A global search has been initiated to locate one of the world’s most iconic musical instruments: Paul McCartney’s original Höfner bass guitar.
The Lost Bass Project is appealing for information about what it deems “the most important bass in history.” McCartney acquired the instrument for £30 ($38) in Hamburg, Germany, in 1961, but it vanished eight years later.
This bass guitar played a significant role in The Beatles’ music during that period, including hits like “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You.”
Nick Wass is leading Höfner’s search project and has teamed up with two journalists to unravel the “greatest mystery in the history of rock and roll.”
Having worked extensively with McCartney and authored a book about the missing Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass, Wass shared that the idea to locate the guitar arose during a recent conversation with the famous Beatle.
The circumstances surrounding the instrument’s disappearance remain unclear. Presumably, it was stored away after the Beatles completed filming “Get Back” in 1969.
“It’s not clear where it was stored, who might have been there. For most people, they will remember it… it’s the bass that made the Beatles,” Wass emphasized.