Paul’s Bass a Fake?
According to a report on ABC.com the bass guitar that had been described as once belonging to Paul McCartney and had been offered as part of Dick Clark’s auction of rock ‘n’ roll memorbilia may have been a fake.
According to the report, sufficient doubt has been raised that the guitar has been withdrawn. It was estimated to sell for $25,000 to $100,000; however, the makers of the Hofner have told “Good Morning America” that the model wasn’t made until 1978, years after the Beatles disbanded.
Beatles signature expert Frank Caiazzo, who has spent 20 years studying Beatles signatures. inspected the bass while it was on display prior to the auction. “Very shaky signature,” he said. “You can see that it is slowly executed. When I saw the Hofner bass, in my opinion, the signatures on the bass were not authentic. Both signatures,” he said. “They stood out to me as being very shaky forgeries, done by somebody with limited skill.”
Andy Babiuk, author of the book “Beatles Gear,” doubts whether the guitar belonged to McCartney at all. “Paul only really had two Hofners while he was with the Beatles. The first one was stolen in 1969, unfortunately. And the second one was the one he used primarily throughout the Beatles, and he still owns it to this day,” Babiuk said.
