Paul McCartney reunites with a stolen bass guitar fifty years later

Paul McCartney has restored his beloved guitar after more than fifty years. The instrument was stolen in 1972, eleven years after the Beatles singer-songwriter bought it for £30. The bass guitar can be heard in several songs by the British band and is valued at €11 million.

Hofner, the German company that made the guitar, began researching the instrument in 2018 after McCartney said he missed his old guitar very much. Investigators learned that the guitar had been stolen from an equipment truck and sold a few days later for a few beers to a pub owner in the English coastal town of Hastings.

Hoffner's investigators tracked down the bar owner's 21-year-old grandson. The guitar was in his attic room, inherited from his grandfather. He had no idea it was a special tool. According to British tabloid newspaper The Sun, McCartney is in discussions with the student about a potential reward.

Hoffner confirmed that the instrument was in fact McCartney's first bass guitar. “The paint is impossible to replicate. The guitar looks as if it has been stored somewhere for fifty years,” the company explains.

The bass guitar accompanied the singer in songs such as Love me I do, she loves You in Rolling and squealing. McCartney says on his website that he is “extremely grateful” to have the guitar back.