A handful of Oasis electric guitars have smashed their upper estimates after going up for auction mere weeks after the influential Brit rock band announced their long-awaited return.
Following some brief but intense speculation, the Gallagher brothers officially confirmed that they’d be reuniting for a comeback tour later this year, with dates currently penciled in at London, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin.
The shows will mark the first time the brothers have played together ever since their infamous bust-up behind the scenes at the 2009 Rock en Seine festival in Paris, which involved the destruction of an ES-355 – which sold at auction.
But bubbling underneath the buzz surrounding Oasis’ long-awaited return was a Sotheby’s auction, which has seen the sale of some notable Oasis electrics – including Noel’s Definitely Maybe Epiphone Les Paul.
And, despite having an upper estimate of just over $100,000, the Epi LP ended up selling for closer to $200k – approximately $173,500, to be precise.
While it’s not quite enough to make it on to the list of the most expensive guitars ever sold at auction, it does weigh in as quite possibly the priciest Epiphone to be sold under the hammer.
To put it into perspective, it’s likely that Gallagher didn’t pay more than a few hundred pounds for the beginner electric guitar when he first acquired it. As such, to see its value rise to almost $200,000 is rather surreal.
But as mentioned, the guitar’s newest custodian – who may or may not have been swept up by Oasis fever at the time of the auction – will no doubt justify the hefty price tag by pointing to its cultural significance.
This is, after all, the guitar that paved the way for Oasis, and that helped them navigate their earliest sessions as they began their journey towards Brit rock domination.
“In December 1993 when Oasis recorded their first single, Supersonic, at the Pink Museum recording studio in Liverpool, all he had was an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, a used WEM/Watkins Dominator MKIII combo and a Roland RE-201 Space Echo,” Guitar World’s Chris Gill wrote of the Epi’s significance.
That Epi Les Paul wasn’t the only Oasis guitar to fetch a handsome fee at auction. Noel’s Epiphone EA-250, which also featured on the cover of Supersonic, went for approximately $63,077, while a Flying V – which was also once owned by Johnny Marr – sold for around $47,291.
Visit Sotheby’s to find out more.
