Travis Bean TB-1000 Standard

I am the proud owner of a Standard #1256. It is an earlier version with the 1 3/4" Koa, natural finish body. Which in case people don't know was modeled after the '58 Les Paul Junior Double Cutaway, and is basically the same size as my '98 LPJ DC Special. Only heavier.
It has the 1 5/8" nut and rosewood fingerboard. And of course the trademark 22 fret aluminum neck.
It has the TB humbuckers and string thru body design.
Of course, it also has the twin volume controls and twin tone controls and 3-way selector switch.
I'm not sure if the tuners are Schaller or Grover, since they are not logo'd its hard to tell.
Also this ax does not have the finger board laminated to the aluminum strip laminated to the neck. Mine is direct to neck.
This guitar is exactly the way it came from the factory, except for the strings of course.
I also have the original case, hard shell and red fur lined, which is still like new.

Well, being a rocker, of course I play rock, of the hard drive variety. Remember Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult. Well when I was a kid this was called hard drive. Now days its all considered metal, but its not. Hard drive is much more musical.
I run my TB thru a early '70's Silver Face Fender Twin Reverb. The amp is considered a 100 watt but it says on the back 150 watt max output. I picked this amp up when I bought this guitar and they seem perfectly matched to each other. Ultra clean when I need it, and by pulling the master volume switch out (two-way) all the distortion that could ever be asked for.
I also have a '87 800 Marshall 100 watt tuber, which I use a Alesis Microverb 3 for effects, but the pickups are so powerful that it is almost impossible to keep the thing quite when not playing. Although I'm sure that because of the massive amounts of sustain given off by the TB that every note I've ever played through this setup will be heard in some far off galaxy long after I am gone. So mostly I use the Marshall for my LP Junior and Stat.
I also have a Marshall Lead 15, 15 watt Micro Stack. I have a Boss Super Chorus and Boss RV-3 Digital delay hooked up to this which I use for recording in my in-house studio. I run this direct and you really can't tell its not a full Marshall stack except for the lack of feedback, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The sound of the TB is incredible. As clean and pretty as you could ask for and mean as cornered wild cat when you want it.
As far as I can tell the humbuckers in this guitar are the absolute baddest ever made. If you want to play this ax through a hot amp you had better know what you are doing or you will not be able to control it at high volume.
A friend of mine bought one that had been smashed by someones idiot girlfriend ( at least thats what we were told ) and he put the pick-ups in his Les Paul. Its the screamingist LP I've ever heard.
There is absolutely nothing to dislike about this ax except that you need to be a body builder to carry it around for a few hours straight. Fortunatly I'm a big guy.

This guitar is immaculate, and I've played the hell out of it over the years. The finish is so deep that it has a mirror reflection when it polished up. Love that Koa wood.
I've never had to do anything to it in the 25 years I've owned it other than a minor intonation adjustment every couple years.
The guys that built these guitars set out to build the best ax money could buy, whith all of the best techknowlogy available at the time, and they did.
After almost 30 years this ax is as good as the day it was made. All the wiring is good, the pots don't crackle, the tuners are rock solid. Man I love this ax.

As I have stated this is one sturdy machine. I've used it live and in the studio for over 25 years and have had no problems with it.
If you can find one, grab it. Tho this may not be easy to do. I had mine appraised for insurance purposes and was told mine is worth between 3 and 4 grand. So you know the good ones are going to be in hands of collectors, if most of them are'nt already. Which is of couse is a shame because these axes were meant to be played, not just looked at.

Customer support? Whats that? This guitar is so well built that it will long outlast anyone alive today that is here to read this review.

