John Lennon’s lost “Help!” guitar was found in a British attic and sold at Julien’s Auctions in New York in May 2024 for $2,857,500. The auction house identified it as a Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar and linked it to Beatles recordings and the Help! film.
What happened to John Lennon’s “Help!” guitar?
According to Julien’s Auctions, the guitar had been out of view for more than 50 years when homeowners found it in an attic in the British countryside while moving. Julien’s co-founders Darren Julien and Martin Nolan traveled to the UK to inspect it. The auction house also said they recovered its original Australian-made Maton case from the trash.
Julien’s account traces the guitar’s later ownership to Gordon Waller of the British duo Peter & Gordon, who gave it to the band’s road managers. The auction house described the attic discovery and ownership history as part of the instrument’s provenance; the cited sale materials do not establish who owns it now or where it is currently kept.
What was the guitar, and how was it connected to the Beatles?
Julien’s described the instrument as a Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar. Its 2024 announcement associated it with Lennon and the Beatles’ Help! album and film, including the songs “Help!,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “It’s Only Love” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face.”
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- Contains 52 Favorite Beatles Songs
- Arranged Exclusively for the Guitar
- Lead and Rhythm Guitar Styles of George Harrison and John Lennon
- Written in Tablature
- 210 Pages
The auction house also said the guitar could be heard in the Rubber Soul sessions on “Girl” and on the rhythm track of “Norwegian Wood,” played by George Harrison. In its sale report, Julien’s said both Lennon and Harrison used the instrument during sessions for Help! and Rubber Soul. The house said it matched the guitar to session photographs for both albums and stills from the Help! film. These song and provenance details are Julien’s attributions, rather than independently verified findings presented here.
How much did John Lennon’s lost guitar sell for?
| Figure | What it refers to |
|---|---|
| $600,000–$800,000 | Julien’s Auctions’ announced presale estimate for the guitar in 2024. |
| $2,857,500 | Julien’s reported final sale price at its May 2024 auction in New York. |
| 98.5% | Julien’s reported sell-through rate for the first day of the broader Music Icons sale—not for this guitar alone. |
Julien’s called the instrument the fifth most expensive guitar ever sold in its 2024 sale report and said it set a record for the most expensive Beatles guitar sold at auction. The fifth-place ranking is a snapshot reported by the auction house in 2024, not a guarantee of its position in later market rankings.
Rank #2
- 72 Pages
- Includes 15 Songs
- Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook
- Softcover
Why did the discovery matter?
The guitar’s significance rests on the combination Julien’s described: a 12-string instrument associated with recordings from two major Beatles albums, an appearance in the Help! film, and a long period out of public view before its reported rediscovery. Photographic matches and the claimed chain of ownership were part of the auction house’s case for its historical connection.
Announcing the find, Julien’s co-founder and executive director Darren Julien called it “the greatest find of a Beatles guitar since Paul McCartney’s lost 1961 Höfner bass guitar.” He also compared its discovery to “finding a lost Rembrandt or Picasso” and said it “still looks and plays like a dream.” Those are promotional assessments by an auction-house representative, not neutral expert consensus or an independent condition evaluation.
Rank #3
- 21 Songs From The Legendary Singer/Songwriter
- Arranged For Piano And Guitar
- Includes Lyrics
- 88 Pages
The sale is complete: Julien’s announced the auction on April 23, 2024, for its May 29–30 Music Icons sale in New York, and later reported the guitar’s result. The cited auction-house materials do not identify the buyer or confirm the guitar’s present location or display status.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Format: Book & CD
- Version: Guitar TAB
- Instrument: Guitar
- Genre: Rock
- Category: Guitar Method or Supplement
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