LONDON (NEWSnet/AP) — Paul McCartney no longer gently weeps for his classic bass guitar.

A five-year search by the manufacturer of the instrument that was aided by a husband-and-wife team of journalists helped to reunite The Beatles star with the distinctive violin-shaped 1961 electric Höfner, which went missing a half-century ago and is estimated to be worth 10 million pounds ($12.6 million).

McCartney had asked Höfner to help find the missing instrument, said Scott Jones, a journalist who teamed with Höfner executive Nick Wass to find its whereabouts.

When he searched the internet, he was stunned to find the original bass was missing and there was a search for it.

Jones and his wife, Naomi, each a journalist and researcher, connected with Wass to spread the word.

In September, they launched “The Lost Bass Project.” Within 48 hours, they were inundated with 600 emails that contained “little gems that led us to where we are today,” Jones said.

One of those emails came from sound engineer Ian Horne, who had worked with McCartney’s band Wings. Horne said the bass had been swiped in 1972 from his van in the Notting Hill section of London.

Researchers published the new information online in October, adding that Horne said McCartney told him not to worry about the theft and that he continued working for him for another six years.

“But I’ve carried the guilt all my life,” Horne said.

Another clue came when they were contacted by a person who said their father had stolen the bass. The man didn’t intend to steal the instrument and panicked when he realized what he had in his possession, Jones said.

The thief, who was not named, sold it to Ron Guest, landlord of the Admiral Blake pub, for a few pounds and some beer.

As the Jones were starting to look for relatives of Guest, word had reached his family. His daughter-in-law contacted McCartney’s studio.

Cathy Guest said a bass that had been in her attic for years looked like the one they were seeking. It had been passed from Ron Guest to his oldest son, who died in a crash,  then to a younger son, Haydn Guest, who was married to Cathy and died in 2020.

The instrument was returned to McCartney in December. Authentication required about two months.

The estimated value is based on the fact a Gibson acoustic guitar Kurt Cobain played on "MTV Unplugged" sold for $6 million, Jones said. But it held almost no value during the past 50 years.

“The thief couldn’t sell it,” Jones said. “Clearly, the Guest family never tried to sell it. It’s a red alert, because the minute you come forward, someone’s going to (say), ‘That’s Paul McCartney’s guitar.’”

It is McCartney’s once again.

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