Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has snapped up the guitar John Lennon used to record the Beatles' Paperback Writer after the instrument failed to sell at auction last year (Nov14).

Lennon's cousin David Birch pulled the Gretsch guitar from the auction block after it failed to reach its $600,000 (£400,000) reserve.

Guitar collector Irsay noted the collapse of the sale and offered Birch $530,000 (£353,000) for the 6120 Chet Atkins hollow body guitar.

The American football team boss tells Rolling Stone magazine, "The John Lennon guitar used on Paperback Writer and other sessions with the Beatles is a significant piece of history. John Lennon's guitars are as special as it gets. Instruments like this rarely become available, so anything John Lennon used is some of the most important historical musical archives that exist on the planet."

Lennon reportedly gifted the guitar to Birch in 1967 after learning his cousin had started a band.

Irsay boasts a collection of over 175 guitars, including ones owned by Les Paul, Jerry Garcia and Bob Dylan.