GBH999 Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 My dad recently passed away leaving a collection of guitars and basses, including a travis bean which I believe to be a tb2000 with the serial number 222… it is in immaculate condition and would just like any info on it and a rough price check as from my research they vary quite alot. Funnily enough there is a post from 2017 in which someone talks about owning this one? Not looking to sell as the collection has sentimental value. Thanks in advance! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Wow....something to pass down to the next generation for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBH999 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 13 minutes ago, TheGreek said: Wow....something to pass down to the next generation for sure. a million percent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers_Williamson Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 That is older than Mick Karn's Travis isn't it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBH999 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Piers_Williamson said: That is older than Mick Karn's Travis isn't it? If I’m honest I have no idea not sure what year this is.. further googling has shown me its 1976 Edited September 10, 2022 by GBH999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers_Williamson Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Helpfully T'internet says Mick's was #441 and we know he switched to playing Wals in 1981 Does this look familiar (albeit without frets)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBH999 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 15 minutes ago, Piers_Williamson said: Helpfully T'internet says Mick's was #441 and we know he switched to playing Wals in 1981 Does this look familiar (albeit without frets)? some further googling i found you can date them from the number.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passinwind Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, GBH999 said: If I’m honest I have no idea not sure what year this is.. further googling has shown me its 1976 My fretless one was #573 and I bought it brand new in 1977, so that sounds right. I assume you've already found this: http://www.travisbeanguitars.com/index.php/ID/b0c3b03f61dd971d41519e82144bafea/fuseaction/database.detail.htm ? Edited September 10, 2022 by Passinwind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBH999 Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 1 hour ago, Passinwind said: My fretless one was #573 and I bought it brand new in 1977, so that sounds right. I assume you've already found this: http://www.travisbeanguitars.com/index.php/ID/b0c3b03f61dd971d41519e82144bafea/fuseaction/database.detail.htm ? I had not but that’s my Dad haha! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 (edited) That's my old bass. A bit of backstory. I bought it in Lewisham 1980/81...£375.00, so about a month's salary. It had a bit of an issue with the fingerboard and the wood was lifting a bit between the nut and the third/fourth fret on the E-string side. I took it to a luthier in Kingston who built baroque instruments and had formulated a method of adhering wood to metal, but there seemed to be an issue with the aluminium not being machined 100% (there was a shallow dip...a fraction of a millimetre) so the wood was never going to adhere properly, if that makes sense. He put a fretless ebony board on it. I didn't like the bridge at all so he installed a Badass and glued in two small strips of ebony to fill in the gap in the body (these are visible in the photo below). New brass nut. I used it as a fretless for a while and then took it to (the late) Richard Knight in Addlestone and had it refretted. I kept it for a few more years...it didn't get much use and traded it in at ABC music in Addlestone for something else (I'm too ashamed to say what). I often wondered what came of it and saw that it appeared on the Travis Bean database a few years back. I seem to recall that the owner posted up somewhere seeking a replacement original bridge. The bass appeared on eBay in 2015/16 so I assume your dad bought it. I know it was in Oxford at one point; I was playing the Bullingdon in Oxford one night and I had a few email exchanges with the owner who offered to bring it along to the gig so I could use it for our 30 minute set. Didn't show up, sadly. Anyhow, here's two photos. You can make out the figuring on the body, but it looks a lot redder in your photo. The other shot is of me and my best mate when we were doing early live sessions for Virgin at The Townhouse in Shepherds Bush. I forget who we were playing with...it was a signed duo of guitarists, a white guy and a black guy who had inked a deal with Virgin, Hugh Padgham was supposed to have been producing. No idea what happened! [Edit]. I mentioned to Gabriel by PM that I have photos the luthier took when the original fretboard was off. I'll try and find them and get them scanned in. Edited February 15, 2023 by NancyJohnson 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBH999 Posted February 15, 2023 Author Share Posted February 15, 2023 Wow, amazing info. So nice to hear its journey to me! Thank you for writing. Gabriel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 Hi Gabriel I don't really have many more photos of it; somewhere in the loft I have the photos the guy took when he did the fingerboard, but they're not scanned. I'll have a look and see whether I can find them. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said: That's my old bass. A bit of backstory. I bought it in Lewisham 1980/81...£375.00, so about a month's salary. It had a bit of an issue with the fingerboard and the wood was lifting a bit between the nut and the third/fourth fret. I took it to a luthier in Kingston who built baroque instruments and had formulated a method of adhering wood to metal, but there seemed to be an issue with the neck (it wasn't 100% level in that area (there was a shallow dip, so the wood was never going to adhere properly, if that makes sense. He put a fretless ebony board on it. I didn't like the bridge at all and he put a Badass on it and glued in two small strips of ebony to fill in the gap in the body (this is visible in the photo below). I used it as a fretless for a while and then took it to (the late) Richard Knight in Addlestone and had it refretted. I kept it for a few more years...it didn't get much use and traded it in at ABC music in Addlestone for something else (I'm too ashamed to say what). I often wondered what came of it and saw that it appeared on the Travis Bean database a few years back. I seem to recall that the owner posted up somewhere seeking a replacement original bridge. The bass appeared on eBay in 2015/16 so I assume your dad bought it. I know it was in Oxford at one point; I was playing the Bullingdon in Oxford one night and I had a few email exchanges with the owner who offered to bring it along to the gig so I could use it for our 30 minute set. Didn't show up, sadly. Anyhow, here's two photos. You can make out the figuring on the body, but it looks a lot redder in your photo. The other shot is of me and my best mate when we were doing early live sessions for Virgin at The Townhouse in Shepherds Bush. I forget who we were playing with...it was a signed duo of guitarists, a white guy and a black guy who had inked a deal with Virgin, Hugh Padgham was supposed to have been producing. No idea what happened! Great story and pics, but you HAVE to tell us what you traded it for at ABC Music! Mine is #23; they're fabulous and unique basses 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 I always associated Travis Bean with guitars rather than basses.. Nice to see a few here as I don't recall seeing one in real life myself. I had a couple of Kramer metal neck basses about 1980 81 ish, shocked as usual by the money people want for them these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentext Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 wow that is my dreammm bass what an awesome story to find a previous owner to, thanks for sharing 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still plays keyboards Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 They must have been popular in Lewisham with Mick Karn playing one as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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