Clifford Travis Bean (21 August 1947 – 10 July 2011, aged 63) was an American luthier and machinist from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. In 1974, he partnered with Marc McElwee and Gary Kramer to start Travis Bean Guitars, which made high-end electric guitars and basses featuring machined aluminum necks. This was an unusual design (but see also Veleno), departing from more traditional wood necked instruments. The aluminum center section ran through the instrument body, with the pickups directly mounted to the aluminum.Travis Bean Patent
Pat.No. 3,915,049 Issued: 10/28/75. The majority of these instruments featured solid koa wood bodies and

humbucker A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in ...

pickups. Though praised for their sound, the aluminum necks made Travis Bean guitars heavier than other electric guitars. Models included the Artist, Standard, Wedge (rare), and TB500 (rare) with

single coil A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. Single coil pickups are one of the two most po ...

pickups. Kramer and Bean parted ways in 1975, with the former starting

Kramer Guitars Kramer Guitars is an American manufacturer of electric guitars and basses. Kramer produced aluminum-necked electric guitars and basses in the 1970s and wooden-necked guitars catering to hard rock and heavy metal musicians in the 1980s; Kramer is ...

. The first series of Kramer guitars were redesigned aluminum-necked instruments but utilizing wooden inserts along the back of the neck to cut down on weight and provide a more traditional feel; these modifications also avoided

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

infringement of Travis Bean's original neck design. Around 3,600 guitars and basses were produced between 1974 and 1979. In the late 1990s, Bean teamed with master machinist/designer B. Kelly Condon and produced a run of 24 high end, custom instruments. These guitars and basses were aluminum-neck instruments, each machined from a 125-pound billet of 7075 aluminum. The pans weighed just over 4 pounds when finished and all were serial numbered and identified inside the pan.

Models

*TB500 (Bass) - 1 produced *TB500 (Budget Model) - 351 produced *TB1000S (Standard) - 1422 produced *TB1000A (Artist) - 755 produced *TB2000 (Standard Bass) - 1020 produced *TB3000 (Wedge) - 45 produced *TB4000 (Wedge Bass) - 36 produced

Players

Guitarists

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...

- plays TB500 and WedgeElectrical Audio
Steve Albini's Studio showing two TB3000 Wedges and one of his TB500 guitars * Steve Pedersen of Criteria - plays a TB1000S. * Matthew Bolger of The Redneck Manifesto - plays TB1000S & TB1000A music video showing the guitar *

Duane Denison Duane Denison (born January 21, 1959) is an American guitarist best known for work with the avant-garde rock band The Jesus Lizard. He is also a founding member of super-group Tomahawk. Biography Denison began his musical career by studying c ...

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

- played TB1000S (Sea Foam Green)The Jesus Lizard
Photo from 7/19/98. * Roger Fisher of

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

- played TB1000A *

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

- Played a black TB1000S in the '75 KISS ALIVE era. *

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...

plays a TB500, TB1000S, TB1000A and TB3000 Wedge model * Jerry Garcia - played TB1000AModern Guitars
TB1000A reaches $312,000.Guitar Site
Jerry Garcia TB1000A mention. and TB500 * John Haughm of

Agalloch Agalloch () was an American extreme metal band from Portland, Oregon. Formed in 1995 by frontman John Haughm, they released five full-length albums, four EPs, two singles, one split single, two demos, four compilation albums and one live video ...

- plays TB1000S (natural koa) and TB1000A (black) * Rubberduck Jones, a Finnish punk rock guitarist, who is most well known as the guitarist of several Pelle Miljoona related bands, like Pelle Miljoona & 1980 and the Suspenders. *

Stanley Jordan Stanley Jordan (born July 31, 1959) is an American jazz guitarist noted for his playing technique, which involves tapping his fingers on the fretboard of the guitar with both hands. Music career Jordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, United St ...

