Hold on to your riffs and leads, guitarists, this news is about to put your whammy bars to shame.

John Lennon's acoustic guitar sold at an auction in California for a whopping $2.4 million.

The 1962 J-160E Gibson, which was stolen from the legendary Beatles member, had been in John McCaw's possession since the late 1960s. Auctioneer Darren Julien said McCaw said he had no idea it had been stolen from Lennon, or that it had even belonged to him.

The matching serial number and wood grain of the instrument, among other things, were used by Beatles gear expert Andy Babiuk to determine the guitar's authenticity. The buyer of the historically significant instrument requested to remain anonymous.

Lennon is thought to have written and consequently recorded several hit songs with the 1962 J-160E Gibson guitar, including "This Boy," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You," "From Me to You" and "Please Please Me."

Lennon bought the guitar in September 1962 at Rushworth's Music House in Liverpool for £161 or about $242. Over 50 years later, the guitar resurfaced in a second-hand shop in the U.S., and was purchased by McCaw.

"Its importance in Beatles history cannot be overstated; this guitar is intimately bound to the early career of The Beatles," said Julien.

Lennon's J-160E is one of the most illustrious guitars to hit the auction. The Gibson remains unsullied - no hardware or electronic modifications have been made to it.

The instrument has broken the $965,000 record for Bob Dylan's electric guitar that he played at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

"I knew it would go over $1m; I had no idea it would go over $2m," Julien shared.

That same day, a Beatles drum head was also sold at the auction for $2.1 million. The Beatles used the drum head during their appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

Below are images of the guitar, as posted by Julien's Live:

Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.