Good day, sunshine! Paul McCartney’s long-lost Höfner bass guitar — dubbed “the most important bass in history” for its part in dozens of the Beatles classics — has been found more than 50 years after it first went missing. Via Rolling Stone:
The Lost Bass Project, a grassroots campaign that hoped to discover what happened to the instrument, announced Wednesday that the 1961 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar had been rediscovered, and McCartney himself confirmed in a statement that he was back in possession of the bass.
“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,” McCartney’s official site announced. “The guitar has been authenticated by Höfner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved.”
The Lost Bass Project was launched in 2018 but only came to prominence in 2023 when worldwide coverage reinvigorated the search. Initial tips revealed that the bass hadn’t simply gone missing: It was stolen from the back of a van on October 10, 1972, in the Notting Hill area of London.
A September 2023 article in the British press brought additional attention to the search, including its most important lead;
“As a result of the publicity someone living in a terraced house on the south coast of England remembered an old bass guitar that was in their attic,” The Lost Bass Project wrote Wednesday. “They got this out and realized just what they had. Within days it was back with Paul McCartney!”
