Steve Jones’ white 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom used with the Sex Pistols

More than just a guitar, this 1974 Les Paul Custom revolutionized music, defied political and social norms, provoked the British monarchy, and accompanied an entire culture of rebellion and anger. It is one of the two guitars used by Steve Jones for the recording of the seminal Sex Pistols album, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977), and the main guitar he used later in concert.

A guitar of sweaty, electrifying venues, anthems full of rage and fury, and sharp, precise riffs, Steve Jones’ white Les Paul Custom has entered punk history alongside Johnny Rotten’s nonchalant and insolent attitude. Saying it sparked a revolution is bold. However, it remains one of the most subversive instruments in recent Western political history. Closely watched, criticized, then censored, this guitar holds far more than notes ready to sound — it embodies the very essence of punk revolution and its ideals.

Although this guitar entered posterity in Steve Jones’ hands, its story is far richer than its “mere” time with the UK’s most powerful punk band. It was originally one of Syl Sylvain’s instruments, the iconic guitarist of the punk band New York Dolls. Legend has it that their manager at the time, the same Malcolm McLaren who founded the Sex Pistols, seized this guitar as payment and later entrusted it to his new protégé Steve Jones. The guitar bore two seductive pin-up stickers on its body, setting it apart from all others.

It mysteriously disappeared after a failed Sex Pistols tour in the United States in 1978, shrouded in all the fantasies and ghosts such a cultural relic inspires. The legendary Les Paul reappeared in 2024, acquired by Matt’s Guitar Shop after a lengthy authentication process. Allegedly sold several times by Steve Jones himself, this 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom is indeed the original.

Driven by a passion for sharing and a desire to place historic instruments into a contemporary narrative, Matt’s Guitar Shop regularly loans this guitar to artists influenced by the Sex Pistols. It was played by Billie Joe Armstrong with Green Day in June 2024, then by Craig Ross with Lenny Kravitz and by Yungblud in July 2024, and most recently by Deryck Whibley with Sum 41 for the band’s final European concert. These artists thus remind us how much the Sex Pistols built a movement and revolutionized punk.