Paul McCartney says he’s “very sad to see Höfner go out of business” and pays tribute to creators of his iconic bass
"Commiserations to everyone at Höfner, and thank you for all your help over the years.”
By Nick Reilly
Paul McCartney has paid tribute to Höfner, the brand behind his iconic bass, after they filed for bankruptcy.
The guitar and bass firm famously produced the Höfner 500/1 bass guitar – a lynchpin of Beatles hits – but filed for bankruptcy in Germany earlier this month.
The Höfner bass was the first bass guitar McCartney ever purchased, buying it for a fee of £30 ($38) in Hamburg, Germany, in 1961.
Paying tribute to the brand on Facebook, McCartney wrote: “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. 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.”
Though McCartney has used a Höfner bass for his entire career, it wasn’t until late last year that he was reunited with the original, which was stolen in the early 1970s, after 51 years.
A campaign to find the instrument and reunite it with McCartney was launched by the Lost Bass Project organisation, before a student called Ruaidhri Guest shared a photo of the instrument and claimed that he had inherited it.
A statement on McCartney’s website revealed that the guitar “has been authenticated by Höfner” and that the singer “is incredibly grateful to all those involved”.
Speaking to The Telegraph about the search for the instrument, Höfner’s Nick Wass said: “I’ve worked closely with Paul McCartney’s team over the years, and when I’ve met Paul we’ve talked about his first Höfner bass and where it could be today.
“Paul said to me, ‘Hey, because you’re from Höfner, couldn’t you help find my bass?’ And that’s what sparked this great hunt.”
McCartney later unveiled the original guitar once more during the final shows of his Got Back 2024 tour last December, while it was revealed earlier this year that the saga of the lost guitar will be told in a new documentary.