Gibson SG Special Formerly Owned by Greg Sage

Greg Sage (b. 1951) played this left-handed 1969 Gibson SG electric guitar from 1977 – 1999 as guitarist, songwriter and vocalist of Portland, Oregon Punk Rock band the Wipers. The guitar was Sage’s primary guitar throughout the entire span of the Wiper’s career. 

As one of the most influential bands in the history of Pacific Northwest punk rock, the Wipers directly inspired myriad indie bands, including Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, who recorded the Wipers’ classics “Return of the Rat” and “D-7,” playing them frequently in their live set. Mark Arm, vocalist and guitarist for Grunge band Mudhoney, during a 2007 oral history with MoPOP, opined: “Greg Sage was a Punk Rock musical genius and he did this song called ‘The Youth of America,’ which was a sort of extended Psychedelic workout in 1981, at a time when Punk Rock was getting more and more codified and the rules were becoming stricter and tighter. He was just expanding things despite what you’re supposed to do if you were Punk Rock at that time.” 

In 1977, Sage formed the Wipers (whose name referred to his window washing job), just as Punk Rock in Portland was beginning to develop. The early local scene centered around the Revenge Club, Euphoria, the Earth Tavern and the Long Goodbye, with bands such as Sado Nation, the Neo Boys, and King Bee often joining the Wipers on stage. Sage was an iconoclast, and as the vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for the Wipers, produced a body of work of unique vision and lasting scope that has outlived all of its Portland Punk contemporaries.