Travis Bean guitars.

Anybody have any experience with these? I'm a huge Foals fan and the frontman, Yannis Philippakis uses a couple. They look really rad but I can't exactly judge how they sound because most of the Foals' stuff is drenched in reverb and got a crapton of delay.

Thoughts?
http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg610/scaled.php?tn=0&server=610&filename=zxiw.png&xsize=640&ysize=640

Jerry Garcia used one for a while in the 70's with the Dead...played one once and wasn't super impressed, didn't buy one anyhow but I did buy a Tele cause I was looking for an electric again. That one had the RW board and I seem to remember the salesman saying the back of the neck gets cold...ok if your in S Cali or somewhere like that but up north? I seem to remember that the first ones had aluminum fretboards as well but I may be confusing them with the early cheapie Ovations...the Travis Beans came and went pretty quick

Were they really popular back then?

I know some folks who have played them over the years. They're actually pretty versatile, and have a bell-like sound available that most other guitars can't come close to. If the aluminum back of the neck scares you, but you like the tone, you could look for an early Kramer with an aluminum neck. They have wood inserts to make them more comfortable, but I think the neck doesn't go all the way through. The Kramer guy was a partner in Travis Bean, but split off to start his own company.

One thing, they are heavy as hell. Like 11-13 pounds heavy. I have a friend that used to play a TB Bass, but he is 6'5".

Have another buddy that got a Kramer with the aluminum neck for $400 off C-List that sounds pretty right . . . serial #12 if you would believe that!

Anyway, here's a pic of some Kramers. It's a good alternative if you don't have $3500 to spend.

http://kramerforum.com/george/kollection/kramer_aluminum_neck_guitars.jpg

And here's what the back of the neck.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/2853200113_3ce483bcdc.jpg

Jerry Garcia used one for a while in the 70's with the Dead...played one once and wasn't super impressed, didn't buy one anyhow but I did buy a Tele cause I was looking for an electric again. That one had the RW board and I seem to remember the salesman saying the back of the neck gets cold...ok if your in S Cali or somewhere like that but up north? I seem to remember that the first ones had aluminum fretboards as well but I may be confusing them with the early cheapie Ovations...the Travis Beans came and went pretty quick

Dude, not everyone lives in America. Look at the OP's location...he lives in the United Arab Emirates. I don't think he'll have to worry too much about the cold.

If you like guitars made with aluminum, this guy's handiwork is worth checking out:

http://www.electricalguitarcompany.com/

Expensive, but not as expensive as a used TB.

I owned one in the early 70's.

It had great pickups (very hot, but also could clean up well), looked very cool and played really nice...had a wide, fat neck as I recall.

The downside for me was that the aluminum neck was very finicky. It would not stay in tune, especially when first taken out of the case and it started to warm in your hands as you played it. The aluminum would expand and take the guitar out of tune.

I actually traded it in towards a Les Paul.....

If I knew then, what I know now, I would never had done that....I should have kept it (especially for what I got for the trade in value) because now, it would be my most valuable guitar, in terms of money!...:lol:

New rule in my house...never...NEVER trade in a guitar.

Cool guitars. But yes ridiculously heavy - try in the 15lb range

I had a TB-500 with the single coils. It wasn't all that heavy. Of course it didn't have a Koa body like the humbucker guitars. Mine was like a double cut LP Special. It was what I called "Hi Fi" sounding. It had a lot of range and the highs came through clearly without overwhelming the sound. The one I had also had a coated neck (Imron like they use on bicycles) so it wasn't too cold. The fingerboard had almost no radius. It felt concave. Still it was pretty easy to play.

I wish I'd hung on to it a little longer. The prices went up a lot after I sold it. I traded my first Tele for it which was probably a dumb move. It was a unique guitar but I really don't miss it all that much. It would be cool to own, but I don't think it would get much stage time. It might have been a great slide guitar, but I wasn't playing slide when I owned it.

There were some "second generation" Travis Bean's that I think he was still making up to the time of his death (last year?).

Steve Albini of Shellac and Big Black uses a Travis Bean. He showed me his guitar when I went to his studio. I also played his aluminium veleno guitar, a similar one can be seen in Hole's Celebrity Skin Video. I think aluminium guitars are cool, it definately had a cool sound. I don't think they come cheap though.