- plays TB1000SStanley Jordan's Magic Touch
Album Cover with his TB1000S. * Alex Kane of AntiProduct, on the recommendation of bandmate Nino Del Pesco, was asked by Travis to test an early guitar prototype during a gig at the Garage. It was the first, and possibly only, time a guitar from the new run was played during a live performance. * Greg Lake *

Keith Levene Julian Keith Levene (18 July 1957 – 11 November 2022) was an English musician who was a founding member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL). While Levene was in PiL, their 1978 debut album '' Public Image: First Issue'' reached No 2 ...

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and d ...

- played Wedge and TB1000S * John MacLean of Six Finger Satellite *

Stephen Malkmus Stephen Joseph Malkmus (born May 30, 1966) is an American musician best known as the primary songwriter, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and as a solo artist. ...

of Pavement owns a TB1000ASPIN magazine
At home with Stephen Malkmus. * Efrim Menuck * Ceylon Mooney of Pezz * Eddie Rivas of Leopold and Distorted Pony plays a koa TB1000A and a magnolia TB1000S *

Colin Newman Colin John Newman (born 16 September 1954) is an English musician, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as the primary vocalist and songwriter for the post-punk band Wire. Early life Newman was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire ...

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

played a TB1000A during the mid-1980s. * Josh Newton of Shiner plays a TB1000S and TB1000A *

Rick Nielsen Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, inclu ...

- Played a red and black TB1000S. Both pictured in his book Guitars of The Stars. * Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) plays TB1000S *

Buzz Osborne Roger "Buzz" Osborne (born March 25, 1964), also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas and Venomous Concept. Biography Born in Morton, ...

of Melvins * Joe Perry - played Wedge and TB1000SWoody Tone
Photo of Joe Perry with Black TB1000S (black and silver) * Yannis Philippakis of Foals uses a TB1000S (natural and black) and black TB500Foals
Yannis playing Black TB500. *

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

of Sonic Youth - played TB1000A (several were stolen in July 1999)The Sonic Youth Gear Guide
Retrieved on 2008-09-25. Also played TB1000S "bullseye"Sonic Youth
Lee Ranaldo's Red Bullseye TB1000S. (which was destroyed) and TB1000S *

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

- played a TB1000 on the Rolling Stones 1975 tour and a custom made 5-string TB1000A during the 1979 New Barbarians tour. Used a black TB500 during the Rolling Stones 1978 Saturday Night Live performance. * Brian Robertson played a TB1000A during his time with

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...

* Billy Rowe

Jetboy This is a list of characters from the ''Wild Cards'' book series. Astronomer The Astronomer is a character from the ''Wild Cards'' series of books. He first appeared in the short story "Pennies from Hell" by Lewis Shiner in ''Aces High (book), ...

* Kelly Ryall played a TB1000 during early

High Pass Filter A high-pass filter (HPF) is an electronic filter that passes signals with a frequency higher than a certain cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency. The amount of attenuation for each frequency d ...

shows. *

Ty Segall Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...

played a TB1000S and a TB1000A * Kevin DeFranco of Super Unison Plays a TB1000A *

Garry Shider Garry Marshall Shider (July 24, 1953 – June 16, 2010) was an American musician and guitarist. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars for much of their history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, with fifteen ...

Parliament Funkadelic In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

* Slash played a TB1000S live when he was still with Guns N' Roses. Only known use was on the song "Bad Obsession" *

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a ...

- played a TB2000 on the Rolling Stones 1975 tour, a TB1000A and a white TB500 during the 1979 New Barbarians tour. *

Milić Vukašinović Milić Vukašinović ( sr-cyr, Милић Вукашиновић; born 9 March 1950) is a Yugoslav musician, the founder of the hard rock band Vatreni Poljubac as well as one-time drummer of the famous Yugoslav rock bands Bijelo Dugme and Inde ...

of Vatreni Poljubac during whole career. * Rich Zoran of Bacchus Lotus played TB1000A in the early 1980s. *

David Lebón David Oscar Lebón (Buenos Aires, October 5, 1952) is an Argentine rock multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter of Argentinian rock, long considered during the 70s and 80s the best guitar player in the country.. Career Born into a family o ...

of Seru Giran (Argentine rock supergroup) played a TB1000S, natural finish * Johan Folkesson of Swedish sludge/doom band Switchblade plays TB1000S' * John Mayer played a TB1000A at various times during the 2019 Fall Fun Run tour with

Dead & Company Dead & Company is an American rock band consisting of former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir (guitar and vocals), Mickey Hart (drums), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums), along with John Mayer (guitar and vocals), Oteil Burbridge (bass, percussion, and ...

