ANYWAY, details on the bass: The neck is one big slab of aircraft aluminum from the top of the headstock to the bottom of the bridge! It's actually hollowed out in some choice places or else you would never be able to strap this thing on. The tuners are Schaller's (correct me if I'm wrong) and the headstock itself has a big 'T' shaped hole in it (again-some hallowing out to lessen the load). This is the way to tell a Kramer apart from a Travis Bean: Kramers headstocks look like the two ends of a wishbone sticking outward whereas Travis Beans have a thin strip of aluminum connecting those ends at the top. The brige (thru body) is actually part of the neck piece - the body consists of two symetrical pieces of koa slapped together on each side of the aluminum. Looking at the back of the bass, this looks like the metal splits up the wood completely except for where the koa actually meets right under the bridge. The pickups are actually fastened by to allen wrench screws along the back slab of aluminum, not like conventional basses with a million screws on the front. The nut is solid brass, and there is NO TRUSS ROD. Yep, who the hell needs one with an almost solid aluminum neck? I've actually seen Kramers with bows in their necks because Kramer glued in slabs of wood in his necks to give them a warmer feel. Similarly, Travis Bean also made versions with a plastic/polyurathane/vinyl coating over the aluminum to alleviate any 'cold' feel....I definitely think that these aren't as valuable, I mean, if you've got it, flaunt it, right? The construction is like nothing I've ever seen - totally ahead of it's time, even by today's standards!

This bass sounds *very unique*....with new strings and the bridge pick- up selected, you get some serious snarl - imagine chewing on tin or pig iron. With the neck or both pickups, you can acheive an very smooth, full tone with no problems, similar to a P-Bass but way bigger and deeper (think DUB). Surprisingly, this is a pretty versitile bass.

Records show that there were only about 1000 of these made back in the '70's, but if you're patient and look hard enough, you can still find one. Travis Bean himself has started making guitars again just recently (after the original company folded in the late '70's). The new Beans look pretty cool, but the originals are more affordable (???). If you want a spectacular sounding and unique bass, it's worth the cash.

Construction	150%
Playability	100%
Appearance	100%
Sound	100%
Value	100%
Overall	100%