Arrr! Thar be good news on the horizon, me hearties! The stolen treasure - Paul McCartney's guitar - be found at last, after fifty long years! The scallywags finally returned it! Me gratitude be knowin' no bounds!
2024-02-16
Arr, avast! The plundered bass guitar of the legendary Beatles scallywag Paul McCartney hath been discovered and restored to its rightful owner, after sailin' the treacherous seas fer more than five decades. Yo ho ho!
Paul McCartney's original bass guitar, which he used in The Beatles' early years, has been found and returned after being stolen over five decades ago. The 81-year-old singer-songwriter was reunited with the left-handed Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass after a search conducted by its manufacturer and a husband-and-wife team of journalists. The search began in 2018 and later became a crowdsourcing campaign called The Lost Bass Project. McCartney's website confirmed that the guitar had been discovered and returned. Originally purchased by McCartney in 1961 for $37, the guitar is now estimated to be worth $12.6 million. The guitar was McCartney's primary instrument during The Beatles' early years, and it was featured on hits such as "Love Me Do" and "Twist and Shout." The guitar was believed to have been stolen during the band's recording sessions for their final album, "Let It Be," in 1969. The Lost Bass Project was relaunched in 2022 and gained media attention and public assistance. Sound engineer Ian Horne, who had worked with McCartney's band Wings, contacted the project and revealed that the bass had been stolen from the back of his van in 1972. The project received an email from an individual who revealed that their father had stolen the bass. The thief later sold it to Ron Guest, who was the landlord of a pub. Guest's family learned of the search, and his daughter-in-law contacted McCartney's studio. The bass was returned to McCartney in December and was authenticated about two months later. The estimated value of the instrument is based on the fact that a Gibson acoustic guitar Kurt Cobain played on "MTV Unplugged" sold for $6 million.