Noel Gallagher — 1966 Rickenbacker 360 Fireglo 12-String, Signed

Noel Gallagher is one of the most influential figures in British music of the last three decades: songwriter, composer and creative mind of Oasis, author of songs that became generational anthems and the man who defined the sound and imagery of Britpop. His relationship with instruments has always been direct and obsessive rather than industrial — guitars chosen as fixations, lyrics written by hand as personal notes rather than as objects to be displayed.

This 1966 Rickenbacker 360 Fireglo twelve-string is one of the most iconic guitars Gallagher has ever used. Acquired in the 1990s, it was played in recording for more than a decade and became a constant presence at Wheeler End, Oasis's creative headquarters. It is the only Fireglo twelve-string Rickenbacker the band ever used: in every archive image showing an Oasis Fireglo twelve-string, this is the instrument.

The guitar has been screen-matched against photographs taken at Wheeler End — specific marks, scratches and small imperfections on the headstock coincide exactly with those visible in period images, confirming Gallagher's direct use beyond ambiguity. It also appears in Jill Furmanovsky's most recent book and in the group photograph taken at the Christian Dior mansion in Montauroux, France, during the sessions for Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (1999).

On the scratchplate, Gallagher's original signature and dedication: “God Bless / Noel Gallagher / X” — one of the clearest and most legible autographs he has ever applied, fully visible on the face of the instrument. The choice of a Rickenbacker is no accident: it is the brand historically bound to The Beatles, an obsession of Gallagher's both sonically and symbolically.

The handwritten lyrics for “Don't Look Back in Anger” that originally completed this set have since been sold; the guitar is offered here as a self-contained object. It was also offered at auction at Sotheby's New York, where it did not meet reserve — leaving the instrument available to a private collection.