John Lennon’s custom electric guitar sold for $408,000 at auction

A custom electric guitar played by both John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles sold for $408,000 at a New York auction.

The semi-hollow custom Vox guitar features two symmetrical flared shoulders on the upper body.

It was made in 1966 and used by Harrison to play "I Am The Walrus" for a scene from Magical Mystery Tour in 1967.

Lennon also played the guitar in a video for "Hello, Goodbye" later that year.

The Beatles later gave the instrument to a close friend of the band, Alexis "Magic Alex" Mardas, as a 25th birthday present.

A plaque on the back reads: "To Magic Alex/ Alexi thank you/ for been [sic] a friend/ 2-5-1967 John."

Julien's Auctions staged the sale at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manhattan, where the guitar fetched far more than its original pre-auction estimate of between 200,000 and 300,000.

The sale was a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own one of the rarest pieces of Beatles memorabilia ever to be offered," the auction house said.

The guitar was previously on display at a museum in Ireland and was sold a few years ago by Christie's Auction House for more than $100,000.