1978 Travis Bean Artist White

This guitar has a slightly longer story than most. Travis Bean enthusiasts are likely familiar with two unusual shaped instruments that have been floating around for a couple of decades, one shaped like a Flying V (which was recently for sale) and another with a body shaped like a map of the United States. Both are photographed on the Travis Bean forum as part of the Bill Kaman collection of Travis Beans which was sold off years ago. While both the V and USA body were high quality, neither was original, and both are a little aesthetically displeasing – at least in my opinion.

A couple of years ago at the Dallas guitar show I was surprised to see the map shaped Travis Bean on a stand and for sale. I noticed on the table beside it a white artist body. I asked the owner who informed me that the body was the original body and would be included in the sale. We bought the guitar and decided to restore it. The body and neck had matching serial numbers and went together perfectly. Although the body has been saved, some parts were missing, the pickguard, knobs, and the backplate. We were able to order these from EGC. The pickups are original and three of the pots appear to be original although two of them had broken shafts. As it sits, the guitar has one original pot in it, and the two broken ones are in the case. It is a very good playing and sounding Artist. We will also include the map body with the sale as it seems to be part of this guitar’s somewhat infamous history. The guitar comes with a non original case.