The model of the left-handed bass guitar Paul McCartney is famous for playing is the Höfner 500/1.
The violin-shaped, semi-hollow electric bass was designed by Walter Höfner and introduced in the mid-1950s. McCartney bought his first example in Hamburg in 1961, when he was replacing Stuart Sutcliffe as the Beatles’ bassist. Its symmetrical body appealed to McCartney because it looked natural when played left-handed, unlike many cutaway instruments designed for right-handed players.
McCartney later acquired a second Höfner 500/1 in 1963 and used it extensively with the Beatles, including during the famous 1969 rooftop concert. The model became so closely associated with him that it is commonly nicknamed the “Beatle bass.”
A common mix-up is the Rickenbacker 4001, which McCartney also played, especially in the studio from the mid-1960s onward. The Fender Precision Bass and Gibson EB-3 are also famous basses, but neither is the signature model linked to McCartney.