Paul McCartney is paying tribute to Höfner, the brand behind his iconic bass, after they filed for bankruptcy.
The guitar and bass brand, most famous for making the Höfner 500/1 bass guitar – which has been dubbed the most important bass in history for its role in recording numerous Beatles hits – filed for bankruptcy in Germany earlier this month, per Guitar.com.
The Höfner bass was the first bass McCartney ever bought, purchasing it in 1961 for £30 ($38) in Hamburg, Germany.
Now, McCartney is reflecting on the loss of the company, taking to Facebook to write that he’s “very sad” to see them go out of business.
“They have been making instruments for over 100 years, and I bought my first Höfner bass in the sixties. I have loved it ever since.
“It’s a wonderful instrument to play: lightweight, and it encourages me to play quite freely,” he added. ‘It also offers pleasing variations in tone that I enjoy. So, commiserations to everyone at Höfner, and thank you for all your help over the years.”
McCartney’s original bass was stolen from the musician in 1972, only to be returned to him last year.
It came after he and longtime fans of The Beatles had attempted numerous times to recover the stolen instrument over the course of its 50-plus year absence – including the Lost Bass campaign, which began in 2018 but only began to make progress in 2023.
The bass guitar was originally believed to have disappeared in January 1969 when The Beatles were recording the ‘Get Back/Let It Be’ sessions. However, during investigations by the Lost Bass Project team, they discovered that it was instead stolen three years later.
It was found by Cathy Guest, who found the bass in her attic following the death of her husband Hadyn, who Cathy believes in turn inherited the bass from his brother Graham.
The Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass is the same one that can be heard on classic hits including ‘Love Me Do’, ‘She Loves You’, and ‘Twist and Shout’.
Following the bass’ recovery last year, the following statement was issued on McCartney’s website: “Following the launch of [2023’s] Lost Bass project, Paul’s 1961 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar, which was stolen in 1972, has been returned. The guitar has been authenticated by Höfner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved.”
In other news, the BBC has recently acquired a new Beatles biopic, Hamburg Days, which charts their early days as a band.
It comes after the documentary series The Beatles Anthology was recently rereleased with an extra ninth episode after it was first aired in 1995.
NME gave the rerelease a four-star review, describing it as “a familiar but fab nine-episode deep dive” and adding: “Anthology has a somewhat stitched-together quality, given that the archive clips are interspersed by contemporary footage of Paul, Ringo and George seemingly filmed wherever they happened to be at the time.
“This entire rerelease, though, is more than justified by the genuinely eye-opening final episode, which sees the lads work up ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’, the Lennon demos put out as Beatles tracks alongside the original documentary. There is, Macca hints, a third that they may complete someday.”