I've been playing for about 35 years now (tho I'm sure some would debate that).
The guitars I own are as follows:
Travis Bean 1000S ( mid '70's )
Les Paul Junior Special Double Cutaway ('98)
Squire Stagemaster Strat w/Floyd Rose ( bought for $100 the last
day MARS was open)
Yamaha Model SJ-180 accoustic which I put a Shadow accoustic humbucker in. (Fantastic sound hole pickup, around $150.) Bought new in '82.
Effects:
Alesis Microverb Reverb
Yamaha REV100 digital reverb
Boss Super Chorus
Boss CE-3 Chorus (very old)
Boss RV-3 Digital Delay
Boss PW-2 Power Driver ( freebie with Squire Strat from Mars)
Zoom 505 (haven't found a good use for this yet, paperwieght?)
Amps:
Fender Silverface Twin Reverb ( early '70's)
Marshall 800 100 watt tuber ('87)
Marshall Lead 15 15 watt Micro Stack ('02)
Sort of Amps:
Behringer V-amp (couple years old, pretty cool)
SansAmp GT-2 (Marshall in a box. Can't afford a stack,find one.
This is the next best thing to being there.)
Recording:
Fostex X-15 4-track ( great little multi tracker)
Fostex XR-5 4-track (even better)
Fostex Model 80 8-track R2R
Fostex E-16 16-track R2R
Fostex Model 450 recording mixer (for E-16)
Fostex Model 812 recording mixer (M-80)
And of course the "Alesis SR-16" Drum machine. If you have one of these and a little patience you don't need a drummer. Have used one since the late '80's in my studio in the house. No one believes its not a real drummer.
As far as theft of my Travis Bean goes, well I can't twell you what I'd do to whomever took it if I caught them. In fact it was stolen from me in '84, with out the case yet(a__hole). I got it back after my lead player and me stuck his head in gator hole in Florida Everglades. But enough said about that.
If I could have anything on my wish list it would be to be able to find another TB1000S that was still complete, had a broken body or was just plain trashed, so I could modify it for a Floyd Rose. That would have to be the baddest ax on the planet, but I would never cut up mine. That would be sacreligous now wouldn't it.

Have owned several Beans over the years. Contrary to popular notion there are quite a few production variations that were made over the years, but they are all winners. The older ones are a little heavier and seem like they might have slightly boomier low-mid resonance. But the pickups and general tonal palette seems consistent, and it is wide and very useful in a variaty of contexts, especially the neck pickup. The bridge pickups can come across a little wispy at low volume, especially the 500s and the basses, but they perform like champs when they are pushing some air.

The neck pickups are, across the board, huge warm and round, and maintain usefulness and dynamics even when you roll off the volume control. The bridge pickups are brilliant and shearing, you can take someone's head off with a 100watt tube amp. I've heard some edge towards brittle, mainly on the 500 series. And if your neck has been treated well, you can get the action down to nothing and still have full tone and sustain.

They are definitely flaws to these instruments. They weigh a ton (you thought your les paul was heavy), they are very temperature sensitive, and go sharp as they warm up, even from room temperature to having been played for a few minutes. The controls are plastic (pot stems too) and can easily get smashed up. And the 500s have flimsy electronics and a fatal flaw that seems to make the bodies all split along the edges of the imbedded neck. I've heard of bass bodies splitting right in half too. And of course no truss road means not too many options on neck adjustments.

See above for the main criticisms. In spite of all this, these are workhorse guitars and if treated right can hold their own in any loud/heavy or twangy/bluesy context.

Out of business, but there are active user groups. This guitar will outlive you anyhow, don't worry about it.

I think these are the best rock and solid-body country guitars ever made.

I own TB1000S #933. Built in 1976-77 in California, USA. The company shut down in 1979. About 1,400 of the 1000 Standard model were made. The features: 22 frets, two alnico magnet humbuckers with stainless steel cover plates, two tone knobs, two volume knobs, three way selector,Schaller tuners. The body is made of a gorgeous piece of Hawaiian koa wood and is finished in a clear satin. The neck is polished aircraft-grade aluminum and goes through the body and forms the bridge. The pickups are also attached to the neck assembly. My guitar is missing the pick guard, but the finish is so thick and beautiful I think it looks better this way.

This guitar is heavy, but once you start playing it you forget all about the weight.

Not a "ton of features", but what it does have are of the highest quality and craftsmanship.

Travis Beans have been used by players ranging from Stanley Jordan to Rory Gallagher to Jerry Garcia. Those guys easily cover my style and a whole lot more.

I play it through a Mesa/Boogie DC-5 amp with the following effects - Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron, Ibanez tube screamer (modified by Analogman mike - Yeah!), Peavey DOD-3 digital delay, and Analogman Chorus.

I have never played a guitar that could touch this Travis Bean for sound. My old Strat Plus sounded so thin and lame that I sold it on E-Bay the week I got my 1000S. The pickups have phenomenal output. I had to readjust all the settings on my effects and amp to get accomodate the differnce, but as they say in France, "Vive la difference!" This guitar sings on clean settings and growls like a tiger on overdrive. Each pick-up offers a very distinct sound and the combination of the two is mind-blowing.

