A Noel Gallagher guitar played on Oasis’ debut album Definitely Maybe will be auctioned later this month. The sale will test the status of Gallagher as a guitar hero and the place the band have in collectors’ hearts.
The cherry-sunburst Epiphone Les Paul Standard was played extensively by the elder Gallagher brother as Oasis struggled to get off the ground, and recorded their breakthrough debut album.
It can be seen on a stand on the cover of Oasis’ debut single, Supersonic, one of the iconic images of the band and the Britpop era.
It will be sold in Sotheby’s August 29 Pop Culture auction and carries an estimate of £60,000 to £80,000.
Gallagher playing the guitar in the video for Oasis debut single Supersonic.
This is an interesting test.
Pop culture moves very quickly. One minute, a band is a carefully guarded secret of a few in-the-know music obsessives; the next minute those early adopters can start selling their early concert tickets for hundreds of pounds.
As recently as 2015, an Oasis guitar (custom made for Gallagher in Manchester City blue, and signed) was listed for sale online for just over £1,000.
Have the Gallagher brothers made the step up into the top division of collectible artists?
Good news for Noel if they have. He’s a well-known collector of gear and guitars, which could now be confirmed as extremely valuable.
This sale will go a long way to showing us.
Already established in that league is Prince. One of his guitars is the most valuable item in this sale. The Vox instrument was played onstage with 3RDEYEGIRL during Prince’s 2014 – 2015 tours.
It carries a pre-sale estimate of £200,000 to £300,000.
Earlier this year, one of Prince’s signature “cloud” guitars sailed past its estimate to realise over $900,000 at auction in New York.
Elsewhere in the sale, buyers will find an Abbey Road Studios-used grand piano expected to make upwards of £150,000, and a pair of red shoes from the ballet movie of the same name (£15,000 to £20,000 estimate).
A large audience of Oasis fans who own items associated with the band will use this sale as a barometer of the value of their items.
