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Traben anyone?


Newfoundfreedom

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I did a search and looked through all the threads but everything Traben related was several years old. Probably not surprising as, from what I can gather from the limited information around, the company ceased to exist a good few years ago.

Anyhow. I just picked one up from the bay of fleas and it looks absolutely stupendous. Natural finish, Seymour Duncan pups and preamp, Grover tuners with hipshot drop D. Brass nut and supersized brass bridge (a rather tame and dare I say lovely looking, Music Man style oval, as opposed to the more common and garish flame design). 24 full and reachable frets. String through body. From the limited amount of information I can find about them they seem pretty well regarded, extremely diverse sound wise, and very playable. Yet they are ridiculously cheap considering the amount of instrument you get for your money. OK I get that the looks aren't for everyone, especially purists who prefer a Fender shape (one of which I'm definitely not. Bland with a side order of bland) I'd even draw the line myself at the flame bridged models. But this one's an utter thing of beauty. What am I missing? 

I can't wait for this thing to arrive. 

 

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Edited by Newfoundfreedom
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Just now, Iacopo San said:

If you remove that pickguard and get a better looking bridge, you may have a winner! Although I still don't like how they placed those pots... But after all sound is the most important thing, so well done to you!

 

The pickguard IS the bridge. It's all one enormous lump of chrome plated brass. That's the whole point of Trabens. They have massive oversized bridges to (supposedly) increase tone and sustain. That's their party piece. 

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Used to have a Traben Phoenix 5-string (the one with the flame bridge and fingerboard inlays). Looked great. However it wasn't particularly well made - lots of sharp fret ends and the pan pot failed after a couple of months. The 35" scale did nothing to make the low B sound any good. And I found the fingerboard inlays very distracting when I was actually playing it.

I took it out as backup to a few gigs and it always got appreciative comments.

Edited by BigRedX
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14 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Used to have a Traben Phoenix 5-string (the one with the flame bridge and fingerboard inlays). Looked great. However it wasn't particularly well made - lots of sharp fret ends and the pan pot failed after a couple of months. The 35" scale did nothing to make the low B sound any good. And I found the fingerboard inlays very distracting when I was actually playing it.

I took it out as backup to a few gigs and it always got appreciative comments.

Thanks @BigRedX

Good to hear from someone who's actually owned one (albeit a different model) There's nothing there that sound too perturbing. As it's neither a five string or the flame inlay/bridge version then I have neither of those things to worry about. The pots, along with all the electrics have already been replaced with Seymour Duncans, and hopefully with it being around for a few years someone will have already dealt with any fret issues. If not then I'm not averse to having the frets redressed. If that's the biggest problem on a bass that looks this good then I still reckon I'm on to a winner. 😁

Edited by Newfoundfreedom
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You may not have any problems that plagued the standard models. Yours is a limited, so they may have gone the extra mile. Especially since it has the SD party pack. I assume they're factory fitted and not been swapped out by any previous owners

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58 minutes ago, fleabag said:

You may not have any problems that plagued the standard models. Yours is a limited, so they may have gone the extra mile. Especially since it has the SD party pack. I assume they're factory fitted and not been swapped out by any previous owners

I'm not sure. In the description it was listed as "upgraded with SD's" so that would suggest a retro fit, but as I understand it some of the later ones actually came as stock with the SD's. Either way it's got them so happy days. 

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I sold my Traben to a pal few years back. It was the bog standard Neo so no Duncans or D-tuner 🙂 From what I recall it was a bright sounding bass,that could've been the Roto Nexus strings.

Nothing comes to mind as  below par in fact my abiding memory is the pots felt very smooth and robust.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've got three Traben basses. Not the ones with the huge bridges, but the other more conservative bridges with Rockfield pickups and Aguilar pre-amps. They're really nice basses. Two of them are John Moyer Signature basses (one four-string and one five-string) and the only downside is that they're a little heavy. Everything else about them I quite like. They're my beater basses which I use for gigs where the venues are less than desirable. I've recorded with them too and they sounded pretty nice. Bought them in 2008 and still use them now.

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Mine finally turned up today and I was expecting it to be heavy but when I picked the parcel up from the courier office I thought it was an empty box. It's definitely lighter than my Jag or even the short scale Gretsch Junior Jet II. First impressions are out looks great. It seems really well made, no fret problems and the action is really nice. It's really easy to play. Sound wise I've only tried it on the practice amp so far but it seems good with a very diverse range of sounds. I reckon once I get it hooked up to my main rig it'll be a monster. All in all I'm extremely happy with my purchase. It's definitely going to be my main gigging bass. 

