Travis Bean Basses, who owns one?

[Blazer]

Well every once in a while we get a customer in the Knooren workshop with something rare for us to fix up and last week we once again had one such occurence.

There was this man coming in with a Travis Bean bass for an electronics clean up. And boy what a beautiful looking and highly unusual bass that was. It looked similar to the one pictured.

The body was made of this STUNNING piece of Koa wood and has a bolt on solid ALUMINIUM neck, it feels kinda odd at first but the slim profile and wide string spacing made for an eccelent playability.

This thing has a monstrous SUSTAIN, it sounds like a bell. (Make that the Tsar Colocol, the biggest bell ever made)


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So who of you has a Travis Bean and likes to share their experiences about them?

 

[troll]

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Picked it up on ebay for not too much... turned out to have cracks in the body at the neck joint, as well as a hole in the neck stripped. All repairable I suppose, but I haven't gotten around to it. The bit I played it before taking it apart, sounded amazing. I can't wait to fix it and gig with it. But I bet my back can. It weighs a ton. More than my maple cirrus 5 by a considerable amount.

Someone buy my for sale stuff so I can afford to fix it!

Troll

 

[andysvec]

I got a similar Kramer to yours, here's my XL24:

I bought this new in 1980(?), my first real bass. Had the kahler installed mid 80s, and I finally found a schaller tuning key for the broken one in the pic.

 

[jondog]

I tried an original Bean once, aren't they neck-thru aluminum? I loved the clear tone and sustain and it motivated me to buy a Vaccaro which was the new generation of Kramers. My singer knocked it over and snapped off the headstock I've heard that a weak headstock/neck joint is a flaw on the Vaccaro/Hartke aluminum necks, and I guess it's true. I will get an old Kramer someday, and maybe a Bean when I am rich.

 

[troll]

I got a similar Kramer to yours, here's my XL24:

I bought this new in 1980(?), my first real bass. Had the kahler installed mid 80s, and I finally found a schaller tuning key for the broken one in the pic.

Thats awesome with the trem. That bass always screamed for one. Now I REALLY want to get it fixed.

I can't believe how heavy that body is. Solid maple I think? With mahagony stripes.

Mines not in the best of conditions. The clear is peeling in a few spots on the neck. Some divots, and well, the body cracking. But once it's fixed, I think it will still be worth the cash I'll have into it.

Troll

 

[Funky-Wunky]

I bought a travis bean which is solid koa a long time ago. I had to sell my Fender mustang at the time to help pay for it. The bass never goes out of tune. Sounds good and has a clear, deep tone. It has 2 volume and two tone controls. I used a few different basses when I played with this one band. The guitarist always said "I like that bass since it is the only one that I can feel with my feet".

The only thing which is a drawback is it is very heavy, makes for a sore shoulder at the end of 4 sets. The serial number is 566. I wonder how many were made?

 

[hlava]

I bought a travis bean which is solid koa a long time ago. I had to sell my Fender mustang at the time to help pay for it. The bass never goes out of tune. Sounds good and has a clear, deep tone. It has 2 volume and two tone controls. I used a few different basses when I played with this one band. The guitarist always said "I like that bass since it is the only one that I can feel with my feet".

The only thing which is a drawback is it is very heavy, makes for a sore shoulder at the end of 4 sets. The serial number is 566. I wonder how many were made?

you can check here:

www.travisbeanguitars.com

yours is not listed.

 

[straightedge79]

The serial number is 566. I wonder how many were made?

1033 were made, i got #515 and it´s awesome! (and a bit heavy...)

 

[Quimbymeat]

Two basses
891 and 994