@spidey9, what do you think of this account of Paul and his first Höfner? It seems it was an actual left handed model.
There are reports but no photos of McCartney playing Sutcliffe’s Hofner President bass – without re-stringing! – and apparently the re-worked Rosetti had finally disintegrated at this point, so McCartney found himself in Hamburg’s Steinway Musichaus one day. “I remember going along there, and there was this bass which was quite cheap. I couldn’t afford a Fender. Fenders even then seemed to be about £100. All I could really afford was about £30 . . . so for about £30 I found this Hofner violin bass. And to me it seemed like, because I was left-handed, it looked less daft because it was symmetrical. Didn’t look as bad as a cutaway which was the wrong way. So I got into that.” As left-handed instruments were rarely seen hanging on shop walls at that time, some researchers contend McCartney merely saw a right-handed model and ordered a lefty.
(my underlining)
According to the same website:
1960: Hofner Club 40 hollow-body electric (vintage unknown): After buying a Rickenbacker, Lennon loaned this guitar to McCartney. He still had his Rosetti at this time, but apparently was using the Club 40, not just posing with it, as this photo from the first Hamburg trip suggests it was actually restrung lefty. Lennon soon sold this guitar.