Paul McCartney Bass

Played at the Queen's Jubilee [concert, Buckingham Palace, 2012-06-04]

Paul McCartney's ca.1962 Höfner 500／1 "Violin Bass", and Union Jack painted one played at Queen's Jubilee concert, Buckingham Place, 2012-06-04 - Play It Loud. MET (2019-05-13 18.57.32 by Eden, Janine and Jim) Paul McCartney's ca.1962 Höfner 500/1 "Violin Bass", 2012 Höfner 125th Anniversary 1887-2012 "Union Jack" 500/1 Violin Bass (serial no. UJ001) played at Queen's Jubilee - Play It Loud. MET (2019-05-13 18.57.32 by Eden, Janine and Jim)

ca.1962 Höfner 500/1 "Violin Bass"

• 500/1 "Violin Bass" (ca.1962), Höfner Gmbh & Co.. Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll. Metropolitan Museum of Art..
  "​The Höfner 500/1 “Violin” electric bass was developed in 1955 by Walter Höfner, son of the company’s founder, and introduced the following year. His idea was to create an instrument whose look would appeal to upright bass players and whose construction would be familiar to his workers trained in traditional violin building. Paul McCartney played a bass identical to this one in the Beatles’ 1964 performances on The Ed Sullivan Show, which initiated a long-standing nickname for the Höfner violin bass, the “Beatle bass.” ",
  "​Technical Description: Hollow body; spruce top, maple back, sides, and neck, rosewood fingerboard; 30 in. scale; sunburst finish with white and black binding; set neck with zero fret and pearloid dot inlays; raised gold plastic Höfner logo on bound headstock; two “staple” humbucking pickups, two volume controls, treble & bass pickup on/off and rhythm/solo boost switches; adjustable ebony floating bridge with metal saddles, metal “trapeze” tailpiece and tuners, pearloid pickguard and control surface, plastic “teacup” knobs ",
  "​Object Details ",
  "​Title:  500/1 "Violin Bass" ",
  "​Artist: Höfner Gmbh & Co. ",
  "​Date:   ca. 1962 ",
  "​Medium: Spruce, maple, rosewood, ebony, metal, pearloid, plastic ",
  "​Dimensions: Length: ~42 in. (106.7 cm) / Width: 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm) / Depth: ~1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm) / Weight: ~5 lbs. (2.2 kg) ",
  "​Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted ",
  "​Credit Line: Collection of Perry A. Margouleff "

2012 Höfner Genuine 125th Anniversary 1887-2012 "Union Jack" 500/1 Violin Bass (serial no. UJ001)

• "Union Jack" 500/1 Violin bass (2012, serial no. UJ001), Höfner Gmbh & Co.. Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll. Metropolitan Museum of Art..
  "​Höfner built this left-handed "violin" bass for Paul McCartney, a career-long Höfner artist, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebration concert in 2012. The instrument’s Union Jack design pays tribute to not only the queen but also the legacy of the 1960s British Invasion, a transatlantic movement in which British musicians influenced by American pop brought their own music to the United States. McCartney used this bass to perform the concert’s closing number, the Beatles’ "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," joined onstage by the celebration’s other performers. ",
  "​Technical Description: Hollow body; spruce top, maple back, sides, and neck, ebony fingerboard; 30 in. scale; Union Jack finish with white and black double binding; set neck with zero fret and mother-of-pearl dot inlays; gold Hofner logo on headstock; two "staple" humbucking pickups, two volume controls, treble and bass pickup on/off and rhythm/solo boost switches; adjustable ebony floating bridge with nickel saddles, nickel “trapeze” tailpiece and tuners, pearloid control surface, plastic "teacup" knobs and switches ",
  "​Object Details ",
  "​Title:  "Union Jack" 500/1 Violin bass (serial no. UJ001) ",
  "​Artist: Höfner Gmbh & Co. ",
  "​Artist: Paul McCartney ",
  "​Date:   2012 ",
  "​Medium: Spruce, maple, ebony, metal, plastic ",
  "​Dimensions: Length: ~42 in. (106.7 cm) / Width: 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm) / Depth: ~1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm) / Weight: ~5 lbs. (2.2 kg) ",
  "​Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted ",
  "​Credit Line: Courtesy of Sir Paul McCartney ",
  "​Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings: Signature: Includes the wording "'125th Anniversary 1887-2012" ",
  "​Provenance: Paul McCartney, 2012 "