When the Lost Bass Project launched a search for Paul McCartney’s missing Höfner bass in September 2023, it quickly became a global event.
What no one realized was that, around the same time, a woman entirely unaware of the search had already found the instrument. It was upstairs in the attic of her home — roughly 12 miles from where McCartney lives.
The story was revealed in The Times on March 28, just ahead of a new BBC documentary about the instrument — McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass — that debuts in England this week.
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McCartney’s 1961 Höfner 500/1 violin bass is the stuff of legend. The instrument, which he purchased at age 18 during the Beatles’ second trip to Hamburg, was played at the band’s early shows and on their early recordings, including their debut album.
By October 1963 the Höfner needed repair, prompting McCartney to purchase an almost identical 500/1 while the original was serviced. He rarely played the 1961 bass afterward, although it did make a brief appearance during the band’s sessions for Let It Be.
In 1972, while McCartney and his band Wings were recording Red Rose Speedway at studios around London, the 1961 Höfner was among several instruments stolen from an equipment van parked in the city’s Notting Hill neighborhood.
According to the story that later emerged, George Glenister stole the bass in an act of petty thievery, believing he could sell it “for a few quid.” Once he realized what he had, Glenister knew the instrument was far too recognizable to sell. Instead, he gave it to Ron Guest, proprietor of the Admiral Blake pub in Ladbroke Grove, in exchange for a few pints of beer.
When Guest died in 1992, the bass passed to his son, Haydn Guest. Haydn married Cathy, and they moved to Hastings in East Sussex. When Haydn died during the COVID-19 pandemic, his guitars — including the Höfner — went to her.
“I inherited about 15 guitars,” she told David Collins. “I knew there were a few in the attic but hadn’t been up there for years as it was inaccessible.”
She discovered the bass in September 2023, around the time the Lost Bass Project announced its search. Cathy said she was unaware of the effort and only realized what she had after uploading a photo of the instrument to Google Images.
“The results immediately came up with Paul McCartney,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it, but I knew he only lived about 12 miles away, so I thought I would just drive there.”
“There” was McCartney’s farm in East Sussex. He was in Los Angeles at the time, so Cathy instead spoke with his security team and sent photos of the bass for verification.
“I slept with it that night because I was worried,” she said.
After McCartney confirmed it was his Höfner, the bass was returned to him on September 21, 2023, and was later restored.
McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass captures the moment he was reunited with the instrument. Holding it for the first time in more than 50 years, he murmurs: “Welcome home, honey.”
