Epiphone 150th Anniversary: Featuring the Guitars of Noel Gallagher at the British Music Experience is a temporary exhibition charting the history of this iconic instrument brand through the guitars of one of its most loyal artists, Noel Gallagher. Epiphone 150th Anniversary: Featuring the Guitars of Noel Gallagher will run from 27 September 2023 to 14 January 2024 and will feature four of Noel’s private Epiphone guitar collection.
From the timeless cool of the jazz age through the looking glass of 1960s psychedelia to the wall of sound of 1990s Britpop and today’s eclectic scene, Epiphone instruments have remained central to pop culture’s “big bang” moments. The Casino, the Texan, the Sheraton, the Riviera – model names that chime with guitarists everywhere, inspiring awe and desire in equal measure, whether you are a Beatle or a beginner. What most people don’t realise, however, is that Epiphone’s history stretches back even further than Gibson’s, beginning 150 years ago in a port on the Aegean Sea in what is now Turkey.
A very American tale recounts the story of the Stathopoulo family’s journey from Greece and the Ottoman Empire to the streets of Manhattan and the eldest son, Epaminondas or Epi for short, taking his immigrant family’s honed craftmanship and leading the charge on modernizing instrument manufacturing for the rapidly changing times. Epiphone, meaning Epi’s voice, set its sights on rivalling the other great American guitar manufacturer, Gibson. Following the tragic death of Epi from leukaemia in 1943, the company fell on hard times. In the 1950’s on the recommendation of Les Paul himself, Gibson successfully purchased Epiphone for $20,000 and set the stage for a new era in instrument design and creation.
The modern age has seen Epiphone blossom into a company that truly does offer an instrument For Every Stage of the journey as a player progresses from beginner to musician, singer-songwriter, or social media creators.
Moving into 2023, Epiphone has grand plans for its 150th Anniversary year, including a raft of exciting new product releases, special events, activities with signature artists, and much more besides. Here’s to the next 150 years – the House of Stathopoulo has never been in better health.
To mark the anniversary from a British perspective, the temporary exhibition at the British Music Experience, will feature some of Noel Gallagher’s most treasured guitars. Noel Gallagher’s love for Epiphone started with The Beatles. Thirty years after Revolver, Epiphone instruments were used throughout the sessions for albums Definitely Maybe and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, and, in 1996, Oasis headlined two epic shows at Knebworth, with Noel using a 1990s USA-made Sheraton for the era-defining performances. While he used a wide range of guitars, pedals, and amplifiers throughout his career, Gallagher often used an Epiphone Les Paul in Cherry Sunburst, two Epiphone Sheratons, and the Beatles’ favourite Epiphone Casino.
“I wanted to start playing Epiphones because of the Beatles,” says Noel Gallagher. “I didn’t know anything about guitars then. They looked good; they felt good, I could make them sound good. I’m a songwriter, not a guitar player. You know, that’s my thing. I’m not one of those people who can sit in a guitar shop and play lots of things. I will literally play an E chord, and if it had sounded great and felt good, I would have just said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take it.’”
To mark 150 years of Epiphone, Noel has kindly loaned four of his private guitar collection for this exhibition, including his Epiphone Riviera with Bigsby from the Definitely Maybe album cover and his Epiphone Frontier FT110 used on the (What’s the Story) Morning Glory recording.
