How To Sound Like Oasis: Get Noel Gallagher’s Sound & More

So you Definitely Maybe have been listening to legendary Oasis songs and been wonder(wall)ing just how they get their sound? In this blog, we will look into Oasis and the impact they have made on music, and what music gear they used during their worldwide success to give them that instantly recognizable sound.

The Impact of Oasis on Music Itself

Oasis was one of the most influential bands in the Britpop movement, along with Blur, Pulp, and Suede. Britpop was a British music style that was characterized by catchy melodies, guitar-driven sound, and British lyrics.

Spending ten weeks at number one on the British charts, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? was also an international chart success and became one of the best-selling albums of all time, the fifth-best-selling album in the UK and the best-selling album in the UK of the 1990s. You could  say that Oasis was responsible for bringing the United Kingdom into the musical spotlight during the 90s.

Let’s now have a look at the gear “Oasis” used to get that instantly recognisable sound!

Noel Gallagher

A Selection of Noel Gallagher's Guitars

Noel Gallagher has used many classic guitars over classic Oasis albums and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Noel notably used the Epiphone Les Paul Standard, Gibson Les Paul (’53 Conversion), Gibson Les Paul Custom, Gibson Firebird, Epiphone Riviera (Matsumoku), Epiphone Sheraton (Union Jack), Rickenbacker 330/6 (White), Gibson ES-345, Fender Jazzmaster Am. Pro, Fender “The Edge” Strat & an Epiphone Casino USA. To play acoustic songs such as “Wonderwall”, the Epiphone EJ-200, Gibson J-200 & Gibson J-45 was used on a regular basis.

Amps

Vox AC-30
Used in the pre-Defiantly Maybe era, when they(band) were doing small gigs. In the interview with Music Radar, Noel noted that he began using Vox AC-30 again with his new band, but can’t recall for sure if he ever recorded on one with Oasis – but nonetheless he used it live. The Vox AC-50 was part of his usual setup on stage since around the 2005.

Marshall JCM 900

Around the time of recording Oasis’ first album, Noel started using Marshall heads and cabinets. The usual setup was two JCM900 heads, each one connected with the Marshall cabinet. He definitely Maybe used these amps on most of the Oasis’ albums until 2000s.

Hiwatt SA-412 Combo
Noel played on a vintage model for a while during the 2008, until Hiwatt offered to make replicas for him to use. These new amps featured 2×12 speakers.

Hiwatt Custom 100
One of his most recent amps. He records with it and plays it live with High Flying Birds.

Fender Blues Junior
Used with late Oasis and more recent, High Flying Birds.

Orange Amplifiers
Noel used Orange amps throughout the late 90’s and until the early 2000’s.

A Selection of Noel Gallagher Inspired Pedals

Ibanez Tube Screamer
In the early days of Oasis, Noel did not use pedals: “I used to just turn up the amps as full as I could get them”. Since then, he has begun using a large number of effects, but singled out the Ibanez Tube Screamer.

Way Huge Aqua Puss
Usually used at the end of Oasis shows to make pitch shifting noises!

Other notable pedals include the Boss Digital Delay, Boss AB-2, ZVEX LoFi Loop Junky, Dunlop Crybaby 535Q & the Digitech Whammy.

Oasis Inspired Pedalboard

This pedalboard “definately maybe” is perfect for playing the classics from Oasis and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Go from anything from a clean acoustic tone, all the way to the legendary distorted riffs from Champagne Supernova. The Tape Machine delay and Tiny Spring reverb give your tone the perfect flavour to make you feel like you are playing on the Knebworth stage back in ’96.

This bundle contains incredible tone, with a pedalboard to mount the pedals on, complete with the power supply needed so you have everything ready to go! You certainly will not look back in anger.

Paul Arthurs (Bonehead)

Arthurs is a multi-instrumentalist, credited as having played piano and mellotron on (Whats the Story) Morning Glory. Arthurs briefly shifted to bass guitar in the middle of the Oasis 1995 US Tour – a man of many talents.

A Selection of Paul Arthurs' Gear

Liam Gallagher

Liam Gallagher’s interest in music developed after he was hit on the head by a hammer during a fight as a teenager! Not too shabby to then become one of the most recognised voices on British music ever! Gallagher’s voice has been compared to a blend of John Lennon, Johnny Rotten, and Ian Brown.

Liam never had vocal lessons. He just recorded himself singing Beatles songs.

We’ve highlighted some of the mics he’s used over the years for his signature studio/live sound – but he’s also famous for playing the tambourine, which can be heard on the hits “Don’t Look Back In Anger”, “Some Might Say” & why not “Live Forever”?

The Liam Gallagher Signature Sound

Conclusion

So there you have it! An insight into very notable pieces of the music gear used in Oasis, and some recommendations that are as near as possible to get that Oasis tone, so you can become a “Rock “N” Roll star” for yourself!