East Sussex mum-of-two ’panicked’ to find Sir Paul McCartney’s famous bass in loft after 28 years

  • ITV News Meridian spoke to the woman who found the famous missing bass

A mum-of-two from East Sussex says she was "panicked" to find Sir Paul McCartney's missing guitar had been in her loft for 28 years.

Cathy Guest discovered it at her house in Hastings and a Google search revealed it was the Beatles singer's iconic violin-shaped bass which had been missing for more than 50 years.

She had been looking to sell her late husband's collection of guitars to help fund her two children at university.

Mrs Guest said: "I was cataloguing a number of guitars that I’ve got and when I googled it, it immediately came up. That’s when I thought 'Well maybe this is it.'"

  • Mrs Guest said she's happy to have reunited the iconic guitar with its rightful owner

Mrs Guest, who has been a carer for 18 years, said: "I’m delighted he’s got it back. We love our live music, we love gigs. That’s our family’s hobby.

"He’s happy...and we can get on with our lives now and let it be!’"

When asked if she is a Beatles fan, she said: "I was more of a Jam fan, sorry! But everyone loves the Beatles, you can’t not love the Beatles."

  • The case of the missing guitar has been a mystery for more than 50 years

Mrs Guest says the credit goes to the Lost Bass Project who launched the search to find the missing German instrument.

The search's traction picked up last year after further media attention.

They discovered the bass was allegedly sold to a landlord in the area before it was passed on until it ended up in the attic of a terraced house in the south coast of England.

Mrs Guest said: "That’s why it’s taken a long time because the true story needs to be told, there’s a lot to it."

The bass is still complete and in its original case but will need some repairs to make it playable again. Credit: The Lost Bass Project

A post on Sir Paul’s official website read: “Following the launch of last year’s Lost Bass project, Paul’s 1961 Hofner 500/1 bass guitar, which was stolen in 1972, has been returned.

“The guitar has been authenticated by Hofner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved.”

A statement from The Lost Bass project said: “We are extremely proud that we played a major part in finding the Lost Bass.

“It has been a dream since 2018 that it could be done. Despite many telling us that it was lost forever or destroyed, we persisted until it was back where it belonged."

His career-long use of the guitar led to it to being dubbed the 'Beatle bass'. Credit: PA

The bass had been purchased for £30 in Hamburg, Germany, in 1961 by Sir Paul and was used during his time with The Beatles.

Sir Paul played the Hofner on the Fab Four’s first two albums, Please Please Me and With The Beatles, as well as on a slew of hits including Love Me Do.

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