Noel Gallagher has played many iconic Gibson and Epiphone semis over the years, both with Oasis and in his solo work. But few are as significant as his beautiful Cherry Red ES-355, which, until now, had never been replicated by Gibson. But with the company’s Murphy Lab currently producing more accurately aged guitars than ever, the time seemed ripe to capture the detail of Noel’s original – astunning 1960 model with an unusually slim neck – in a highly accurate limited-run replica of that celebrated 355, plus a more affordable Epiphone Riviera model based on another of his Oasis instruments. Lee Bartram, Gibson’s head of marketing operations EU and lifelong Oasis fan, tells us the story.