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Paul McCartney’s Höfner Guitar Has Been Returned to Him More Than 50 Years After It Was Stolen
A long-lost guitar owned by Paul McCartney is back where it once belonged! Paul’s favorite bass was stolen out of a van in 1972 but finally found its way back to the Beatles legend thanks to the Lost Bass Project, a fan-based search for the missing instrument.
The thief apparently sold the violin-shaped Höfner instrument to a pub landlord, and it stayed in the family until film student Ruaidhri Guest shared a photograph of the stringed wonder on social media. Guest, who claimed he’d inherited it, has returned the guitar to McCartney, 81.
“I think it’s wonderful that someone honest returned it,” says rock biographer Mark Bego. “It’s karma because Paul has done so much for other people!”
McCartney bought the bass in Hamburg, Germany, for the equivalent of $30 in 1961. It’s now estimated to be worth $12 million! Paul’s team says he’s “incredibly grateful to all those involved.”
