In the years leading up to Beatlemania, Paul McCartney bought his “favourite” Höfner electric bass guitar for a mere £30 in Hamburg’s Steinway Musikhaus.
Now, the German instrument manufacturer has launched a search – named The Lost Bass Project – inviting anyone to share information about the guitar’s whereabouts, last seen before the band broke up more than 50 years ago.
“For about £30, I found this Höfner violin bass,” said McCarney, 81. “And to me, because I was left-handed, it looked less daft because it was symmetrical. I got into that. And once I bought it, I fell in love with it.”
From the Top Ten Club in Hamburg in 1961 to the band’s first Abbey Road recordings, the bass, used from 1961 to 1963, is heard on Love Me Do, She Loves You and Twist and Shout.
“Isn’t that enough alone to get this bass back?” said Nick Wass, who worked for 12 years as Höfner’s marketing manager and electric guitar developer.
The campaign has shared photographs of the original bass along with information trailing the instrument from its purchase to its disappearance, and how to sift through rumours and the fakes.
“I know, because I talked with him about it, that Paul would be so happy – thrilled – if this bass could get back to him,” said Wass who is searching for the bass alongside a TV producer who previously led investigations at the BBC and Channel 4.
“While nobody really knows what happened to the bass, it was very likely stolen. To this day it remains a mystery,” said Wass. “But someone, somewhere, knows what happened to this bass and where it is now. This information is out there if only the right person would come forward.”
“I have had a Höfner ever since I started, but the ancient one is still my favourite,” McCartney said in 1966.
In 1963, John Lennon’s guitar used to write I Want to Hold Your Hand disappeared during the band’s Christmas show at Finsbury Park, according to the project. It later resurfaced 51 years later, selling for a colossal £1.9m ($2.4m) at auction.
