DHAKA: An electric guitar played by George Harrison on British television before the Beatles’ US ‘invasion’ fetched $657,000 at auction on Saturday in New York, topping pre-sale estimates.

Julien’s Auctions said, reports Hindustan Times.

Harrison, who died in 2001 at age 58, played the black-and-white 1962 Rickenbacker 425 electric guitar on 1963 appearances on the British TV shows Ready Stead Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars with the Beatles.

Harrison also played the guitar during the sessions when the Beatles recorded I Want to Hold Your Hand and This Boy in October 1963, months before they brought Beatlemania to the United States, launching the British Invasion of rock bands.

The guitar was estimated to sell between $400,000 and $600,000, Julien’s said ahead of the auction.

Harrison bought the guitar in 1963 in Mount Vernon, Illinois, while visiting his sister in the United States, the auction house said.

BDST: 1808 HRS, MAY 18, 2014