. * Ty Segall plays a TB1000S

Bassists

* Liam Andrews of

My Disco MY DISCO (stylised in capitals) is an Australian music group formed in 2003. It contains members from Agents of Abhorrence and Clann Zú. Background MY DISCO was formed in 2003 in Melbourne, Australia, by brothers Ben and Liam Andrews (both ...

plays a TB2000. * Emidio Clementi of

Massimo Volume Massimo Volume is an Italian rock group formed in Bologna in 1992. They sing in Italian and the singer is well known for his poetic spoken-word style. Their musical style may be described as being akin to post-rock Post-rock is a form of e ...

* Nino Del Pesco of AntiProduct worked with Travis Bean and B. Kelly Condon in the 1990s, testing the bass prototypes during the new run. Nino also played the first bass prototype on one song during an AntiProduct gig at the Garage (now the Virgil). It was the first, and possibly only, time a bass from the new run was played during a live performance. * Johnny Docherty of

The Twilight Sad The Twilight Sad are a Scottish post-punk/indie rock band, comprising James Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar), Johnny Docherty (bass), Brendan Smith (keyboards) and Grant Hutchison (drums). They have released five studio albums, as well ...

plays a Travis Bean * Peggy Foster,

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are " Cherry Bomb", "Hollywood", "Queens of ...

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

, TB4000 Wedge Bass #25, TB2000 Fretless #248 *

Chosei Funahara Osao Chosei Funahara (born December 10, 1953) is a musician and film director and producer. Born in Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan, Chosei Funahara was educated in both United States and Japan. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Nihon Unive ...

of Plasmatics - played two of black TB4000 Wedges #5 and #31 *

plays a TB500 bass, TB2000 and a TB4000 Wedge bass. * Matt Gentling of

Archers of Loaf Archers of Loaf is an American indie rock band originally formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1991. The group toured extensively and released four studio albums, one compilation, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was release ...

plays a TB2000. * Bruce Hauser of Touch, Stepson & Honeymoon played a Flamed Koa TB2000 1977 - 1978. It was a gift from Marc McElwee and later stolen when Bruce's home was burgled. *

Mick Karn Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was an English-Cypriot musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/ new wave band Japan. H ...

of Japan - played a fretless TB2000 serial number 002 *

Alan Lancaster Alan Charles Lancaster (7 February 1949 – 26 September 2021) was an English musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the rock band Status Quo, playing with the band from 1967 to 1985, with brief reunions in 2013 and 2014. As we ...

of Status Quo *

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

1976 TB2000 Sonor Eclipes * Tim Midgett of Bottomless Pit and Silkworm - plays TB4000 Wedge.Tim Midgett with TB4000 Wedge
/ref> During Silkworm, Tim played a TB1000S modified to baritoneTim Midgett with TB1000S modified to Baritone
/ref> and TB2000.Tim Midgett with TB2000 Bass
/ref> * Burke Shelley of Budgie plays a TB2000 occasionally. *

Bob Weston Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over th ...

and the Volcano Suns * Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones - Wyman used a custom made

short-scale The long and short scales are two of several naming systems for integer powers of ten which use some of the same terms for different magnitudes. For whole numbers smaller than 1,000,000,000 (109), such as one thousand or one million, the ...

TB2000Smoke Stack Lightnin
Bill Wyman bio mentioning Travis Bean bassHard Rock Memorabilia
Photo of Bill Wyman TB2000 from 1977 until 1986. A total of 4 short-scale TB2000 bases were made for Wyman. * Anders Steen, formerly a member of Swedish sludge/doom band Switchblade played TB2000's

References

External links