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When Buying New Would This Influence You?

I recently bought two new basses....Meet my Traben Array Obsessions.

mybabiesinternet.jpg


One of the things that helped me make my choice other than the way these babies sound and feel was the fact that they are made mostly of Royal Paulownia.......

Now If you have never heard of Royal Paulownia it is an awesome wood...It is a extemely fine grained, very light, and warp resistant. Not to mention Paulownia is extremely fast growing; some species of plantation Paulownia can be harvested for saw timber in as little as five years. Once the trees are harvested, they regenerate from their existing root systems, earning them the name of the "Phoenix tree." Paulownia has the ability to reclaim ecologically stressed and degenerate patches of land relatively quickly. Its root systems run deep and penetrate compacted and contaminated soils which have resulted from industrialized development. Paulownia is also a highly developed phyto-remediator, increasing the organic content of degraded soils, processing and filtering contaminants through the uptake of its vascular system, and emitting oxygen into the atmosphere. The bark is made into numerous types of dyes, and the leaves are used in vermicide preparations. Tone wise it is very similar to Ash! It is also rot resistant and a has a very high ignition point. So from an ecological (read green tree hugger) standpoint this wood cannot be beat! plus it's quite attractive

I'm married to a big Tree Hugger and this also weighed into my choice.....

you guys?

do you feel a twinge of guilt when looking at or buying basses made from Mahogony, Teak, Walnut, Cherry, Ebony and even Rosewood as they are all listed as Endangered, Threatened and/or a Vulnerable Tree Species Traded Internationally?

just curious...
 
OOOH!!! Tree huggers are brutal! However, it's cool that Traben's are made from quick growing species because as much as I hate vocal tree huggers, I do like breathing, so responsible wood harvesting is a good thing. It would not influence me enough to buy a Traben, they're just too goofy looking for my simple taste...Just my two cents.
 
One of the things that helped me make my choice other than the way these babies sound and feel was the fact that they are made mostly of Royal Paulownia.......

Now If you have never heard of Royal Paulownia it is an awesome wood...It is a extemely fine grained, very light, and warp resistant...

I'm married to a big Tree Hugger and this also weighed into my choice.....

I recently assembled 2 instruments using bodies made from Paulownia. I've very pleased with the outcome of both in that they weigh 5lbs 10oz and 6lbs 3 oz.

To be honest the only thing that "weighed into my choice" was the light weight of the bodies and resultant instruments.
 
I have several basses made with Paulownia bodies. An extremely light weight wood and the tone always reminds me of ash(but there is over 15 species).

there are in fact 17 species...lol

these being the most common

Paulownia catalpifolia
Paulownia elongata
Paulownia fargesii
Paulownia fortunei
Paulownia kawakamii
Paulownia taiwaniana

Paulownia tomentosa (Royal.....the most common used in Surfboards, furniture, and guitars)

I should also add:

This species can survive wildfires as the roots can regenerate new, very fast-growing stems. It is tolerant of pollution and it is not fussy about soil type. For this reason it functions ecologically as a pioneer plant. Its nitrogen-rich leaves provide good fodder and its roots prevent soil erosion.

win win in my book!

funny thing is in the U.S. it is considred an invasive species!
 
It might actually make me pretty interested. Being from northern MI, I have a healthy respect for forests and trees so... the more there are left (either because they're fast growing or whatever else the reason) the better.
 
Very cool info about that wood!

I'm not a big fan of Traben's bridges, though. I know the extra metal is supposed to be good for the sound, but I'd rather see the wood than the steel.

Traben employs a series of bridges which are often called "SonicArt" or "Bigger Bridge." These unique bridges are quite large, and are usually made into some artistic form, as their names imply. Nearly all of the SonicArt bridges have a small tail design similar to an M at the bottom. The SonicArt bridges are made of solid brass plated with chrome. Due to their size, and many contact points as well as the added mass of the bridges they improve sustain and tone.

and i can tell you now that if my guitard and i each pluck a string at the same time mine will ring out much longer than his....lol...not sure about the science behind that but I can tell you these bassses have sustain for days...and i can dial in a perfect Geddy "Burpy" type tone quite easily

Modulus is also using these woods (Granadillo, Chechen, Red Cedar, Chakte Kok and Soma) for their creations as well...
 
Any woodworker will tell you that the availability and quality of wood has decreased over the last several decades. So, I'm glad to see companies building bass from rapid growth trees, leaving some of the rarer words for the furniture builders of the world.

I love the Traben body, but hate the bridges. Can I get one that doesn't look like a 19 year old's tatoo?
 
Any woodworker will tell you that the availability and quality of wood has decreased over the last several decades. So, I'm glad to see companies building bass from rapid growth trees, leaving some of the rarer words for the furniture builders of the world.

I love the Traben body, but hate the bridges. Can I get one that doesn't look like a 19 year old's tatoo?

http://www.singnplay.com/images/traben/chaos_obsession_5.jpg


The bridge is still enormous, but it is not stylized.
 
Their bridges are a bit cheesy but I'm still considering giving one a whirl in the future. I've played uglier basses so I could live with a huge, bad-tattoo-esque bridge if I had to so long as the bass sounded and felt good
 
http://www.singnplay.com/images/traben/chaos_obsession_5.jpg


The bridge is still enormous, but it is not stylized.

Any woodworker will tell you that the availability and quality of wood has decreased over the last several decades. So, I'm glad to see companies building bass from rapid growth trees, leaving some of the rarer words for the furniture builders of the world.

I love the Traben body, but hate the bridges. Can I get one that doesn't look like a 19 year old's tatoo?

The Chaos, The Havoc, and the NEO have more normal looking bridges, but in comon terms they are all huge!

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chaos_core_bkw.jpg


neo_limited.jpg
 

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