On June 18, guitar connoisseurs attending Green Day's concert at Accor Arena in Paris could spot Billie Joe Armstrong brandishing a 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom electric guitar.
This guitar, however, was not just any other 1970s Les Paul. Recently sold at auction for $390,000, it was previously owned by punk royalty Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols and Sylvian Sylvain from The New York Dolls.
The guitar's new owner, Matt Lucas from Matt’s Guitar Shop, facilitated this historic moment. “Over a year ago, I became a huge fan of the genealogy of music, and for me, The Sex Pistols changed the world in many ways,” he said. “Owning that very guitar was a dream I never even imagined!”
Lucas continues, “Billie Joe is, for me, one of the iconic inheritors of the punk legacy, and it was a perfect match. Green Day was on tour, so I reached out to him, and realized one of his guitar geek dreams was to play this guitar.”
Adding to the guitar's punk pedigree, Armstrong used the Les Paul to perform Green Day's politically charged Know Your Enemy, as well as tracks from Saviors, the album the band released earlier this year.
Given its age and years of intense use, the guitar needed some repairs to become playable again. As expected from a Pistols touring instrument, the guitar has multiple breaks and cracks. Plus, years of poorly ventilated and musty clubs, sweaty shows, and minimal care turned the guitar's original Arctic White finish into its now-iconic yellow hue.
“The bridge pickup coils were both damaged,” says Lucas. “Kloppman in Germany saved the original bobbins in three days. They are incredible! They saved the humbuckers that made the Sex Pistols.”
Lucas also masterminded Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy using Jeff Buckley's 1983 Fender Telecaster at a Paris concert in 2019, before selling it to Matt Bellamy of Muse.
As the CEO of Matt's Guitar Shop reveals, he hopes to facilitate more of these moments for fellow guitar enthusiasts.
“These legendary guitars should be played on stage by all,” he enthuses. “I'm committed to democratizing their access and will invite other artists to play Steve’s iconic guitar in the future. The door is open!”
