Paul McCartney’s long-lost bass recovered with a little help from his fans

After a half-century long and winding road of mystery, an iconic stolen bass has found its way back in the hands of Sir Paul.

Fans from The Lost Bass Project have successfully recovered Paul McCartney’s 1961 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar from his earliest days with the Beatles . The bass had been stolen out of the back of a van in 1972, and its whereabouts remained a mystery for decades.

“The guitar has been authenticated by Höfner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved,” says a statement on McCartney’s website.

Beginning in 2018, The Lost Bass Project searched here, there, and everywhere for the missing instrument, and finally received the first insightful lead last year. The group discovered that the bass was stolen from the Notting Hill area of London, and after identifying the thief, they found that the instrument had sold the item to a pub owner. 

After receiving hundreds of potential leads from around the world, the group eventually connected with “someone living in a terraced house on the south coast of England” who realized that they’d had the bass in their attic for years. The group then retrieved the bass and made sure it got back to McCartney.

The instrument had been played by the “Let It Be” songwriter for hundreds of performances during the band’s tenure at the Cavern Club in Hamburg, and was used in the recording of the Beatles’ first two albums. Massive songs like “I Saw Her Standing There,” “She Loves You,” “Twist and Shout,” and many more were recorded with the bass. McCartney moved on to other equipment for later performances and recordings, but still used the Höfner sporadically until it went missing.

Though it’s now slightly damaged, it “will be repaired and made playable again,” according to the group’s website.

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