Okay, I know. It seems like a gimmick bass and I suppose it is. I mean, come on... a 3 pound bass? Real sound? Playability? For this price?For the price of a midrange (and thus sacrificable) axe, there's this crazy bass from Traveler.Imagine my surprise the first time I plugged it into an amp... Even if it was just a little Pignose the first time.Bottom line is that while it's really super-basic barebones, it DOES play decent. It's essentially the "neck-through" part of a bass without the "wings." There isn't even a volume pot. This baby is like stripping out the interior of an old Chevy Vega, putting in a pair of Recarros, dropping in a rebored Buick-6 and new powertrain and going out and challenging people to street race. Which I did in my dumb young days.It just plays and you can amp it. You can take it with you anywhere and even just use a headphone amp so you can always practice and there's very VERY little luggage penalty.The included bag is NOT a flight-case. Just saying.I've been playing bass for 40 years. This is a "toy" that I'm keeping because it exceeded my expectations.

Sound
So, does this sound like my custom P-bass with Wyld neck and Quarter Pounders, etc? No, dun't be redeekuluss!However, when I read "piezo" pickup, I normally think shrill, too much output and no lows.Fear not, while there are certainly highs, it's not brain-surgery top-heavy and there are lows. One nice thing about piezo/crystal pickups is that they are quiet, and… read more this one sure is. I live in a very high density RF environment (near Fenway Park in Boston) where everyone fights noise problems all the time. This was quiet.It's punchy enough, it has balls enough, it's clear enough. More than enough for practicing, even rehearsal. I could even see taking this and a small amp and mic'ing the slot or whatever for a small gig. It plays comfortably, you won't get tired with a 3lb ax and it is decent sounding.You DO need to bring ALL your own tone shaping with you. If you have a bass preamp with effects, that's the one, or your stompbox array. You need something, even if it's just an MXR 5-bander. While the pickup of fingering/handling noise is a bit different than with coil pickups, you might want a noise-gate, too.I really can see gigging this so long as I have a pedal to control my volume and can switch between tone settings on a stomp box to replace doing the same with pots on the instrument.HOWEVER, I am thinking of coming up with an electronics hack for onboard installation. I'm sure I'll figure out a way to have volume and tone, if not an active solution, without it looking hack.

Features
The satin finish is nice, comfortable and my hand doesn't hang up on it like gloss finishes do. It's all Rock-Sugar Maple, from the looks of it. I like RS Maple. It holds up. Being able to use strings you can actually buy without selling your car is nice, too! I'm always a little suspicious of the jack in the strap-nut, but so far, so good. Unless you are ONLY working on positions or exercises and don't care what it sounds like, listening solely for fret buzzing, etc (no matter how long you play, it always comes back to basics: scales and arpeggios!), you really want to amp this, even if only through a little Pignose, like I often do. You can't really hear it otherwise.

Ease of Use
Plug it in and go. No controls on board, so there isn't much to screw up! Noiseless pickup (XTAL or Piezo, however you want to say) has zero RF problems, and as mentioned, I'm in a high RF environment. It plays just fine, comes with a wrench so you can adjust the neck seasonally (which is how it is with all instruments, don't kid yourself) and once the strings settle down, is pretty decent.

Quality
Overall, pretty good build. The body itself is very nice. I might have done things a little differently with the machines and taken a little different approach with the hardware, but maybe that can be for the "deluxe" version" of the instruments. The finish is a familiar synthetic water-based poly-varnish in satin. Should prove easy to clean, durable and wear pleasantly without chipping, which is why it's used in furniture so much now. No sloppy glueing, parts all seem to fit.I think fret dressing could have been better, especially for this price range. Given what some similar priced products provide in good fret dressing, this is the only "feel" issue. It's not bad, it's just that since I usually play fretless (this is really my zero effort plinking bass now, goodbye yucky Yamaha bass!), I'm especially sensitive to this, and after owning a Peavey Foundation for years, which was far better and still not perfect, this is something I may go to a guitarsmith to let them touch up the setup after redressing the frets to make them faster so I can do my gliding blues thing more smoothly.

Value
If you can afford to have an axe like this as a pure practice, "doodling" axe, by all means, it's WELL worth it and will have real value next to your AE Bass, whatever you have.IF you have sufficiently sophisticated electronics to bring, this can also be gigged. You need, at the very least, a volume pedal and eq stomp box, preferably one you can switch between programmed eq's on the fly with your foot. There are NO controls of any kind whatsoever on the bass itself.The sound is clear, tight and noiseless, ideal for gigs in places where you usually pickup RF interference. Besides, a 3# bass is about as non-fatiguing as it gets and is certainly cute!If you have the dough and this is not your primary instrument, absolutely, buy one. For some, maybe it could be a primary, but I can't see that for most players, and especially not gigging players... but it could be fun for some tunes and it's certainly portable enough!

Manufacturer Support
Not an issue.

The Wow Factor
I love the size, weight and look. It's just as my friends have said: "What? Are you joking? That's really a bass???"I love that!

Musical Background:
Trained in clsscl voice, violin, viola, bass, Play e-bass 40yrs. Playing gigs, tracking support, jams, whatever's up! All good!!

Musical Style:
Play nearly anything, but love r&b, soul, serious deep heart-break blues, jazz/fusion, funk and foundation metal. Go figure. read less