Popular Culture
Popular Culture
A Gibson Flying V Electric Guitar Formerly Owned By Johnny Marr, Used By Noel Gallagher During The Monnow Valley Sessions Prior To The Final Recording Of Oasis’ 1994 Debut Album ‘Definitely Maybe’ At Sawmills Studio
Lot Closed
September 12, 01:45 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Serial number 82590004 and Made in USA to rear of headstock, 1980, solid mahogany body and neck with black finish, Indian rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, two pickups, three-way selector switch, three rotary controls, with white pickguard; in shaped hard-shell case with blue plush-lining.
Used by Noel Gallagher during the Monnow Valley Studio sessions for ‘Definitely Maybe’ in January 1994. Previously studio-used by Johnny Marr.
Accompanied by provenance documents comprising:
A Manchester/New York import note dated 22nd August 1989.
A handwritten & signed postcard from Johnny Marr, dated 2019.
A Sonic Editions black & white photographic print, no. 5/250, photo by Michael Spencer Jones, of Noel and Liam Gallagher during the 'Definitely Maybe' sessions at the Monnow Valley Studios in Wales, 26th January 1994.
A Fujfilm polaroid illustrating the guitar, undated.
Dimensions
The guitar 43 1/2in (110cm) long
The case 48in (122cm) long; 18 1/2in (47cm) wide; 4in (10cm) high
Provenance
The collection of Johnny Marr, 1989.
Lent by the above to Noel Gallagher in January 1994 for the ‘Definitely Maybe’ recording sessions at Monnow Valley Studios.
Acquired directly from Johnny Marr by the current owner in 2019.
Usage
8th-24th January, 1994 Monnow Valley Studios, Monmouth
Image Captions
Detail from a Sonic Editions photographic print, no. 5/250, photo by Michael Spencer Jones (included in the present Lot). Noel Gallagher with the present Lot at Monnow Valley Studio, January 1994.
This lot contains Dalbergia latifolia (Indian Rosewood), which is an endangered species. However, finished musical instruments, finished musical instrument parts, and finished musical instrument accessories of Dalbergia latifolia are exempt from CITES regulation. Sotheby’s recommends that buyers check with their own government regarding any importation requirements prior to placing a bid, as lots containing endangered species may be subject to import restrictions in certain countries or necessitate licenses and certificates for export from some and import into others.
“Johnny Marr sent down some guitars because I only had one guitar and Bonehead had one guitar.”
- Noel Gallagher on the Monnow Valley Sessions.
“I then lent [the Flying V] to Noel Gallagher who used it on Definitely Maybe, recording Cigarettes & Alcohol & possibly more.”
- Johnny Marr, 2019
This Gibson Flying V is representative of one of the most significant guitar lineages of the 1990s: between Johnny Marr, virtuosic guitarist formerly of The Smiths and the The, and Noel Gallagher, on the cusp of Oasis’ global success. Originally obtained by Marr in 1989, he had used it on some sessions of his own before lending it among a group of his instruments to Noel in January 1994.
By this point, Oasis was working on the latest in a string of studio sessions building towards the album ‘Definitely Maybe’, this time at Monnow Valley Studios near Monmouth, Wales.
“… A few of Johnny Marr’s guitars, including a Flying V which he used on ‘Slide Away’.”
- Engineer Dave Scott on Noel Gallagher at Monnow Valley Studios, Melody Maker, 1st October 1994.
In addition to the Flying V, Marr had sent his iconic black & white Rickenbacker used during his time in The Smiths; and a Gibson Les Paul conversion (itself formerly owned by Pete Townshend). The latter guitar quickly became one of Noel’s favoured guitars played live in 1994 and 1995. The precise extent of its track usage at Monnow Valley Studio may differ according to contemporaries and engineers, but Michael Spencer Jones’ photography at the time shows Noel playing this Flying V beside Liam during these formative studio sessions.
The Flying V returned to Marr’s collection sometime after Monnow Valley, but the Flying V was a model that Noel would revisit. In the 1997 Oasis music video of ‘D’You Know What I Mean’, Noel plays a Gibson Flying V ’97 reissue with the same ebony finish as Marr’s guitar which he had used four years earlier.
