About This Listing

Selling my Travis Bean Designs TB500 Gen 1 in white. I hate to sell this guitar, but I have some expensive vet bills piling up so I've made the difficult decision to let go of some stuff that doesn't get played enough to justify keeping around right now. This is the same model guitar Jerry Garcia played, Travis Bean originally made only 10 of these back in the 1970s before changing the shape to the more common offset-bodied Generation 2 version. The original version has been meticulously recreated by Electrical Guitar Company/Travis Bean Designs and built to the original specs. Features a 24.75" scale T6061 aluminum neck with a 12" radius rosewood fretboard, brass nut, Schaller tuners, African mahogany body, and equipped with two Travis Bean high gain single coil pickups with master volume and tone controls and a 3-way toggle switch. The neck is pretty chunky, slightly bigger than a medium-C, but not as big as EGC's "Denison" necks. I don't have the exact specs handy, but if you would like to know, send a message and I can grab my caliper and measure it. The pickguard and pickups are made from NOS parts and materials. Other than fingerprints and some very minor play wear it is in excellent condition, if not near-mint. It plays and sounds great, but has sat in its case for a while and could use some new strings and a fret polishing. I installed Schaller strap buttons when I got it, but I will include the original buttons in the case. It has never left my home studio and has always been stored in its waterproof SKB 3i case with a humidity control pack inside when not being played. I'm happy to answer any question or provide more photos if desired. Thanks for looking.

Listeda month ago
Condition
Brand
Model
  • TB500
Finish
  • White
Categories
Year
  • 2020
Made In
  • United States
Fretboard Material
  • Rosewood
Pickup Configuration
  • SS
Body Shape
  • Double Cutaway
Right / Left Handed
  • Right Handed
Number of Strings
  • 6-String
Body Type
  • Solid Body
Offset Body
  • Yes
Color Family
  • Tan
  • Natural
Bridge/Tailpiece Type
  • String-Through
Neck Construction
  • Bolt-On
Number of Frets
  • 22

About the Seller

fv3

West Seneca, NY, United States
(162)
Joined Reverb:2016
Items Sold:37
Product Overview
Travis Bean started producing innovative aluminum neck guitars in 1974. By combining a solid wood bodies with a metal neck and centerpiece, Bean hoped to avoid the instability and warping that sometimes came with conventional metal guitars.  Bean produced around 3,600 instruments until 1979, which have since become highly prized by a variety of players including noise rock titans like Steve Albini. The TB500 was built as a lower-end counterpart to the TB1000 series. Less of this model were made than the TB1000. 

Years of Production: 1975 - 1976

Body Style: Double cutaway solidbody 

Composition: Magnolia body, Aluminum neck

Notable Trave Bean Players: Steve Albini, Jerry Garcia, Duane Denison   
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