Post by Grandpa Redwood on Feb 17, 2024 5:25:11 GMT -5
The Höfner violin bass that accompanied the Beatles to fame went missing more than 50 years ago. Two journalists and a Höfner expert were determined to find it.
A sound engineer who had worked with Mr. McCartney remembered that the guitar had been left in the back of a van in 1972, and that thieves had then broken in. Another tip, Mr. Jones said, suggested that the guitar had been stolen in the neighborhood and then sold for a little money and “some free beer” to Ronald Guest, the landlord of a local pub.
It turned out the bass was passing time in a more unassuming locale: the loft of a family home in East Sussex, England. The family reported the guitar in late September, after a couple of journalists and a guitar expert started a new campaign looking for it in 2023, more than 50 years after it was last seen.
The guitar, which has been authenticated by its manufacturer, has been returned to Mr. McCartney, according to a statement posted on his website on Thursday. “Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved,” it said.
It was the denouement to an enduring mystery that had gripped Beatles fans, including one group who pooled their skills to help find it.
“We thought this bass would have gone off on a more glitzy journey,” said Mr. Jones, adding that in fact the research indicated that the guitar had stayed in the same family. “In all of those years, it’s hardly traveled any distance at all.”
A sound engineer who had worked with Mr. McCartney remembered that the guitar had been left in the back of a van in 1972, and that thieves had then broken in. Another tip, Mr. Jones said, suggested that the guitar had been stolen in the neighborhood and then sold for a little money and “some free beer” to Ronald Guest, the landlord of a local pub.
It turned out the bass was passing time in a more unassuming locale: the loft of a family home in East Sussex, England. The family reported the guitar in late September, after a couple of journalists and a guitar expert started a new campaign looking for it in 2023, more than 50 years after it was last seen.
The guitar, which has been authenticated by its manufacturer, has been returned to Mr. McCartney, according to a statement posted on his website on Thursday. “Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved,” it said.
It was the denouement to an enduring mystery that had gripped Beatles fans, including one group who pooled their skills to help find it.
“We thought this bass would have gone off on a more glitzy journey,” said Mr. Jones, adding that in fact the research indicated that the guitar had stayed in the same family. “In all of those years, it’s hardly traveled any distance at all.”
www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/arts/music/paul-mccartney-bass-guitar-found.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V00.NqdS.zK2gsIX6tMZV&smid=re-nytimes
