Help! A global search is launched for Paul McCartney’s missing bass guitar, which he bought for £30 and could now be worth more than £10million
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A global search has been launched to track down Paul McCartney’s missing bass guitar, which he bought for £30 – and which could now be worth more than £10million.
Despite the guitar’s low price when he purchased it in 1961, the instrument became an integral part of the rise of Beatlemania, with McCartney regularly bringing it on stage from 1961 to 1963 until it disappeared shortly before the band collapsed.
He bought the guitar in Germany while the band was playing in Hamburg. McCartney previously said he “fell in love with it” because its shape made it look more symmetrical when he played left-handed.
It was last seen in the days before McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison climbed to the roof of their Savile Row offices for their final performance in 1969.
Since then, the 81-year-old McCartney has been looking for his “favorite guitar,” a Höfner 500/1 violin-shaped electric bass.
The bass was last seen when McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison climbed to the roof of their Savile Row offices for their final performance in 1969
McCartney bought the guitar in Germany while the band was playing in Hamburg. McCartney previously said he “fell in love with it” because its shape made it look more symmetrical when he played left-handed
The instrument can also be seen in Get Back, the 2021 documentary by Peter Jackson
Although he briefly put it aside during his time in the band, he picked it up again for recording sessions in London when the group recorded Let it Be. The instrument can also be seen in Get Back, the 2021 documentary by Peter Jackson.
Now Höfner has stepped in to help the musician in his desperate search for the instrument, which is now worth at least £10 million due to its long musical history.
The search was launched online with the hashtag “tracingthebass,” inviting people from around the world to help find the bass.
Höfner basses were the preferred brand for McCartney throughout his career. He has owned four Höfner basses since 1961 and still plays one of the basses that the German company gave him.
Höfner managing director Nick Wass told the Sunday Telegraph: “I have worked closely with Paul McCartney’s team over the years and when I met Paul we talked about his first Höfner bass and where he might be today.”
“Paul said to me, ‘Heh, since you’re from Höfner, couldn’t you help me find my bass?’ And that was the trigger for this great hunt.”
Despite the guitar’s low price when he purchased it in 1961, the instrument became an integral part of the rise of Beatlemania, and McCartney regularly brought it on stage from 1961 to 1963
Theories about what happened to the instrument range from rumors that a thief stole the bass from a cupboard on Abbey Road to the story that it disappeared in the basement of the Beatles’ Savile Row offices .
Mr. Wass added that the bass could be valued “more like a Van Gogh or a Picasso than just an instrument.”
“This is the bass that Paul played in Hamburg, the Cavern Club and Abbey Road,” he said.
“Paul would be so happy and thrilled if this bass could come back to him.”