# NBD - You Guys Asked For It! (Traben Goodness!)



## Wings of Obsidian (Jul 19, 2013)

BEFORE WE GET TO THE P.O.R.N., READ MY LITTLE STORY:


And so, lately I have been scouring the Internet for a Traben 5-string Chaos model. But pretty much two problems arose in my quest for one:
I could only find 4-string models and they were outrageously overpriced.
If I ever found a 4-string or 5-string Chaos model, it turned out to be "made in Vietnam". (I only found one 5-string via Craigslist in Connecticut, and it was made in Vietnam. And I found three 4-strings over time at three separate instances via Guitar Center's used site. Two were made in Vietnam, but one was made in Korea.) For those who are members at TalkBass, or just know the general history behind when Traben was sold and moved production, then I'm sure you'll know some of the horror stories behind the Vietnamese-made Traben basses. Quality control issues galore. (I'm talking about Strictly 7 kind of shit.)
I finally got lucky and hit up a Sam Ash in Cherry Hill, New Jersey based on a lead, and they had a discounted used Traben Chaos Core 5 that had been sitting for about two months. I WAS SHOCKED!!! As it turns out, the only reason I had not found this bass before (and why it never popped up in a search engine) was because they didn't have it listed under the tag/brand "Traben". So it never popped up in any searches! --- In short, I gave them a call, and it turns out this was MADE IN KOREA! OH, HAPPY DAY!!! But not only that...it has a stupidly low serial number, which indicates that it was probably made during the first run of Korean Traben Core models (after the owner moved production from the USA to Korea in order to get the benefits of mass production and target a wider audience). And so, I managed to haggle for a FURTHER discount on the guitar. They were originally $550 used...then they marked it down...and I snagged that bad boy at $350.

It arrived this past Wednesday (7/17/13) and IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! It even still has the plastic on the cavity covers and on the machine heads! Played perfectly right out of the box with what appears to be new strings on it! The action is low and super smooth. Neck is nice and thin for a bass. (You can judge this for yourself in the pics.) Fret buzz and any excess noise is easy to control. I gave it a quick tune-up and tweak (coming from NJ to NC) and cleaned it good with some fine rags...now she's GOOD TO GO!

The reason I wanted a Chaos (Chaos Core) model is because of the dual Rockfield humbuckers and the 5-way pickup selector which can split the coils in the humbuckers, making this an extremely versatile bass! 

I had heard some terrible things about the Traben pickups and the Traben pre-amp they put in the Vietnamese-made ones. However, the Korean-made ones come with Rockfield pickups and an Aguilar pre-amp. According to a lot of guys on Talkbass, this combination is TO DIE FOR! And for the most part, I must agree, but personally, I think just the versatility of the 5-way selector and 3-band EQ is what really plays a factor is helping sculpt and shape the sound of this bass to make the pickups and pre-amp sound so good.

Anyway.......thanks for listening! HERE IS WHAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!!! THE P.O.R.N.!!!











































































*SPECS:*

Bridge: Chaos internal bridge
Scale: 35" 
Construction: bolt-on
Pickups: two Rockfield® humbuckers
Electronics: Aguilar OBP-3 pre-amp 
Controls: 3-band EQ with volume and 5-way switch
Body: paulonia
Top: quilted maple 
Fretboard: rosewood
Nut: synthetic

And to break it in, here is my first bass cover. (This is my first song I have ever learned on bass, aside from my original material that I write and record for my band. So please don't be too harsh on me.) 

For those of you who have experience with watching bass playthroughs: you know the deal. For those who don't: you're going to need some headphones or good speakers in order to hear the full effect of the bass. (Otherwise, it'll sound crappy.)



(P.S. - this bass has been Fred Brum approved. )


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## JoshBassistCT (Jul 19, 2013)

It's funny you posted this, because my friend was just talking to the guy about a trade for a Warwick Corvette for this haha. Nice bass dude.


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## JoshBassistCT (Jul 19, 2013)

Also, what tuning are you in for this track?


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## Wings of Obsidian (Jul 19, 2013)

JoshBassistCT said:


> Also, what tuning are you in for this track?



Christopher Tilley from The Contortionist plays in either G#-standard or Drop-G#. For my purposes, I still have the bass set up in B-standard as it arrived. But I just dropped the highest and lowest strings down because I needed them for this song. (Did not touch the middle three strings much in the song.) So my tuning was just: G#, E, A, D, F#.


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## Wings of Obsidian (Jul 19, 2013)

JoshBassistCT said:


> It's funny you posted this, because my friend was just talking to the guy about a trade for a Warwick Corvette for this haha. Nice bass dude.



Oh dude...I hope your friend DOES NOT deal with that guy in Connecticut. I was going to get the Vietnamese-made one from him...until I discovered this BEAUTIFUL bass. --- So I emailed the guy and acted as sincere as possible and apologized for stringing him up for two days. I also tried to explain that I was getting a better bass (with better guaranteed quality) for the same price that he was trying to squeeze out of me. 

Here was his reply:


> "Yea thanks but don't bother keeping me in the loop, thanks for wasting my time, enjoy your new bass."



He is an asshole. I really hope your friend DOES NOT do business with him. Besides, his bass is COMPLETELY different from my 5-string Chaos Core. I think his was just a regular Chaos with parts from a Chaos Core...it looked weird...(again, I'll bring up the quality control issues).


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## Daf57 (Jul 20, 2013)

Excellent!! Congrats!! Nice photography, too!


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## Wings of Obsidian (Jul 25, 2013)

Daf57 said:


> Excellent!! Congrats!! Nice photography, too!



Thanks dude!


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## roast (Jul 29, 2013)

You could fit a car into that cutaway... insane.
HNBD.


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## Wings of Obsidian (Jul 29, 2013)

roast said:


> You could fit a car into that cutaway... insane.
> HNBD.



Lol, thanks brother. Doing some Evan Brewer type of shit with tapping is so easy. xD

If any one is interested, one of these just popped up on Ebay. And to be honest, it is at such a good price that I might snag it (for a backup) if one of my fellow SS.org members does not.


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## Wings of Obsidian (Aug 20, 2013)

Man, I got to tell you guys here on Sevenstring.org.....I'm loving this thing so much!


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## BrailleDecibel (Aug 24, 2013)

That satin-finished quilt top has me doing some serious HNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGing over here! Happy (belated) NBD!


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