The great wait is over, Oasis are officially back.
It’s official, Noel and Liam Gallagher have ended their fifteen feud and Oasis have confirmed their long awaited reunion. To celebrate the announcement of their 2025 tour of the UK and Ireland, let’s take a look back at the rig that defined the sound of the 90s.
Gibson Guitars
Famously having been gifted multiple Les Pauls from none other than Johnny Marr, Gallagher used several Gibson guitars throughout his time with Oasis. The most famous of these was Marr’s black 1978 Les Paul Custom, which he gave to Gallagher after the 1960 Les Paul he had originally gifted him ended up smashed to pieces. Yikes. Aside from having a seemingly endless supply of Marr’s Les Pauls to utilise, Gallagher was also known for playing an SG and a Non-Reverse Firebird.
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Epiphone Guitars
Gallagher, ever inspired by the Beatles, was also well known for playing Epiphone guitars during the band’s original run. Most famous amongst his collection was his 1993 Epiphone Nashville Series Sheraton, featuring an iconic Union Jack finish. Gallagher’s use of hollow body guitars was a big part of Oasis’s noisy, feedback-laden sound, he and bandmate Bonehead were also known for playing Epiphone Rivieras in the early days of the band, both favouring the model’s humbucking pickups.
British Amps
Gallagher is most associated with British amplifiers when it comes to his Oasis rig, most notably favouring Marshall, Orange, WEM and Hiwatt amps. For the band’s early recordings, Gallagher paired two combos, his Marshall Valvestate 8080 and his WEM Dominator MkIII, a lesser known 15watt combo that helped define Gallagher’s early tone. Gallagher has also stated that for the recording of the band’s sophomore record ‘What’s The Story (Morning Glory)’, he was partially working with a Vox AC30 and a Marshall Bluesbreaker combo. For live performances, Gallagher most often used Marshall and Orange stacks, sometimes in unison. More specifically, Gallagher often ran two Marshall JCM900’s, sometimes supplementing them with an Orange Vintage Overdrive OR120.
Acoustic Guitars
Gallagher has long proclaimed his main songwriting guitar to be an Epiphone EJ200, having used to it to write many of Oasis’s early hits. He can famously be seen playing the guitar in the band’s iconic 1996 MTV Unplugged performance. Aside from the EJ200, Gallagher also owns a Takamine Jasmine which he occasionally played in the 90s and later acquired a Gibson J-200 and a Gibson J-45.
Pedals
Gallagher was not known for using an extensive pedalboard in the early days of Oasis but did make a few choice selections that greatly impacted thew band’s sound. Most notably, Gallagher used a now rare and sought after SIB Echodrive for the band’s live shows, exclusively taking advantage of the pedal’s preamp for extra gain and not bothering with its delay effect, a trick also famously used by QOTSA’s Josh Homme. Aside from the Echodrive, Gallagher also used a Vox Wah, Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer and a Boss DD-3 Delay during his time with Oasis. Gallagher was also known to be a big fan of the Roland Space Echo, which he frequently used in the studio.
It will be most interesting for Oasis fans and guitar geeks alike to see what kind of rig Gallagher runs for the Oasis reunion in 2025. Whatever it is, we can be sure it will be loud, because those boys are playing some big rooms.
Read more about the Oasis reunion here