Did I mention the sustain? The crowd will have left the club and be fast asleep in bed and the Travis Bean is still singing.

I bought the guitar used. It was in great condition, but I'm guessing hadn't been played much over the past few years. I made a few minor adjustments to the bridge and set the intonation.

I cannot say enough about the quality of this instrument. It reminds me of a Volvo I once owned - nothing flashy, but every component is of the highest quality and built to last. The koa wood is spectacular. I hate contributing to deforestation, but hey this guitar is 27 years old.

Interestingly, the fret board is flat - like a classical guitar. Most guitars have a slight radius to the fretboard. It took me about 30 minutes to get used to it. You also have to get used to the aluminum neck which may feel a little cold at first, but warms up as you play it. Because of the neck and body design, this guitar has wonderful access to the upper frets. It is much easier to play in the upper octaves than my Stratocaster.

I haven't had it that long, but I expect my kids (and probably their kids) will fight about who inherits it when I'm gone. This is a guitar for the ages. Nothing short of a major accident is going to screw up the aluminum neck. Everything from the pickups to the wiring is the finest craftsmanship.

This Bean is here to stay.

The company shut its doors in 1979. You're on your own with these guitars, but they are easy to take apart and work on.

I've been playing guitar nearly 30 years since I was in the 7th grade. I currently own the Travis Bean, a Martin acoustic, and a Takamine acoustic/electric. I have owned guitars by Fender, Yamaha, Univox, and others. I have never played an electric guitar that could compare with the Travis Bean.

They are hard to find and they don't come cheap anymore, but once you play one you'll never regret the expense.

i have TB1000S #1711. one of the last ones made (in '79). two (LOUD)alnico magnet humbuckers, two tone knobs, two volume knobs, three way selector. schaller tuners keep it in tune. the wood is koa, and the neck is gorgeous polished aluminum.

i use it with an ernie ball volume pedal straight into a Hiwatt 100R, and a Marshall 1960 classic 4x10 cab. first of all, the pickups are the hottest i have ever heard- plug any other guitar in after you've been playing a bean, and it sounds like you just turned your amp halfway down. it has a huge, full sound, and sustain to last you for days.

it is definitely the best playing guitar i have ever owned-or played! (i have previously owned a fender mustang, a gibson firebrand, a gretsch committee, a steinberger GP3T, and more) honestly, it is a finely crafted instument. all the workmanship (gorgeous finish, the wiring) is top notch.

i have used it daily-on tour, in practice, and recording, for the last five years. the only problem i have ever had was with the schaller tuners going slack (they just needed adjustment). absolutely rock solid.

N/A the company is long gone.

if it was stolen, i would be desperate to get another one. in fact, when i have the cash, i'd like to get a spare just in case. truly the best guitar i've ever owned. these things are incredibly collectable (and as a result, incredibly expensive), but they deserve to be PLAYED!...it's what they were made for after all.

i own a travis bean tb100s serial #1141 in natural finish koa wood from around 1977 i believe.
the features on this guitar are not very special - 2 tones , 2 volumes and a 3 way PU selector very much like that of a gibson LP.
it has original alnico TB pick ups along with original schaller tuners - i said earlier that the features on this guitar arnt special - i lied - it has an amasing ALUMINIUM neck on it that goes straight into the body with PU being a part of the actual neck !!!!!
the sound these things give off is unearthly - you will never ever find anything that sounds quite like this - or even feels like this.
it's frets are very fast the action is low and the feel is extra ordinary

the sound is well how can i put this ........ all i can say and STRESS is that if you dont have one go out and find one - they make MOST other guitars sound like cheap pieces of wood i.e. fenders,gibsons,musicmans - the list goes on !!!
this guitar has STUPID amounts of attack and can really emphasise angular playing i.e. shellac,don caballero,jesus lizard - but at the same time it can have the sweetest warmth you've ever heard - ala aerial m, slint. This guitar can sometimes be a bit on the heavy side but that could never out do the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you plug this baby in - also this guitar is louder then any other guitar i own ( fender 72 custom tele,71 gibson sg, yamaha sg 200 , kramer 450 g (also with aluminium neck - great but not as good !!!) gibson les paul ) i have to play at 6/7 on the volume pots when i play with my band as it also cuts through everything - like a red hot knife through butter - trust this guitar is worth eevery single penny youpay for it !!!!!!

