Guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison sells for $408,000
A custom-made electric guitar played by the late John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles has sold at a New York auction for $408,000.
Martin Nolan, Executive Director of Julien's Auction's, holds a rare Vox guitar, played by Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison, built by Mike Bennett and Dickey Denney which was gifted to ìMagic Alexî Mardas by Lennon in 1967 Photo: AFP/GETTY
By Reuters 9:20AM BST 19 May 2013
The semi-hollow-body guitar, manufactured by the VOX company, was sold to an unidentified US buyer at the "Music Icons" event organised by California-based Julien's Auctions and held at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manhattan.
Julien's said previously it expected the guitar, which was the centrepiece of Saturday's sale, to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000.
Harrison played the instrument, distinguished by two symmetrical flared shoulders on the upper body, while practising "I Am The Walrus," and Lennon used it in a video session for the song "Hello, Goodbye," according to a statement from Julien's Auctions.
Both songs were on the Beatles' 1967 album "Magical Mystery Tour."
The VOX guitar was a prototype instrument custom-built for Lennon in 1966, said Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien's. Lennon gave the VOX guitar as a gift in 1967 to Yanni "Magic Alex" Mardas, who was the electronics engineer for the band's Apple Records label, the auction house said.
The instrument, displayed in recent weeks at a museum in Ireland before the sale, was sold a few years ago by Christie's Auction House for a little over $100,000. Nolan said the latest buyer, who sent a representative to Saturday's auction to bid on his behalf, wished to remain anonymous.
Lennon was shot to death in New York in 1980 by a deranged fan, and Harrison died of lung cancer in Los Angeles in 2001.
Edited by Bonnie Malkin
