“I used it in the Damned, playing with Iggy… That guitar was part of me”: The Damned frontman Brian James’ ‘New Rose’ Gibson SG sells for over $95,000

The Gibson SG that the late Brian James of the Damned used to officially inaugurate punk rock as an art form has been sold at auction for more than $95,000, smashing its estimate nearly five times over.

This electric guitar should need little introduction. The SG was the headline lot in Bonham’s 50 Years of Punk auction – and it was there throughout James’ time with the band.

Check out the picture at the top of the page. That live shot of James with the SG was taken onstage at the Rainbow Theatre, in London, as he played his last show with the punk pioneers on April 8, 1978.

It was the one that James used to record New Rose, the first punk single ever to be released in the UK when it dropped on October 22, 1976. And it was the one he used for the recording of the English punks’ Promethean debut, Damned Damned Damned, and on its follow-up, Music for Pleasure.

Little wonder the SG destroyed the pre-auction estimates which had valued it at £15,000 tops (approximately $20,429).

With two albums released in 1977, the Damned were in a hurry to reconfigure rock ’n’ roll. And they succeeded.

It is a testament to their legacy that James’ hand-written lyrics to New Rose also exceeded all pre-event expectations, fetching £15,360 ($20,940 approx).

Even without its historical significance, this guitar is a very special instrument. A 1964 model, sold from the Brian James Estate, bearing the serial number #155983, it comes fitted with a Maestro vibrola, engraved with the Lyre logo (the whammy bar itself looks to be missing), and has a most-desirable Brazilian fingerboard.

One cool detail which makes us think of Kirk Hammett’s Greeny is that we have mismatched knobs, with three ‘Top Hat Speed Control’ knobs with silver inserts joined by one gold Speed Knob.

Also, this guitar was played. James also used it during his stint with Iggy Pop.

He would later switch to a Fender Telecaster for the Lords of the New Church. James liked his guitars to be straight-up rock ’n’ roll machines.

Speaking to his biographer, John Wombat, he explained the change.

“I’m a Telecaster man, now,” said James. “Before, I used to play a Gibson SG, I played that all the way up to the Lords, I used it in the Damned, playing with Iggy, back in Bastard even… That guitar was part of me. With the Lords, I really wanted a change of guitar.

“Going back to the Damned [for the 2021 reunion shows], I’ll try everything, I’ve got a buddy that I work with and we’ll try a range of guitars and amps, maybe a bit of Tele, a bit of SG, maybe another guitar too, who knows. We’ll see.”

James died in March 2025, aged 70.

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to publications including Guitar World, MusicRadar and Total Guitar. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.