the action is ridiculous it's perfect - as i said earlier it is heavy and does wear on your shoulder but you will not beleive your ears when you hear them - this guitar is about 25+ years old and it looks
like i've had for a few months it's in immaculate condition there are a few buckle scratch's on the back were the metal joins the body of the guitar but other then that the finish is perfect - i actually cant find a fault in it's design - apart from it being heavy !!!

this thing will proberley live longer then me - i've dropped it a few times by accident on the headstock down and it didnt even go out of tune not even by a semitone - you could proberley throw this off a sky scraper have it run over by a truck and given to kurt cobain to smash up on stage - trust me this solid as concrete - i have heard of the bodys splitting but i have put my guitar through hell and back and it's still in perfect condition

dont know never had to call them

i have been playing guitars now for just over 11 years and all i can say is if you havent got one then tough luck because these baby's are getting rarer and rarer by the minute - and there's a very good reason for that MOST people , once they have one of these guitars there others become secondary - i would never get rid of my guitar and am in the process of getting the other guitars in the 'TB' range - i would strongly advise that if you want a guitar that you will love just as much as your wife or dog then honestly look no further - they ARE the best guitars ever !!!!! ( in my opinion)!!!!!!!!! every one of my friends that have played on my 'TB' have had to leave whilst picking there mouths up from off the floor - simply - JAW DROPPING !!!!!!!!
infact seriousley these guitars speak for themselves - i suggest you find some lucky person who has one and try it out for yourself - you'll never look back !!!!!!!!

As many have noted before, there weren't many of these made.
Mine is blonde, serial #1510 - probably made towards the end of
the 1,700 or so Standards produced. Schaller tuners, huge humbuckers, 3-position switch, (patented) aluminum thru-body neck w/"T" cutaway inscribed in peghead. Mostly like the other ones described here,
though in researching these on Harmony Central and other sites I'm
convinced that each one is fairly unique.

I've been playing this guitar in extremely loud noise bands (Don Caballero, Shellac, Jesus Lizard, Unwound, Antioch Arrow - ish), mostly thru a Fender '65 Twin Reverb Reissue, and occasionally a Vox AC30 reissue or Sovtek MIG60 w/ 4x10 Marshall cab. I'm messing around with a variety of pedals, but mostly a Rat or a MXRdistortion+ for distortion/volume and a Boss DD5 for delay. This guitar's treble is sharp in an unholy way, and its' bass tones are in a similar level of heaven. It's almost twice as loud and clear as my Rick360 or my MIJ Jazzmaster at equivalent volume settings, and while the tone doesn't have an incredibly subtle variance (i'm worried the pots are almost shot, fwiw), it's got an incredibly distinctive sound - sharp, cutting, and blaringly loud, with incredible sustain. The feedback one can get, if desired, is otherworldly and eminently controllable.

The finish on this guitar is semi-weathered, with a serious amount
of belt-buckle action out back and a significant amount of finish decay on the top. It's an extremely thick finish over blonde wood, and
is slightly worn between the pickups on both sides, probably due
to intense strumming on the low-action strings. I had this guitar
intonated and set up at Gary Brauer here in San Francisco, but they
sure couldn't raise the action much. If I'd told them how I was abusing it, I'm sure they'd've made it higher; this is my primary complaint with the guitar -- if the action were higher it'd be more suited to the fast-strumming, abusive style in which I'm playing it.
For slower, more solo-y songs it can't be beat, but for more intense
playing it's less fun. I think this could be resolved by having it set up again. Only complaint about the controls is this: having taken off the metal plate behind the tone controls I realized one of the pots was non-stock...a non-stock pot! awful! But the serial number (matching the neck) was written on the inside of this area, and it warmed the cockles of my heart...who knows if the dude who replaced the pot did it? When I bought this thing at Rocker Guitar in SF, they barely knew what to make of it. I'm downgrading my rating here based on the amount of abuse to the finish and the slinky pots (considering, of course, that this guitar is about 25 years old).

