Paul McCartney recovers the legendary violin-shaped bass he lost when the Beatles broke up

Fans of The Beatles would recognize him immediately.

The violin-shaped electric bass played by Paul McCartney was another hallmark of the group's identity.

From the Höfner brand, he bought it in 1961 for thirty pounds at the time (adding inflation, today it would be almost a thousand euros) in Hamburg, where the band spent almost two years playing in clubs.

Its symmetrical shape, which made it easier for a left-handed composer and singer like McCartney to handle, immediately made it a favorite fetish.

Almost half a century after it was lost, a global campaign has managed to recover the instrument and return it to its original owner.

More information

The Beatles, the secret behind music

The bass was lost shortly after the band broke up in 1970. There was speculation that it had been stolen from the Abbey Road studios, or from the rehearsal space the band used on Savile Row (in the building on whose roof they performed that legendary surprise concert, where a McCartney played the Höfner 500/1).

The singer himself and the Höfner house assure that the theft occurred on October 10, 1972, in the London neighborhood of Notting Hill, during the transport by van of some of the band's material, which had already ceased to exist by then.

Nick Wass, a former electric guitar salesman and designer who worked for Höfner, and journalist couple Naomi and Scott Jones, all of them fervent followers of the Liverpool band, launched the

Lost Bass Project campaign.

(Lost Bass Project), and managed to activate a global search for the instrument, encouraged by the media and a

Beatlemania

that has never disappeared.

The bass has remained for all these years collecting dust in the attic of a family in the Hastings neighborhood, in the British capital.

Ruaidhri Guest, the 21-year-old son, has revealed the news of the instrument's appearance on social media.

“To my friends and family, I inherited this instrument that has already been returned to Paul McCartney.

Share the news”, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

To my friends and family I inherited this item which has been returned to Paul McCartney.

Share the news.

pic.twitter.com/BlKP4L2ELP

— Rassilon Productions (Ruaidhri Guest) (@RassilonP) February 13, 2024

Paul McCartney, 81, confirmed the news on his official website.

“Following last year's release of the Lost Bass Project, Paul's 1961 Höfner 500/1 guitar, stolen in 1972, has returned.

“The bass has been authenticated by Höfner and Paul is incredibly grateful to everyone who has made this possible,” a statement reads.

When the project was launched, the organizers received more than six hundred calls and emails with possible clues about the bass's whereabouts.

After filtering out the most relevant ones, a source led them to a local

pub

.

Apparently, the thief immediately understood that the merchandise he was handling was something very serious.

He asked the owner of the premises and the house above it to keep it.

There he remained, with that family, for 51 years.

“I worked for years with Paul McCartney's team,” Nick Wass told

The Sunday Telegraph.

“

I once talked to him about his Höfner bass, and we wondered where it had gone.

He told me: 'you worked at Höfner, why don't you help me find it?'

And that was the spark of this great adventure,” he remembers.

McCartney used the legendary bass to record songs like

Twist and Shout

,

All My Loving

and

Love Me

Do.

If it had been auctioned, the figure could have been astronomical.

In 1963, according to those responsible for the project, John Lennon's guitar (the one he used to compose

I Want to Hold your Hand

) disappeared after a performance by the band in Finsbury Park at Christmas.

Also half a century later, it was located.

It was sold at auction for more than 2.2 million euros.