“I had no idea what the guitar was intended to be used for”: The inside story on Noel Gallagher’s Oasis reunion Les Paul
Earlier this month, one of the biggest reunions in British music history took place as the Gallagher brothers returned to the stage as Oasis for the first time since 2009.
With ticket prices soaring into the thousands, you bet fans were watching everything, from the band’s setlist to Liam’s wardrobe, and of course, Noel’s gear.
Among the familiar arsenal, one black Gibson Les Paul with P-90s quickly caught the attention of eagled-eyed gearheads. Now, the story behind the mystery guitar has been revealed in a new interview with Lee Bartram, Head of Commercial, Marketing & Cultural Influence at Gibson EMEA.
READ MORE: “Should anybody be remotely interested”: Noel Gallagher reveals his Oasis reunion tour pedalboard in classic nonchalant fashion – and yes, Noel, we are interested
Explaining how Noel’s custom new axe came, the executive says that while the Les Paul made its live debut on a massive stage, it wasn’t designed specifically for Oasis’ reunion. At least, not initially.
“We have been working on this guitar for at least 18 months,” Bartram says. “It really came from a conversation around creating a Les Paul that would accommodate P-90s (which Noel was playing a lot with NGHFB at the time, favouring Epiphone USA Casinos) at high volumes, without compromising on the sound and tone of the pickup.”
“Aesthetically, Noel had an idea of what he wanted it to look like, and we tried out a few hardware, finish, and color options before landing where we did.”
The executive also admits he had no idea what the guitar would be used for during the initial design stage. “But, as development continued, it was important to create a guitar that would give different sonic layers to a lineup of three guitarists playing to stadium-level attendances. The guitar needed to be loud and capture the vibe of those earlier shows, without compromising the output and tone of the pickups.”
The result? A hybrid based on a 1960 Les Paul Standard, loaded with Gibson Custom P-90s (instead of the original humbuckers), a SlimTaper neck, Grover tuners, and an Ebony finish – Light Aged via the Murphy Lab in Nashville to Noel’s personal specs.
“Everything we build for Noel starts out as Light Aging, and he will then decide after playing it if he wants to add more aging or keep it as it is,” Bartram explains. “In this case, he wanted more on the body, neck, and back, which looks great on stage.”
While the guitar is custom in appearance, the older Gallagher kept things classic in tone.
“The pickups are Gibson Custom P-90s as stock. Noel wanted to capture a very traditional P-90 sound with these, so there is no additional wiring.”
“Noel has a great understanding of what he wants from a pickup and gives relevant feedback,” Bartram says. “He knows that Gibson invented the P-90, and we didn’t want to mess with a winning formula. Having aged nickel covers on the pickups is relatively unique, however, and something the Gibson Custom Shop spent a lot of time getting right. The results look great and the pickups sound amazing at volume… mission accomplished!”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