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The Traben Neo basses are the best of the cheaper range of basses that Traben do but with the addition of the SD pickups an pre-amp you're onto a winner there. They're really nice basses and are really comfortable to play. They're not being manufactured any more as Traben was bought out by BC RIch who now only make their own version of the Chaos Core bass with the Traben bridge. I think yours is made from Royal Paulina (sp?) which is a far-eastern equivalent of alder.

Do you me asking how much you paid for it?

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11 minutes ago, WHUFC BASS said:

The Traben Neo basses are the best of the cheaper range of basses that Traben do but with the addition of the SD pickups an pre-amp you're onto a winner there. They're really nice basses and are really comfortable to play. They're not being manufactured any more as Traben was bought out by BC RIch who now only make their own version of the Chaos Core bass with the Traben bridge. I think yours is made from Royal Paulina (sp?) which is a far-eastern equivalent of alder.

Do you me asking how much you paid for it?

£270 including shipping. Which is actually quite high for one of these. They were selling for about £100 - £150 a few years ago when there was plenty of then around. But I figured with the Seymour Duncan pickups and preamp, the Grover tuners and the Hipshot drop D it's worth almost that in parts. Given the quality and playability it seems like a lot of bass for the money to me. 

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Well I got round to setting up the Traben yesterday. It didn't need much to be fair. Checked all the frets and they're bang level with no sharp edges. Gave the truss rod a tweak to drop the action to my preferred level. Got rid of the flats it came with and put on some new D'addario rounds. Set the intonation and job done. I must say the thing plays like a dream and sound absolutely amazing. It very much reminds me of my old Warwick Thumb which was five times the price and twice the weight. So all in all I'm well pleased with my purchase. This is definitely going to be my new daily playing and gigging bass. Not to mention the thing looks superb! (ymmv)

 

IMG_20190211_140411_320.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

Being on the backburner and knowing this thread is a little ol´ - I think i would share this.

I have had good experience with the Traben Array 5 and Array 5 limited. 

Compared to a 5 stringer with 34" scale - I´d say the 35" scale on the Traben does make it tighter.

I´ve tried both 45-125 and 050-136 string gauges on these basses and with good results.

I really liked the playability on both - they are different tempered - and it was big bang for the buck.

The Array 5 Limited was modified with German Made Delano Pickups - and their 3 Eq preamp.

This transformed the Array 5 Limited into a very good sounding studio Bass.  I´ve have done a lot of studio

recordings with this - it´s clean and transparent - you sculpt your sound with your fingers and choice of strings.

I can only regret i didn´t get the Neo version beforte they were sold out.

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On 10/08/2020 at 23:30, TheJazzBassMan said:

Being on the backburner and knowing this thread is a little ol´ - I think i would share this.

I have had good experience with the Traben Array 5 and Array 5 limited. 

Compared to a 5 stringer with 34" scale - I´d say the 35" scale on the Traben does make it tighter.

I´ve tried both 45-125 and 050-136 string gauges on these basses and with good results.

I really liked the playability on both - they are different tempered - and it was big bang for the buck.

The Array 5 Limited was modified with German Made Delano Pickups - and their 3 Eq preamp.

This transformed the Array 5 Limited into a very good sounding studio Bass.  I´ve have done a lot of studio

recordings with this - it´s clean and transparent - you sculpt your sound with your fingers and choice of strings.

I can only regret i didn´t get the Neo version beforte they were sold out.

I'm still loving my NEO. Fantastic four the money and it sounds superb. 

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  • 2 months later...
10 hours ago, [email protected] said:

I would love to find the flame pickguard for an OLP Traben 4 string bass. Help

I remember seeing them on eBay around the time Traben closed.

Seem to recall either CH Guitars or Northwest sold them, maybe ask them if they have one hidden in a corner 👍

 

Found a 5 string version on Ali Ex so they are still out there.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32881554067.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.77276bdeqrfIXn&algo_pvid=7ce451f5-afb7-4d19-9053-d498758a41a9&algo_expid=7ce451f5-afb7-4d19-9053-d498758a41a9-0&btsid=0b0a187b16030063506931058e3955&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

 

 

Edited by kodiakblair
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  • 1 month later...
9 hours ago, NewUser said:

Hey there! I made this account so I could ask about that bass. I'm thinking of getting one and removing the pickguard, could anyone please tell me, is it solid wood under the guard or is there a big pocket hole that hide wiring etc.?

No idea I've never removed mine. It seems a bit pointless as the whole point of a Traben is the bridge. There is no pick guard. The whole thing is a single piece bridge. 

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