Hello Bobber,
...Stuart is getting paid for this week. There's stories tho that he just sat in at times. But it's indeed very likely that, because he played a full week, he was still playing bass at June 16th, 1961. You can see Paul's bass on the picture as well, which should mean that at times there were TWO bassplayers in the band?..
Or perhaps those photos were taken after Stu left the band. As you can see, at some of those photos they are not really playing, aonly posing. I guess Stu paid a visit to them at the Top Ten and posed with them for the photo session.
Besides: would McCartney have been purchased a bass if Stu was still with them?? I don't think so...
If Stu was still playing with them by 16 June 1961, I don't think McCartney would have been purchased a bass. So, according to those sources, McCartney had to purchase the bass at some point between 16 June 1961 and beginning July 1961, when they returned back to Liverpool (=when did they returned back to Liverpool??...)
And this puts over the table another question: which bass did really McCartney use for the Polydor recordings?? (=22-23 June...)
...The conclusion from your statements is that Stuart did resign somewhere between the 16th and 23rd June, 1961. Paul already did play bass then. I believe there is not an exact date tho on which Stuart actually left the band, but think more of it as a period in which he sometimes joined them or did not join them on stage. I think it was pretty clear to all of them that Stuart would no longer be a permanent member of the band and that Paul was taking over on bass. That happened in the Spring of 1961. It would be an interesting thought tho if these pictures were taken for the occasion of Stu's last performance with the Beatles...
Again, I don't think that was the last occasion of Stu's last performance with the Beatles. He was only posing with them for the photos...
How many lefties 500/1 did Höfner produce in the first half of 1961?? I guess not many. Where and when did they send to??
That is the question...
Xosé