If you or someone you love is a bassist, there's a pretty good chance you can picture the "Paul McCartney bass" in your head. The violin-shaped Höfner 500/1 that the icon played throughout the early Beatles era was stolen in 1972, but unlike his songbook, it's finally been located.
Last year, the "Lost Bass Project" was launched in hopes of getting the Höfner back into McCartney's hands. The campaign proved successful, as the bass has been returned to McCartney, as per a statement on his website. "The guitar has been authenticated by Höfner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved," it reads in part.
Though McCartney doesn't reveal where the bass was found, a Twitter X user named Ruaidhri Guest claimed the bass was in his possession. He wrote that he inherited the instrument, and that he has since returned it to McCartney. As of press time, there is no other information on where the bass has been between 1972 and Guest's acquisition of it.
Guest proved his claims with a photo of him holding the Höfner itself, which certainly looks like McCartney's bass. Pretty neat!
McCartney originally bought the bass in 1961 for £30, admiring it for its symmetrical shape whilst being played left-handed. It could be worth as much as £10 million now, as per The Daily Mail.