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Paul McCartney reunited with stolen Höfner bass after more than 50 years
Following an appeal for information by the Lost Bass Project last year, the instrument is now back where it belongs.
Image: Rob Verhorst / Redferns / Getty Images
It’s official: The Höfner bass that Paul McCartney used in the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions has finally been found, more than 50 years after it was stolen off the back of a van in London.
Last September, the Lost Bass Project announced their mission to reunite the Beatle with his beloved 1961 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar, in a search that Telegraph and Rolling Stone journalist Scott Jones described as “the most exciting challenge I’ve ever faced”.
Breaking the news in a Facebook post last night, The Fab 5 revealed that the bass was returned to McCartney last September.
“Rauidhri Guest inherited the bass from his dad who recently passed away and the bass had been previously sitting in his attic in Hastings, England apparently restrung right handed, and he not knowing who it once belonged to for all these years,” the post explained.
“Sources said the family – who found the Hofner in a loft while clearing a house – are said to have approached Sir Paul and reps at his home. The guitar has been inspected and authenticated as genuine. When it was found, the family are said to have had no idea at the treasure in their attic, at first.”
BREAKING NEWS: Paul McCartney’s original 1961 Hofner bass, custom ordered through the Steinway shop in Hamburg, Germany,…
Posted by The Fab 5 on Thursday, February 15, 2024
Macca has also confirmed the news on his website, stating: “Following the launch of last year’s Lost Bass project, Paul’s 1961 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar, which was stolen in 1972, has been returned. The guitar has been authenticated by Höfner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved.”
According to the Lost Bass project, the Höfner is complete and still with its original case, though it will need some repairs to make it playable again.
The left-handed violin bass was the first McCartney ever owned, hastily purchased for £30 in Hamburg in 1961 when bassist Stuart Sutcliffe dropped out of The Beatles and Paul was elected to fill in for him.
After the bass went missing, McCartney purchased a new Höfner in 1963, and continued to use it throughout the rest of the Beatles’ career.