I love this guitar, and it's far more durable than any of the four or so other guitars I have. It stays in tune perfectly once the neck is warm (someone once told me that they'd roadied for a band that required the necks be warmed with a hair dryer pre-show, and I can believe it). I'd take it anywhere, and have not doubts about its' roadworthiness.

I've only been playing for 7 years or so, and am not the most accomplished of players -- but I've owned a lot of gear (currently: crappy Westone Thunder IV, American Strat, Rickenbacker360, Danelectro DC3, MIJ Jazzmaster, RI Fender Twin Reverb, RI Vox Cambridge Twin Reverb, Marshall JCM900 50w etc), and I wouldn't ever sell this guitar. It's incredibly distinctive in both looks and sound, and would, frankly, be impossible to replace. If I lost in in some freak accident, I'd surely buy another TB - but not one of the new ones! If I had a spare $7k I'd put it towards my dental work or giving my cat a second tail. Or putting Magnum PI on finding Sonic Youth's stolen crap. Since Jerry G is the most famous TB practitioner, I think it's unlikely that these unusual axes will find a horrible bunch of purists vying for them...but who knows? Maybe rich deadheads or rich indiekids will hang them on their walls...

This guitar was made between 1976 and 1978. it has 22 frets and has two huge humbucking pickups. This guitar has serial Nr. 876 and has white finish. It`s body is made out of koa wood and the neck is made ou of aluminium. It has schaller tuners and that`s about it. It weighs pretty heavey though.

I play in a noise band like shellac, blonde redhead and unwound (it`s called feverdream and we are from holland). and we use the basic pounding drumkit in combination with a tight low base sound and then the guitar cuts right through it. I use a fender bassman 70 amp with a 4x12" fender speaker cabinet. The only thing I use with this guitar is a boos 9" equalizer (I boost the high mid and drop the high end, the rest stays the same). It`s a very noisy guitar. To me it has basically one sound, and that`s like a razor blade that is tight sharp (but not the kind of sharp that will hurt your ears) and still has a low and fat body. The guitar sound very loud and has amazing sustainThen again I have to say that I only use the bridge pickup, the other pickup sounds to heavy and low to me (though it would be great for other sorts of music). I realy like the sound of this guitar and everywhere we play people come to me and ask for the guitar because they like the agression that`s in it.

The action is okay, the neck is flat and that might bother a couple of people (but I don`t mind). The neck goes straight through the body and serves as a soundboard, the pick-ups are screwed right on to it so that they will pick up thrills from the air as well as thrills from the aluminium soundboard. This gives the guitar it`s distorted sound.

This guitar will survive almost anything. The guitar is a tank and nothing will kill it!! the finish of my guitar is not in perfect shape anymore after +20 years, but who cares, it`s the sound that counts (and anybody who doesn`t agree should buy a new one at www.travisbean.com for +$6000,-!!!!!! no kidding)

you don`t need this.

I`ve been playing on this guitar for 2 year now and I could not do without it. I was looking for this guitar a long time and they are hard to find. I would definetly kill the person who would steel my bean (no kidding..). I also have a kramer 250G aluminium guitar, but that guitar sounds warm and nice (so aluminium does not by definition mean that it will rock). No problems or whatever on this guitar, it will remain my best buddy till the end of ages. And yes, things can be perfect. The only thing I could Imagine that would be better is a TB-500.

Made in USA. Sides are Koa, Neck is cast aluminum through the body. 2 Travis Bean Humbuckers. Two volume and tone controls with a three way switch. This is a simple, sturdy guitar.

I love the sound. It is rich, deep, and full yet full of sparkle. I love it for both rhythm and lead work. Chords are so full it's almost like playing an organ. Single string leads sound as if they've been doubled. I'll say it again, I love the sound. On a Les Paul I'll almost never use the middle setting. The middle setting on this guitar is perfect.

Although the guitar is @ 25 years old, the neck is perfectly straight and the intonation is fine. The action seems about the same as my Paul DC, but the fingerboard is different than any electric I've played. It feels almost concave. Inspite of that, it is relatively easy to play. I have no trouble with bends.

The age of the guitar speaks for it's durability.

I've been playing for over 30 years. I also own a Fender Strat Lonestar, A Gibson Les Paul DC Standard, a Martin HD28, and an Ovation Celebrity.

