A bass stolen from Paul McCartney is returned to the Beatles more than half a century later

LONDON (AP) — Paul McCartney no longer cries to his original voice.

A five-year search by the instrument maker, with the help of two journalists, helped reunite the former Beatle with Hofner's iconic 1961 electric violin, which disappeared half a century ago and was valued at £10 million ($12.6 million). .

McCartney asked Hofner to help him find the missing instrument that helped launch Beatlemania across the universe, Scott Jones, the journalist who teamed up with Hofner's CEO, Nick Wass, to track it down, said Friday.

“Paul said to me, 'Hey, you're from Hofner, can't you help me find my bass?' Wass said. “And that's what sparked this big chase. “As I sat there, seeing what the missing bass meant to Paul, I was determined to solve the mystery.”

McCartney bought the bass for around £30 ($37) in 1961 while the Beatles were developing their skills during a series of residencies in Hamburg, Germany. This instrument was played on the Beatles' first two albums and appeared on hits such as “Love Me Do,” “Twist and Shout,” and “She Loves You.”

“Because I'm left-handed, he looked less goofy because he was so well-proportioned,” McCartney once said. “And when I bought it, I fell in love with it.”

It was rumored to have been stolen at the time the Beatles were recording their final album, “Let it Be,” in 1969. But no one was sure it had disappeared.

What started out as a long and winding road for Wass to track down his bass, accelerated when Jones happened to join the chase after watching McCartney headline Glastonbury Festival in 2022. The stage lights at one point appeared to shine like sunlight on his and Jones' bass. I wondered if it was the same instrument McCartney played in the early 1960s.

When he later looked online, he was surprised to find he didn't have the original bass and there was a search.

“I was amazed and amazed,” Jones said. “I think we live in a world where the Beatles could do almost anything and they would get a lot of attention.”

Jones and his wife Naomi, both journalists and researchers, contacted Wass to spread the message more widely.

After hitting a dead end after a tip about a tour operator, they relaunched The Lost Bass Project in September and within 48 hours, they were inundated with 600 emails containing “the little gems that got us to where we are today,” they said. Jones said.

One such email came from audio engineer Ian Horne, who worked with McCartney's band Wings, and was the first major breakthrough in research. Horn said the bass was stolen from the back of his truck one night in the Notting Hill area of ​​London in 1972.

Investigators posted the new information on their website in October, adding that Horne said McCartney told him not to worry about the theft and continued to work with him for another six years.

“But I carried the guilt my whole life,” Horne said.

After posting this update, a bigger opportunity came when they were contacted by someone who said their father had stolen the bass. Jones said the man was not planning to take McCartney's instrument and panicked when he realized what he had stolen.

The thief, whose identity has not been revealed, ended up selling him to Ron Guest, owner of the Admiral Blake pub, for a few pounds and a few beers.

By the time the Jones family began searching for Guest's relatives, news had already reached his family. His daughter-in-law called McCartney's studio.

Cathy Guest said the old bass that had been sitting in her attic for years looked similar to the bass they were looking for.

It was passed from Ron Guest to his eldest son, who died in a car accident, and then to his youngest son, Hayden Guest, who was married to Cathy and died in 2020.

The instrument was returned to McCartney in December, but it took about two months to verify its authenticity.

Those in charge of the project had planned to announce the news themselves, but were surprised by Cathy Guest's son, Ruwidhri Guest, a 21-year-old film student who posted photos of the guitar on Tuesday on X, previously Twitter, writing: “I inherited this item that was returned to Paul McCartney.” Share the news. He posted a message on Friday saying the family had received an influx of interview requests and that he would finally tell his story.

Jones said the estimated value of the instrument was based on the fact that the Gibson acoustic guitar played by Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged sold for $6 million (£4.7 million). But it has been virtually worthless for the past half century.

“The thief couldn’t sell it,” Jones said. “The guest's family obviously never tried to sell it. It's a red flag because the minute you walk out, someone's going to say: 'That's Paul McCartney's guitar.'

Now it's McCartney again. His official website posted a message announcing his return, saying that “Paul is very grateful to all involved.”