Paul McCartney: Global search for missing Beatles' 1961 Höfner guitar

A planetary hunt has been launched to find 1 of the world's astir iconic instruments - Paul McCartney's archetypal Höfner bass guitar.

The Lost Bass Project is appealing for accusation astir what it describes arsenic "the astir important bass successful history".

McCartney bought the instrumentality for £30 ($38) successful Hamburg, Germany, successful 1961, but it disappeared 8 years later.

The bass features successful The Beatles' euphony of those years, including the hits Love Me Do and She Loves You.

He has collaborated extensively with McCartney and written a publication astir the missing Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass.

Wass told the BBC that the celebrated Beatle asked him astir the guitar during a caller speech - and that is however the run to find it began.

It is not wide what happened to the instrument, which was enactment distant presumably aft the Beatles finished filming Get Back successful 1969, helium said.

"It's not wide wherever it was stored, who mightiness person been there.

"For astir people, they volition retrieve it... it's the bass that made the Beatles," Wass said.

Husband and woman squad Scott and Naomi Jones, some of whom person worked for BBC News, are helping with the search.

Scott became funny astir the guitar's destiny aft watching McCartney's 2022 header acceptable astatine Glastonbury and approached Höfner - lone to observe they were already having conversations astir tracking it down aft being urged to by their celebrated client.

He told the BBC: "Paul said to Höfner 'surely if anyone tin find this guitar, it's you guys', and that's however it each came about.

"Now we're moving unneurotic connected this. Nick has much method cognition astir this guitar than anyone connected the planet, and maine and my Naomi are bringing immoderate investigative skills."

It's anyone's conjecture however overmuch the guitar would fetch astatine auction but determination are immoderate precedents.

John Lennon's stolen guitar sold for $2.4m (£1.9m) erstwhile it resurfaced fractional a period later, and the acoustic Kurt Cobain played during the iconic MTV Unplugged acceptable sold for $6m (£4.76m).

McCartney's era-defining bass would apt surpass some - but the Lost Bass Project squad are wide that determination is nary commercialized information for their search.

Jones said: "Höfner's hunch is that idiosyncratic volition travel guardant purely connected bully will, and whoever has it astir apt doesn't adjacent realise what it is they've got.

"It would beryllium bully if it could spell connected nationalist show 1 time - and if the lone mode idiosyncratic is going to travel guardant is to marque immoderate wealth from it, past truthful beryllium it, due to the fact that astatine slightest it would beryllium found.

"But yet we're conscionable doing this to get Paul his guitar back. We cognize via Nick and Höfner that it's what he's ever wanted."

The project's nationalist entreaty has been unrecorded for little than 48 hours but the squad has already "received breathtaking caller leads" they are pursuing up.

There are a mates of tell-tale signs immoderate amateur sleuth should beryllium alert of if trying to place the bass.

A dormant giveaway is the Höfner logo, which is written vertically connected the headstock of the archetypal exemplary but was horizontal connected aboriginal versions played by McCartney.

The missing bass besides looked precise antithetic past clip it was seen to however it did successful older pictures, due to the fact that it had to beryllium renovated aft extended touring.

McCartney's missing bass was fixed a darker overgarment job, had the pearl pickguard removed and had the 2 pickups mounted successful a azygous portion of achromatic wood.