This guitar was made around 1977. Only about 1700 of this model were produced, and all were handmade by just a few craftsmen in California. These guitars were very expensive in their day, going for almost double what a Les Paul cost. Perhaps for this reason, the company only existed for about 5 years in the 70's, though it is now back and selling the guitars for like $5000 each.
In their heyday in the 70's, lots of well-known guitarists swore by Beans. Keith Richards, Joe Perry, and Jerry Garcia were all big fans for awhile. Then they kind of disappeared. Nowadays they've made a huge comeback with the indie-rock set, as described below. Also, supposedly Slash has collected like a dozen of them.
The most distinctive thing about the Bean is that the neck and body sub-frame are milled from aerospace aluminum. Although the metal is invisible from the front, the bridge and pickups actually sit on the aluminum piece, such that theoretically you could slide the wooden body off and still play it. The pickups are huge humbuckers with smooth covers. The knob/switch arrangement is set up just like a Les Paul. The bridge is a proprietary design and also nicely uncomplicated. The toggle switch is down near the four knobs and is recessed into the body, as is the jack around the side.
The standard looks the same as the Artist model, except that it has a flat-top body instead of a carved one, and has dot position markers instead of rectangles. Overall the appearance is more simple and businesslike than the Artist, which I prefer. The body is similar in shape to an ES-335, though smaller. Both of mine are finished in natural Koa, like 90% of all Beans. The fingerboard is one-piece rosewood, and there is absolutely no radius to the neck. The frets are like Gibson jumbos. The tuning heads are Schallers. The neck, headstock, pickguard, pickups and hardware are all very shiny metal, like chrome. There are no screws visible on the front of the guitar, which gives it a very clean and futuristic appearance. Most importantly, the headstock has the totally boss "T" cutout.

Unlike most "specialty" guitars, Beans sound totally unique-- not like warmed-over Gibsons and Fenders. The metal neck and sub-frame create tons of high-end sparkle, and yet the big, overwound humbuckers sound very deep and rich. The combination gives you a tone that is just ungodly--huge and deep, yet with the glassy shimmer of a Telecaster. The closest analogy I can think of is my vintage Les Paul, although the LP is much more throaty and narrow-voiced (which can be great for some things-- don't get me wrong!). When I've been playing the Bean and pick up the Les Paul, I keep reaching for the tone knobs on the Gibson as if they are halfway down! Another Bean enthusiast put it this way-- "it's like playing a Les Paul with 5-minute-old strings."
This guitar is not "versatile" in the sense of those instruments that do fourteen different half-assed imitations of other guitars. It has pretty much one sound, but what a sound! --I hit a chord and people's mouths fall open. Anyhow, I'm one of those players who prefer one blow-your-head-off sound to a dozen decent tones. If I want another sound, I pick up one of my other guitars.

These guitars are extremely well made. In terms of workmanship, the apt comparison would be a Paul Reed Smith or a top-line Gibson-- high attention to detail. The lacquer finish is very deep and luxurious. The frets and fingerboard are great, if you don't mind the lack of curvature. I have enormous hands and for some reason the flat neck suits them better, but other people can have trouble getting all the notes of a barre chord to sing.

Thanks to the metal neck and sub-frame, you could probably run this guitar over with your car and it would still be in tune. On the other hand, some players have reportedly cracked their Beans down the middle, where the body is hollowed out under the pickups to receive the metal frame. They must have really whaled on it to do that-- even over the metal, the wood is more than a half-inch thick.
All the components seem bullet-proof. The pickups are potted in epoxy or something and the wiring and components are all heavy duty. Everything is so well thought-out and simple, nothing falls apart or corrodes like with most other guitars. My guitar was made while Led Zeppelin was still together, and from the way it's held up you would think it's two years old.

The company didn't exist for decades, and while they have started up again, I doubt they want to service the old ones. But you never know.

I have about seven other sweet guitars, and I now play my Beans the most. I didn't discover them until somewhat recently, though, and since I've moved more into producing and recording lately, I can't say how they would do playing in a big venue. But I bet they would cut through just great; they are indisputably the loudest guitars in the universe. If you want to hear a Bean in action, go see the Jesus Lizard, Steve Albini (now with Shellac), Sonic Youth, Weezer, Poster Children, etc.-- they are all Bean devotees. Or check out "The Cult of Travis Bean" website. But be careful: if you don't own a Travis Bean you'll get really hyped to find one!