Noel Gallagher’s 1990s Epiphone Sheraton “Union Jack”
According to most sources, Noel got this guitar from his then-girlfriend, Meg Mathews, sometime in 1996. He used it briefly during the Morning Glory tour, including the iconic shows at Maine Road. Thanks to these performances, the guitar became one of the most iconic Oasis instruments and is one that fans most often associate with Noel.
As for the custom design featuring the United Kingdom flag—or “Union Jack,” if you will—this was apparently also something Meg arranged for Noel.
The Origin Story, Specs
The guitar was most likely made in 1993 as part of a limited run of 250 Rivieras and 250 Sheratons produced in Gibson’s Nashville factory under the Epiphone brand, known as the “Nashville USA Collection.” Originally finished in sunburst, the commonly told story is that Meg Mathews had it repainted with the Union Jack design as a birthday present for Noel.
However, Noel’s birthday is on May 29th, and the guitar was already painted by April 1996, when Oasis played Maine Road—raising doubts about the accuracy of this story.
Furthermore, footage from Top of the Pops in February 1996 shows Noel playing the Union Jack Sheraton during “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” However, this guitar has a noticeable difference: it lacks fret markers on the 15th, 17th, and 19th frets. By the Maine Road shows in April 1996, the Union Jack Sheraton Noel used clearly had fret markers in those positions.
Most forums speculate that the later fret markers were either stickers or newly added inlays. This is probably true, because the guitar wouldn’t have those markers fromt he factory, however, during a 2023 episode of the Matt Morgan Podcast, Noel clarified that these were actually two different guitars. The guitar used on Top of the Pops (and later on the Jay Leno Show in 1997) was a backup, while the one played at Maine Road has since gone missing, according to Noel.
This revelation raises questions. If there were at least two Union Jack Sheratons, did Meg arrange for both to be painted? Or was she even involved at all?
Furthermore, Noel claimed the Maine Road guitar is missing, yet a Union Jack Sheraton with fret markers was displayed in recent Oasis museum exhibits—seemingly the same guitar from Maine Road. This directly contradicts Noel’s account.
And to add another layer of confusion to all of this—Noel also played another Epiphone Sheraton in 1996, a sunburst-colored one. Strangely enough, this guitar followed the exact same pattern: it initially didn’t have fretboard markers on the 15th, 17th, and 19th frets, but some months later, they appeared. It’s essentially the same story as the Union Jack Sheraton.
In the end, the full story remains uncertain, but if you happen to know any details we might have missed, be sure to leave a comment below
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I met oasis when they were recording in ridge farm recording studios in Capel, Dorking back when I was an aspiring guitarist.
Myself and a friend walked down some country lane for mikes before we found it, and when we knocked, a guy and his wife answered but were just leaving.
We said we were here to meet the lads, and he said they weren’t there but would be back in a week and to come back then, he then kindly drove us back to a bus stop a few miles away, when I asked what he did, he said he was their engineer/guitar tech, the guitar already had icon status and I asked if he had any part in it and he said yeah I painted it!!
We went back a week later and met him, bonehead, guigsey and Alan, had some photos, they signed a poster and book, which we left with the engineer to get the brothers to sign.
My dad took us back a cpl days later and the studio was deafening even outside but sure enough the engineers there to answer and give us all the fully signed gear!
I can’t remember that legends name, and he may have just been trying to impress a couple of impressionable young lads, but he done us a solid and I believed him!
If anyone can work out who their engineer was whilst at ridge farm, I’d like to know – top top man.
Anyway, I was googling the subject, read the article and thought I would post.
When Noel says one went missing, I assume it means that the sunburst Sheraton went missing. It got reported “missing” in lockdown when Noel was moving studios. He does misremember details sometimes so must assume that he meant the Knebworth one went missing and not the Maine Road one!