|
 TRAVIS BEAN |
| HISTORY: PART I |
| The first guitar Travis ever built was a 'Melody Maker' body shape with Gibson humbucker pickups. The aluminum neck had a welded-on peghead and bolted to the body. The neck attachment plate was inlaid in the body and extended back to under the bridge. After experimenting with this guitar a while the idea of a neck-through-to-the-bridge design began to take shape. A second prototype was built which was much closer to the production design in neck and body configuration. This guitar has a serial number of "1," and used Fender humbucker pickups. After these two guitars, limited production began.These first "limited production" guitars were TB1000 Artists and were produced in 1974. The serial numbers started with #11 and went to #20. These guitars were handmade by Travis and Mark McElwee, Travis' partner in the company, and are quite similar in construction to the second pre-production prototype. The bodies were Koa, Teak, Padauk, Zebra wood, and Alder (Guitar #11 and #18 are known to be Padauk). The necks on these were quite different from the later production models produced on a lathe. These were hand carved from a solid block of Reynolds T6061 aluminum and are solid under the fingerboard and solid through the body. The necks have a wide and flat profile which is noticeably thinner than the later production which are much fuller and more rounded. The pickups on these first guitars are humbuckers using Fender bobbins and Alnico magnets; and have "Travis Bean" engraved on the chrome pickup covers. The guitars are quite thin, about the same thickness as the 1979 final production Artists. Another interesting aspect of these guitars is the peghead. The angle is flatter than later production (about six degrees versus a production angle of twelve degrees). There is also about an extra inch between the nut and the beginning of the 'T' cutout. In this extra space there is bolted an aluminum block with 6 holes acting as a string tree to hold the tension over the nut. Later production guitars with the steeper angle didn't need this tie down. In all, there are quite a few differences between these first 10 prototypes and the production models ranging from the body thickness and top contour, peghead dimensions and angle, neck profile and shape of the body insert piece, to the pickup engraving. These guitars are a bit crude compared to the later production; but after all, they are the first ones made. Production of the 1000 series continued throughout 1974 with the 1000 Standard being introduced approximately six months after the startup. This guitar had all the same dimensions as the 1000 Artist, only differing in that the body was not carved and it had dot fingerboard inlays rather than the large pearl blocks of the Artist. It was a solid 1.75 in. all over. The run of serial numbers on Standards and Artists began with #21 and continued until #1000. At that point the lines were split and each continued with #1001, #1002, etc. While it is unclear if the production records of these first 1000 guitars still exist, it is estimated that there were approximately 1/3 Artists and 2/3 Standards. All the bodies were koa and most were finished Natural; however, the factory did offer Black, White, and Red. Both straight color and pearl color were offered. There were also several Dark Blue Pearl guitars made (there were two Silver guitars made: one for Joe Perry [of Aerosmith] a Standard #1738; and a Wedge Guitar [# 53] for Al Austin). The koa bodies continued until late 1978 when the painted models began to use magnolia and poplar. The Natural finishes continued to use mostly Koa although a natural magnolia is known to exist. All these guitars used black speed knobs which Travis bought directly from Gibson until for some reason Gibson shut them off. After that, clear speed knobs were used. In late 1978 and 1979, black metal knobs were used. Internally, these were referred to as "Sansui" knobs because they looked like they were off a home stereo set! The machine heads were Schaller and Grover and alternated without any pattern throughout the years of production. Towards the end of the company, Gotoh machine heads were used, particularly on the 500 model. The last Artist produced was serial number 1425 and the last Standard produced was serial number 1782. In all, there were about 755 Artists and 1,442 Standards produced. The TB2000 Bass was introduced in late 1974. The first prototype had serial number "0" and is of similar construction to the first ten guitars. However, it is much more like a production guitar in that it doesn't have that "handmade" look of the first 10 guitars. This bass is pictured in the first catalog on the TB2000 models. This bass also had an aluminum nut (the only one made this way). All other production Travis Beans were made with brass nuts. The neck was hand carved by Travis and has a thick squarish feel. It was solid as was the section in the body. The body had a 1/4" edge radius and was koa. Production started with serial number 11 and the bodies were more rounded and contoured. They were all koa and made in Natural and the same colors as the guitars. A fretless version was also available, as was a short scale model bass. In all about twelve short scale basses were made, two of which were for Bill Wyman in October 1978 (serial number 892 and 893). The last bass made was serial number 1033. In all there were 1,023 basses made. |