In the years before Beatlemania, Paul McCartney bought his „favorite” Hafner electric bass guitar for just £30 (€34) at Hamburg Steinway Musicas.
Now, the German instrument manufacturer has launched a search – dubbed The Last Bass Project – inviting anyone to share information about the whereabouts of the guitar, which was last seen 50 years ago before the band broke up.
„For about £30, I found this Höfner violin bass,” said McCarney (81). „And for me, because I’m left-handed, it was symmetrical, so it looked less. I just got into it. 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 was heard on Love Me Too, She Loves You and Twist and Shout.
„Isn’t that enough to get this pass back?” said Nick Wass, Höfner’s marketing manager and electric guitar developer for 12 years.
The campaign shared photos of the original bass, information from the instrument’s purchase to its disappearance, and how to distinguish between rumors and fakes.
„I know, because I talked to him about it, Paul would be very happy — thrilled — if this bass could get him back,” said Vaz, who has been searching for the bass with a television producer who spearheaded the investigations at the BBC. and Channel 4.
„Although no one knows what happened to the bass, it may have been stolen. It remains a mystery to this day,” Vaz said. „But, somewhere, someone knows what happened to this bass and where it is now. Only the right person comes forward with this information.
„I’ve had a Hafner since I started,” McCartney said in 1966, „but the old one is still my favorite.
In 1963, as planned, John Lennon’s guitar went missing during the band’s Christmas concert at Finsbury Park to write I Want to Hold Your Hand. It resurfaced 51 years later and sold at auction for £1.9 million.
„Totalny pionier w sieci. Specjalista od piwa niezależny. Ewangelista popkultury. Miłośnik muzyki. Nieprzepraszający przedsiębiorca”.