Gibson has teased a UK-exclusive release of the black custom-built 1960 Les Paul Standard that Noel Gallagher has been spotted playing during Oasis’s stadium-filling reunion shows.
Details of the release are thin on the ground. But thanks to Gibson's Instagram post, we do know this. It will be available exclusively from the Gibson Garage London on August 21st, it looks like Gallagher is signing each one of them, and they will go like hot cakes.
Is this a signature guitar? Don’t bet on it – at least it is most likely not a signature model in the strictest sense. This looks more like what Gibson did with Johnny Marr, spec’ing up a 20 replicas of his iconic Smiths-era Bigsby-equipped ’84 Les Pauls and selling them out of the Gibson Garage London to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
We would imagine these Gallagher Les Pauls would be similarly limited, and created in a similar spirit.
It is, however, a super-cool electric, especially with those aged-nickel covers on the P-90s. As it turns out, those were particularly challenging for Gibson to recreate.
When Gallagher emerged with this off-menu electric guitar, the guitar internet responded with the appropriate level of delirium and speculative frenzy, so the Gibson Gazette sat down with Lee Bartram, head of commercial, marketing and cultural influence at at Gibson EMEA, to talk about the guitar’s design.
Bartram said when they started working on the Les Paul 18 months ago he had no idea that it was going to be used for.
“Not knowing originally where that guitar was going to end up, it’s been quite emotional to see it being used during the biggest reunion tour ever,” said Bartram. “We’ve received amazing feedback on the guitar, and I think it’s safe to say it has become the talk of the town every time it is used – I’ve had so many people reach out wanting to know what it is and if we can build one for them.”
What it is is a 1960 Les Paul Standard with a SlimTaper neck, humbuckers swapped out, Custom Shop P-90s swapped in, with some Light Aged magic from the Murphy Lab applied to its Ebony paint job. Gallagher then sent it back for more.
“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, knowing it’s more straightforward to increase the aging levels than decrease them,” said Bartram. “In this case, he wanted more on the body, neck, and back, which looks great on stage.”
The tuners are grovers with kidney bean-style buttons. The pickguard is black. The control knobs are black top hats with silver inserts.
While it is hard to tell from an Instagram shot, with Gallagher hunted over a face-down guitar, marker pen in hand, it looks like these have had the Light Aged treatment. They are certainly not heavily aged as Gallagher’s stage-played model has.
But we’ll bring you more news as and when it arrives. And if you miss out? Well you could always order one yourself via Gibson's Made To Measure programme, or settle for a more budget-friendly Gallagher guitar, like his signature Epiphone Riviera.
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