To avoid misunderstandings, Mr. Albini rarely uses Harmonic Percolator and it is NOT responsible for his clanky guitar sound. What actually seems to be a major donation to it is Travis Bean TB500, sort of bizzare aluminum neck guitar manufactured by Travis Bean Guitars in Sun Valley, California from 1974 to 1979. The Travis Bean factory developed four guitar models (TB1000S, TB1000A, TB3000 and TB500) all produced in limited quantities. TB500 was to be the “budget” model (compared to the “uptown” model 1000S) equipped with single coil pick-ups and a “strat” type body. These guitars are often, ironically, the Holy Grail of Travis Bean guitars, mainly because they have a very aggressive bite to their tone. Travis Bean guitars are equally sought after by vintage guitar collectors as well as musicians looking for the specific “Bean” sound. Due to the limited number of guitars produced ( just 351 of TB500 for example) the cost of the instruments are slowly on the rise and are generally hard to come by. The good news for all price conscious collectors, Shellac admirers and simply leftfield vintage gear jerks is that nearly entire Travis Bean product line is now reissued by travisbean.de (custom guitar company strangely enough located in Bogen, Lower Bavaria in Germany) and, despite pretty ridiculous price tag (3503,00USD* without VAT incl. Shipping, *+ US Import Tax) and the fact that aluminum necks are only available for the custom shop models for even extra charge, they are claimed to be a real deal. There are some pictures and specs of the “new” Travis Bean TBC Custom (a Bavarian take on a TB1000A classic) below.
