A SOLID-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR, TB1000 ARTIST

Previously owned by Status Quo’s Francis Rossi, Mark Knopfler acquired this guitar in January 2008 from the Phil Harris Agency. Reportedly, Rossi used the guitar to record the Status Quo single ‘Accident Prone’, from their 1978 album If You Can’t Stand The Heat. Rossi said of the guitar: 'Bought in England early 70s used on Accident Prone single. High output once warmed up plays well end up like the hunch back off [sic] Notre Dame after an hour playing, good idea never took very expensive.' Knopfler spent time playing the Travis Bean so he could get an idea of the sound and where it might fit in a particular song, however the guitar did not make it onto a record.

TRAVIS BEAN
While observing his friend and guitar repairman, Marc McElwee, struggle with the inconsistencies and instability of guitar necks made of wood, Clifford Travis Bean applied his skills as a machinist working with metal. What evolved would be an electric guitar with an aluminium neck. In 1974, along with McElwee and Gary Kramer, Bean launched Travis Bean Guitars in Sun Valley, California. Machined from a solid bar of Reynolds 6061-T6 aluminium, the neck extended through the body to the bridge mounting. A more traditional wood fingerboard would be glued to the neck. The body shaped from wood (often Koa wood) would have the aluminium neck 'pan' inlaid into it. The stability of this aluminium neck would be unrivalled, alleviating the intonation and breakage issues associated with touring stage guitars. An unexpected upside with this construction technique was the extraordinary tonal sustain these guitars produced. As with all new ideas that bucked tradition there is often a downside to change. With the Travis Bean guitars, it was the extra weight this mass of aluminium added to the instrument. Nonetheless, the Travis Bean became popular with musicians. Before ceasing production in 1979, Travis Bean Guitars had manufactured approximately 3600 guitars and basses. Of this number it is reported that 755 of the TB1000A (Artist) models were produced.