Help! Beatles icon Sir Paul McCartney’s missing bass guitar is ‘worth £10 million’
A global hunt has been launched for Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney’s missing bass guitar – which he bought for £30 but could now be worth over £10million.
McCartney regularly brought the violin-shaped Höfner 500/1 electric bass on stage from 1961 to 1963 until it disappeared shortly before the band broke up at the end of Beatlemania.
McCartney, now 81, bought the instrument while the band was performing in Hamburg, Germany.
He previously said he “fell in love with it” because its shape looked 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 one final performance in 1969.
Since then there has been help! Superstar was on the hunt for Höfner.
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 the hit “Let it Be”.
ir Paul McCartney in concert last month
/ AFP via Getty ImagesThe guitar is also featured in Get Back, Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary.
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 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.”
Rumors range from a thief who stole the bass from a cupboard on Abbey Road to a story that it disappeared from the basement of the Beatles’ Savile Row offices.
Mr Wass added that the bass could be assessed “more like a Van Gogh or a Picasso than just an instrument”, adding: “This is the bass that Paul played in Hamburg, the Cavern Club and Abbey Road .”
“Paul would be so happy and thrilled if this bass could come back to him.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/paul-mccartney-missing-hofner-bass-guitar-global-search-beatles-hamberg-germany-b1104514.html Help! Beatles icon Sir Paul McCartney’s missing bass guitar is ‘worth £10 million’
