Matthieu Lucas, the founder of Parisian artist guitar boutique Matt’s Guitar Shop, has built quite a reputation for his Indiana Jones-esque approach to excavating long-lost guitars.
Earlier this year, Lucas unearthed Eric Clapton’s ‘Summersburst’ Les Paul after it had been lost for 60 years. Now, another legendary guitar is set to hit the showroom in Paris and stages worldwide – Pete Townshend’s 1969 Gibson SG Special.
The Cherry Red guitar with two P90 pickups is forever etched into rock history after it was smashed onstage at a particularly chaotic show at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, on June 7, 1970.
Binky Philips, a superfan who had already been to 16 Who shows, was sitting outside the venue for days, hoping to nab a ticket. Turns out, he ended up nabbing more than he initially bargained for.
“Pete Townshend was familiar with Binky's face from seeing him coming to the shows,” Lucas tells Guitar World in an exclusive interview.
“During the show, Pete was soloing and was so much in fusion with his guitar that he didn't see that he was closer than he expected to his Hiwatt amps. He touched the amps and went way off-tune during a cover of Shakin’ All Over, which, of course, made him angry. This resulted in Pete throwing the guitar on the floor.
“A tech tried to grab the SG quickly to give Pete his spare guitar, but Pete didn't want his tech to grab the guitar and walked in his direction like, ‘No! Don't take this away!’ He walked on the guitar by accident, and that's how the headstock cracked. Funnily enough, this guitar was not destroyed intentionally that day.
“Binky and Pete made eye contact when the SG's headstock got cracked. Pete looked at Binky and said, ‘You ready?!’ That was Binky's moment.”
Philips ended up catching the guitar on the night of his 17th Who concert. As a true superfan, Binky sought to fix the guitar, so he took it to Charles LoBue – a popular luthier who also worked for Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley at the time. He managed to salvage it by grafting a new piece of wood onto the headstock, making the guitar playable again.
Lo and behold, Philips kept it for 56 years – until Lucas got in touch with a private collector who happened to know the Who superfan.
Lucas explains, “That guitar was Binky's pride and joy – his connection to his guitar hero. Now, it's time to be played again and enjoyed by somebody else. While it's with us, it's gonna be played by every musician who wants to play this on stage.”
So how did Lucas know that the SG is the real deal? “Well, you can tell this is the very strap Pete used during that show, and the story is well-known if you are a Pete fan,” he replies.
“Pete and Binky also stayed in touch over the years, and Pete knows about this very guitar. There are pics of Pete playing this guitar, and it's been featured in many exhibitions in the US over the last 15 years or so.
“I can tell you one thing: this guitar sounds like him. I had the chance to play this guitar through one of Pete's original Hiwatts and cranked the volume up to 10; this was the sound, the dynamic was there, the magic was there… This is without a doubt the most iconic guitar associated with Pete.”
Lucas’ long-standing ethos is that legendary guitars aren’t museum pieces, but need to be played again. So if you happen to be in Paris and fancy playing Pete's guitar... well, the door's open.
“Everybody is welcome to come to the shop and play it,” he insists. “Craig Ross [Lenny Kravitz’s guitarist] was supposed to play it in Central Park in September, but Mother Nature had other plans, and the show was cancelled due to wind and rain. I’m sure Craig can’t wait to play that guitar.
“Also, any younger bands who are inspired by Pete should reach out to me. The guitar is legendary, but it has to be played!”
Earlier this year, Lucas took Guitar World beyond the veil of the collectible guitar market.
