The reason for the Travis Bean guitar sterns from a need for new technology in the field of solid body electric guitars and basses. (Most of the popular electric solid body instruments on the market were designed in the late ’40’s and early ’50’s.) The clear fact is that designs in use until now were conceived to convince the buying public merely of the feasability of a solid body electric guitar at a time when acousticelectric guitars were the only ones available. The components of a Travis Bean guitar were designed as sonic complements to one another and not simply because they were traditional or inexpensive and readily available.

The improvements effected in the Travis Bean lie basically in two areas: how the sound is made and how the sound gets to the amplifier.

Machined aluminum is used to make up the one-piece neck assembly of the guitar forming a solid metal link between both ends of the string. This relative rigidity allows the string to continue to vibrate as long as the physics of the string itself allow, thus adding to the sustaining and harmonic properties of the instrument.

The Travis bean humbucking pickup (more powerful than most) is mounted directly to the neck, so that the signal from string vibrations is reinforced by any vibrations from the neck itself, rather than isolated fropi it. The goal here is to allow the string to create the most accurate sound for as long as possible. The hardwood body bonded to the aluminum assembly then helps enhance the tone, as well, by mellowing it.

Critics have registered complaints that the aluminum is subject to temperature of the room and stage lights, and that it makes the instrument quite heavy. Playing the instruments, however, dispelled these objections from our thinking. The instrument is not too heavy at all (not unlike the Les Paul models from Gibson) , and the neck does not change appreciably in feel even under hot stage lights.

You be the judge, however. Listen, feel, consider neck warpage problems in many other guitars, tuning problems, cosmetic appearance.

The Travis Bean instruments score high marks with us. Do a lot of comparing on your next trip to the music store. You may have to wait a while to see a Travis Bean in that current orders heavily outweigh their ability to produce. They’re catching up though and should have enough instruments out by Christmas time to give you a good, long look-see.

You can write for literature to the factory located at 11761 Sheldon Street, Sun Valley., California 91352.