Beatles Fans Searching for the ‘Most Important Bass in History’ — Paul McCartney’s Lost Höfner

Paul McCartney fans embark on a mission to find his favorite guitar and ask for help from Beatles fans.

The Lost Bass Project is taking off after launching to reunite The Beatles musician with one of his most treasured instruments — the Höfner 500/1 electric bass he used during the 1960s. The team is led by former Höfner GmbH marketing manager Nick Wass, former BBC journalist Scott Jones and television producer Naomi Jones.

Finding an instrument will not be an easy task. McCartney’s bass has not been seen with its original owner since late January 1969, when the Beatles were in London recording To return and Let it be sessions.

“Welcome to The Lost Bass project and the greatest mystery of rock and roll. This is the search for the most important bass in history – Paul McCartney’s original Höfner,” reads the group’s website. The project was launched on Saturday, reports CNN.

The Lost Bass Project is counting on loyal Beatles fans to “follow the trail” and “help track down the bass.”

Paul McCartney plays lost bass, with Ringo Starr on drums.

David Redfern/Redferns

The website is full of photos of McCartney playing alongside his bandmates during the Beatles’ glory days with the iconic instrument in hand.

The guitar was used when the Liverpool lads “played the Top Ten Club in Hamburg in 1961, the Cavern in Liverpool and those first Abbey Road recordings.”

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McCartney’s missing guitar can also be heard on “Love Me Do,” “She Loves You” and “Twist and Shout,” according to the site.

Project members believe their community of supporters can come together to “put the bass back where it once belonged.” The devoted follower added: “Paul McCartney has given us so much over the last 62 years. The Lost Bass project is our chance to give something back.”

Paul McCartney, holding the missing instrument, and John Lennon of the Beatles.

Bettmann Archive

Wass, who worked as head of marketing and electric guitar developer at Höfner for 12 years, worked closely with McCartney’s team to provide the musical equipment, necessary parts and his expertise. Wass is also considered “the world’s leading expert on McCartney’s missing bass.”

“I’ve had Höfner since I started. I have three models, but the ancient one is still my favorite,” McCartney said in 1966, speaking tenderly of his prized possession.

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Wass, Jones and Naomi included the last known photos of McCartney with the bass, taken during the making of the film Let it be documentary, on their website. It is unclear what happened to the instrument after January 1969. The trio believe it was stolen from Abbey Road or Apple Records’ offices on Saville Row.

“I corresponded with someone who worked for Apple at headquarters during the early 1970s. He wrote that there was definitely Beatles equipment in the basement,” Wass wrote on the site. “The situation at Apple was totally chaotic, with many people, some unknown, coming and going every day. He said that at times it was like a 24-hour party. He knew that one or more of Harrison’s guitars had disappeared from the basement. . . . Has the 61 bass also disappeared from here?”

The Beatles.

Michael Webb/Getty

Although McCartney himself is not involved in the search, Wass said The New York Times the “Live and Let Die” singer is interested in reuniting with the instrument based on conversations he had with the musician. “He calls it ancient,” Wass said.

Scott told BBC News that his interest in the guitar was sparked after seeing McCartney perform at Glastonbury last year. He approached Höfner and learned that they were already looking for him.

“Paul said to Höfner ‘surely if anyone can find this guitar, it’s you,’ and that’s how it all came about,” explained Scott. “Now we’re working together on this. Nick has more technical knowledge about this guitar than anyone on the planet, and me and my Naomi bring some research skills.”

The Lost Bass Project are confident they have a chance of finding McCartney’s long-lost guitar as other once-lost instruments have been reunited with their owners.

The site notes that in 1963, John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E — the guitar he used to write I Want to Hold Your Hand — went missing during a Beatles Christmas show at the Astoria Cinema in Finsbury Park. The guitar was found 51 years later and later sold at auction for $2.4 million, Reuters reports.

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Source: HIS Education