get five minutes, I'm strumming it."

It is possible that many song ideas originated from it. Who knows!

Gem Archer briefly cited Noel's Trini Lopez in a 2018 interview with MusicRadar.11 Some brilliant pictures of the guitar were taken for the magazine by A. Gasson: it can be clearly noticed how Sparkling Burgundy is definitely less transparent and more metallic than Cherry Red.12 It was presented as a "1968" model, but further evidence revealed that it is a late 1967 model.13
In Noel Gallagher's Flying Birds, Gem has played the Sparkling Burgundy Trini Lopez between 2017 and 2019 in Ballad of the Mighty I, Black and White Sunshine, Everybody's on the Run, Go Let It Out, Keep On Reaching, Little by Little, The Importance of Being Idle, The Masterplan and Wonderwall.

In 2022, Gem played Noel's Trini again: curiously, the stopbar tailpiece was removed and replaced with a vintage-correct trapeze with the wood insert. The stopbar holes have been covered with a 'Custom Made' plaque - as it was common on '60s Gibson semi-hollows.
It certainly is the same guitar as before: the mismatched knobs and the worn inlays on the fretboard give it away.
Gem played it for Don't Look Back in Anger, It's a Beautiful World, Little By Little, She Taught Me How to Fly and Whatever.

During the 2023 Council Skies tour, Gem played the Trini in AKA... What a Life!, Going Nowhere, Little By Little, Love Is a Rich Man and The Importance of Being Idle.

Then, for the first 2024 gigs, Gem switched to a Cherry Red Trini Lopez that seems to be one of the recent reissues made by the Gibson Custom Shop.
Noel's Burgundy Trini was then back in Gem's hands for the Summer 2024 gigs.

Gem played Noel's Burgundy Trini again for Cast No Shadow during the Live '25 tour.14 He chose two other Trini Lopez models for most of the other songs: a black one (likely a recent Custom Shop reissue) and a Cherry one (possibly one of Andy's, but it has to be confirmed with better pictures).

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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.
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  1. The serial number information comes from a trusted source who prefers to stay anonymous. For privacy reasons, the full number isn’t shared here: only the details needed for accurate dating are provided. ↩︎
  2. Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years – A. R. Duchossoir, 1998 ↩︎
  3. https://audiofanzine.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/gibson-335-trini-lopez-re-issue-guitars/ ↩︎
  4. https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/trini-lopez-reissue.290885/ ↩︎
  5. https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/memphis-2015-lineup-black-trini-lopez.324962/ ↩︎
  6. As a side note, I remember coming across a comment from Tim Smith himself on the Gibson website back in early 2016. He was asking if anyone had a solution for some strange vibrations coming from the trapeze tailpiece on his newly acquired Ebony Trini Lopez reissue. Unfortunately, the page has since disappeared. ↩︎
  7. Thanks also to live4ever forum user ccd204p who helped to clear my mind about the Trini dilemma. ↩︎
  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXaP5DDD0ME ↩︎
  9. https://www.instagram.com/gibsonguitaruk/p/C7OYXWeM46j/ ↩︎
  10. https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/interview-noel-gallagher-talks-guitars-gear-and-high-flying-birds-512993 ↩︎
  11. https://www.musicradar.com/news/gem-archer-it-was-always-about-being-in-a-band-it-still-is-it-was-never-about-being-a-virtuoso ↩︎
  12. Allegedly, Sparkling Burgundy was introduced as a cost-cutting measure from Gibson because it covered small flaws and blemishes better than Cherry Red. ↩︎
  13. Check out footnote number 1 above. ↩︎
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FepSZJMvVOY ↩︎

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