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Martin D-28E 1963 Ex Noel Gallagher
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Contrary to appearances, this Martin is 100% original! At the end of the 50's, the Nazarethbased brand decided to look into the electric market, seeing that the competing brands were very successful. But since Martin's engineers had always been very conservative and the production methods were already well established for their acoustics, they simply added two pickups to their three star models, creating the 00-18E, D-18E and D-28E.
Each was similar to its purely acoustic counterpart, with the unobtrusive addition of two DeArmond pickups, a three-way switch, and four knobs arranged in a line along the table. The problem with the concept was that the idea wasn't effective in any way: for the acoustic rendition, the addition of the pickups right on the table prevented vibrations, while for the electric rendition, the generous bass of the dreadnought had the unfortunate tendency to go immediately into feedback. Add to that the fact these guitars were much more expensive than their acoustic counterparts, and it is easy to understand why Martin stopped these series in 1963, making this D-28E a copy of the last year of production.
Of course, the beautiful Brazilian rosewood body that adorns all D-28s of the period is present, and the distinctive, personal sound of these series has come to find an audience among lo-fi aficionados looking for an instrument that is off the beaten path. The most significant exposure for this series came in 1993 with Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert, for which Kurt Cobain played a D-18E. This D-28E has the particularity of never having been modified except for a refretting (whereas the electronics of many vintage guitars have been touched up), which makes it exceptional.
But that's not all, as it was once owned by Noel Gallagher. The British legend used this Martin as a tool for inspiration before releasing it into the wild, where its well-rounded notes had no trouble convincing other musicians.
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Noel Gallagher
(1967)
Group : Oasis
Main guitar : Epiphone Sheraton
An absolute “must-hear” track : Supersonic
It is easy to forget when an excellent band Oasis was, since their music was often overshadowed by their frequent indiscretions and the media coverage of them. And yet, the boys from Manchester wrote some of the most beautiful songs of the 1990s, truly building the soundtrack for a decade in need of idols.
From Supersonic in 1994 to Falling Down in 2009, Oasis sold 75 million albums and topped the charts with eight singles. Of course, their music is deeply inspired by the Beatles of 1966, whose visual style and production approach they replicated. But they took that sound and brought it to their decade, updating it with songs that would probably not have been out of place on Revolver, such as Wonderwall or All Around The World.
As everyone knows, the band was led by the Gallagher brothers, Liam on vocals and Noel on guitar, even if on occasion Noel sings with his very endearing sound, such as on Don’t Look Back In Anger. Like the Kinks before them, the Gallagher brothers failed to keep their family quarrels outside the professional sphere and the group eventually exploded under the weight of them.
Since then, Noel has started his band High Flying Birds with an excellent eponymous first album in 2011, proof that the guitarist still has things to say artistically. He is still touring with that band, which is now on its third album, Who Built The Moon (2017). In terms of his guitar playing, Noel has not changed and remains faithful to the instruments he loved when he played in Oasis: he was firmly associated with an Epiphone Sheraton (the Epiphone version of the ES-335), and has played extensively on several semi-hollows in the same style, including a superb Cherry Red ES-355 and Epiphone Casino. He is also a fan of Les Pauls, in sunburst or other colours, and his favourite acoustic is of course the J-200, an instrument that remains associated with him to this day.
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