John Lennon's guitar fetches $408,000 at auction

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/may/19/john-lennon-guitar-fetches-auction

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A custom-made electric guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison has fetched $408,000 (£265,000) at an auction in New York.

The semi-hollow-body instrument, manufactured by VOX, was sold to an unnamed US buyer. It had been expected to fetch $200,000 to $300,000.

Harrison played the instrument, distinguished by symmetrical flared shoulders on the upper body, while practising I Am The Walrus; Lennon used it in a video for the song Hello, Goodbye, according to Julien's Auctions. Both songs were on the Beatles' 1967 album Magical Mystery Tour.

The VOX guitar was a prototype custom-built for Lennon in 1966, said Martin Nolan, executive director of the auction house. Lennon gave the instrument as a gift in 1967 to Yanni "Magic Alex" Mardas, the electronics engineer for the band's Apple Records label, he added.

The guitar, displayed in recent weeks at a museum in Ireland before the sale, was sold a few years ago by Christie's for a little over $100,000.