Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2007/03/04/mccartney-bass-guitar.html

Not totally accurate and kind of all over the place, but interesting non-the-less.

Sounds totally bogus. He only had one other Hofner and it was ripped off in '69.

All of a sudden he had 3 Hofners during the 60's, and nobody ever knew it, including McCartney.

This guy should have read a little Beatles history before making such boasts. With those claims, it looks like he took the wrong fork in that long and winding road. Think of it, if McCartney broke a guitar in concert, it surely wouldn't be known solely by the person who caught it. It would be quite a famous Beatles story. McCartney has rarely had anthing but praise when speaking of his Hofners, certainly nothing about broken necks and tossing them to the audience!

Or another scenario altogether, maybe he's trying to come clean and it is the one that was stolen, but now with a broken neck. Or did somebody break the neck and hide the evidence by stealing it?

I'm sure we'll find out the authenticity in short order.

Someday, the stolen Hofner will surface. How it has remained gone for all this time is amazing. It had to be an inside job to be kept secret all these years, otherwise through the grapevine word would come out. Probably the only way it wouldn't was if it was one person who did it, and that one person still has it and never informed anybody else at all, knowing big trouble would follow for the perpetrator.

Was Paul's '61 stolen from the Apple offices, Abbey Road, or his house?

I'm surprised that many stolen instruments (all?) never turn up.
Casady's original Guild Starfire bass was stolen in Ohio and never turned up.

Ironically, the replacement Guild is now at the R&RHoF ... in Ohio!

I agree, that certainly would have been a famous story had it actually happened. It is very unlikely that breaking his bass neck on stage would have been forgotten let alone his chucking the Hofner into the crowd afterwards. On top of it, we are asked to believe the alleged episode took place in Britain? Right!

I'm just waiting for Paul to come to the 'Zoo - I have an old half-repaired short scale Kay bass I could unload. Let's see, I need a good story... hmmmm....

I once knew a man from Nantucke............

One of the story's is that it was stolen not long after the Let it be filming.

We know about how he smashed his Rosetti Solid 7 guitar in Hamburg, so maybe it's not completely out of character... but could anyone believe that he could have broken a Hofner and no one would know? And in front of a crowd, no less? It seems quite unlikely.

I don't want to overexcite anyone, but my old Yamaha acoustic was lost during a snowstorm.

It hasn't been seen, to this day. It's still out there.

I'm just sayin'.

I think I saw it - it was white, right?!

....and cold! Wet as well!

And I intend to sue the first person who tries to sell my G-string on eBay.

With Yoko's lawyers, if necessary!

Anecdotal non-Rickenbacker guitar throwing tale...

I saw the original Libertines at Kentish Town Forum, just before Doherty was kicked out for the 2nd time. He threw some Gibs*n semi into the crowd just for the sake/show of it. The reaction of the remainder of the band was just bewilderment and disgust, especially Barat, as the spectacle almost stopped the show. Someone in the crowd threw an apple cricket fielding style, full force, at Doherty in return. He caught it cricket dive style, took a bite and threw it back. At the end of the gig, the large numbers of security were combing the crowd for the guitar but I don t know if they got it back. It was all downhill for them after this night...