Keith and Bill Wyman both played them - Bill's Bean bass was custom cut down to 30" scale.
A friend of mine roadied for a touring act where the guit player used a Bean as his #1 - though they were impressively impervious to the effects of humidity so far as intonation (and just plain staying in tune) went, as soon as you shone a 1000-watt PAR 64 can on that aluminum neck...hoo, boy...

Pickup information on these anybody?

impressively impervious to the effects of humidity so far as intonation (and just plain staying in tune) went, as soon as you shone a 1000-watt PAR 64 can on that aluminum neck...hoo, boy...

Hahaha. I can imagine. :lol:

They used to be quite big in the late 70's and 80's, but under the Kramer name.
Here is the ever so popular Gene Simmons axe bass.
http://www.vintagekramer.com/Alum/genebass.jpg

Sonic Youth had a bunch of them but I'm pretty sure they were among the guitars that got stolen.

Check out the Travis Bean forum here (http://www.travisbeanguitars.com/index.php/topic/fcbc856efc29d038330b7cc176d1cdc8/fuseaction/forum.main.htm). Some of these guys may have the info you're looking for on the pickups.

I never owned one but back in the day I knew a couple of jazz players who loved those Travis Bean guitars.

Had one back in the early 90's. Bought for $300 from a local pro in my home town. I just thought it was goofy no-name guitar, I had never heard of them back then. Sounded ok, very hi-fi, as some others have said. And yeah, it was very heavy, but not as heavy as the '75 LP Deluxe I owned at the same time. As I recall, that LP was somewhere in the 16 lb. range.

All in all, it was fun, but it's not one of the gone guitars that I actually miss.

Pickup information on these anybody?

i believe they began with re-covered Fender Wide Range HB's

I love Foals, I got to see them at the London Astoria before it got shut down (to make way for a new rail-link). He used his famed Travis Bean and it sounded amazing, very chirpy yet deep cleans with amazing definition. On a side note, everyone should listen to Foals...

I remember reading a Garcia interview where he said he liked them because they were so interchangeable/replaceable...every one was the same because the necks were turned on a lathe.

I used to play a friend's back in the early '80s. If you want to know what it's like to play one, get a Les Paul and a 5-pound fishing weight.

On a side note, everyone should listen to Foals...

+1

I wholeheartedly agree. :smile:

I remember picking one up in a studio on a winter's night in the 70s.

Man, was that neck cold.

- D

Dude, not everyone lives in America. Look at the OP's location...he lives in the United Arab Emirates. I don't think he'll have to worry too much about the cold.

HAHAHAHAHA! :lol: So true. Hits 42°C in summer.

Anybody have any experience with these? I'm a huge Foals fan and the frontman, Yannis Philippakis uses a couple. They look really rad but I can't exactly judge how they sound because most of the Foals' stuff is drenched in reverb and got a crapton of delay.

Thoughts?
http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg610/scaled.php?tn=0&server=610&filename=zxiw.png&xsize=640&ysize=640


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If you like guitars made with aluminum, this guy's handiwork is worth checking out:

http://www.electricalguitarcompany.com/

Expensive, but not as expensive as a used TB.

+ 1,000

If you like guitars made with aluminum, this guy's handiwork is worth checking out:

http://www.electricalguitarcompany.com/

Expensive, but not as expensive as a used TB.

I have #44, first Kevin made with a radiused board... Happy to share any details people might like...
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g46/rickenbacker1/DSC_0155-1.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g46/rickenbacker1/DSC_0171.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g46/rickenbacker1/DSC_0168.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g46/rickenbacker1/DSC_0207.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g46/rickenbacker1/DSC_0158.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g46/rickenbacker1/DSC_0173.jpg

IIRC, some of the early Beans were all wood. I remember playing around with one in a music store I worked for in the '90's...must have weight 14 pounds at least, and the shop owner had never heard of them...he had something like $200 on it, and changed that far upward after I corrected him...They used to be advertised in little ads in the back of various guitar magazines of the day. They never made the big time, but many big name players used them...they just never really caught on.

mark

Pickup information on these anybody?

They basically are Fender Wide Range Humbuckers with different covers.
http://guitarship.org/aluminum_guitars/repairs/tbpus3.jpg
Wide coils, cunfife magnets, the whole deal.

Early Beans even had Fender surplus pickups, identifiable by their pole pieces.
http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/prodimages/1973%20travis%20bean%20tb1000a%20guitar%20b1.jpg

A few years ago they were making a documentary about Travis Bean called "Sustain" but I haven't heard from it since.
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http://www.travisbeanmovie.com/