Oasis guitar sells for record £226,800 as Noel Gallagher Epiphone makes £12,000

An acoustic guitar played by Noel Gallagher at Oasis’s 1996 MTV Unplugged gig has sold at auction for £226,800, in what its sellers described as a world record. BBC News reported that Hertfordshire-based Propstore said it was the highest price achieved at auction for an Oasis acoustic guitar, and that the instrument was signed by Gallagher.

A second BBC News report covered a separate auction at Littleton Auctions in Worcestershire, where another Noel Gallagher guitar, a limited edition Epiphone in Manchester City blue, sold for £12,000.

Key facts from the Oasis memorabilia sales

Item	Result
Gallagher’s MTV Unplugged acoustic guitar (Propstore)	£226,800, described as a world record
Gallagher’s Manchester City blue Epiphone (Littleton Auctions)	£12,000
Early Oasis photographs	£5,400
Early Oasis demo tape	£3,600
Original concert ticket for The Rain	£2,400
Kangol rain jacket for touring staff	£2,000

The £226,800 Unplugged guitar

The guitar was sold on the first day of Propstore’s Music Live Auction, on Thursday. Mark Hochman, the company’s music specialist, said setting a world record with the MTV Unplugged guitar was “a fantastic result and a testament to the lasting connection fans have with Oasis”. He added that the results “show how much collectors value pieces with a personal connection to the artists and their music”.

The Oasis guitar was not the top lot. BBC News said the day’s highest-selling item was a notebook belonging to Freddie Mercury, containing handwritten working lyrics and notes from the Mr. Bad Guy recording sessions, which fetched £277,200. A Yamaha C3 Grand Piano that Mercury used to compose Crazy Little Thing Called Love sold for £81,900, with BBC News saying it had been expected to make at least £200,000. The broadcaster said the piano was played at Munich’s Musicland Studios.

A black and gold military-style jacket gifted by Michael Jackson to the Norwegian rapper and dancer Omer Bhatti, and worn at multiple public appearances during the Dangerous and HIStory eras, also sold for £226,800. In one day, every item sold, for a combined total of £2.5m, BBC News reported. The auction included lots from the collection of German producer Reinhold Mack, who worked with Queen on several albums in the 1980s.

A £12,000 Epiphone from Noel Gallagher

The Littleton Auctions guitar was made in 1997. According to the auctioneer, it is believed to be one of five identical instruments that the manufacturer gave to Noel Gallagher, and it was later given to Huw Richards, a former front-of-house sound engineer with the band. It was among a number of items put up for sale by Richards’s son.

BBC News said other lots from the Richards collection included a Kangol rain jacket made for the band’s touring personnel, which sold for £2,000. A set of 11 framed platinum discs for What’s the Story Morning Glory also made £2,000. They were presented to Richards by Creation Records to recognise UK sales of more than 3.3 million copies. Tour itineraries, promotional material and a Be Here Now wristwatch were also in the sale.

Other Oasis lots, and one that did not sell

Other sellers added to the sale. A rare original concert ticket for The Rain, the Manchester band that later became Oasis, sold for £2,400, and an early Oasis demo tape went for £3,600. A collection of early Oasis photographs fetched £5,400, and a pair of leather shoes that once belonged to Noel Gallagher sold for £1,200.

One high-value item failed. A baby grand piano that featured in the artwork for the Supersonic single, valued at between £100,000 and £150,000, did not sell, BBC News reported.

The Desk Tapes dispute

The sale also had an absence. A set of unheard Oasis recordings valued at between £1.2m and £1.6m was pulled from the auction after the band filed an injunction. Known as The Desk Tapes, the collection includes recordings of 63 live shows, soundchecks and more than 100 hours of rehearsals from the band’s rise in the 1990s.

Littleton Auctions said it had agreed to postpone the sale of the tapes until the legal dispute has been resolved. The two sales therefore offer a split picture, with strong prices for the surviving instruments and memorabilia, while the most highly valued Oasis item has been withdrawn.

Frequently asked questions

How much did Noel Gallagher’s MTV Unplugged guitar sell for?

BBC News reported that the signed acoustic guitar from Oasis’s 1996 MTV Unplugged gig sold at Propstore for £226,800, which the company said was a world record for an Oasis acoustic guitar.

What did Noel Gallagher’s Epiphone guitar sell for?

BBC News reported that a limited edition Epiphone in Manchester City blue, believed to be one of five given to Noel Gallagher, sold for £12,000 at Littleton Auctions.

What happened to the Oasis Desk Tapes?

BBC News said the unheard recordings, valued at £1.2m to £1.6m, were pulled from the sale after the band filed an injunction, and the auctioneer agreed to postpone it until the legal dispute is resolved.