[quote=”glw”]Just out of curiosity: the old Kramers and Travis Beans used to have tuning problems associated with the metal necks reacting to temperature fluctuations. Has this issue ever been addressed?[/quote]

I have heard mention of this in the past. I think it was related (mostly in Beans — I have no idea about Kramers) with the nut. Bean use a brass nut, and is often a common modification to switch to bone. I own a TB1000S with brass nut.. and live in the Northwest. So I know about cold.. and know about the Bean (which still has original brass nut). My guitar holds it’s tuning better than any of my other guitars. My Les Paul would go out of tune if you looked at it.

The neck maintains the temperature for a long time.. so if the neck is cold.. it stays cold for awhile. Later model Beans started to put imron coating on the necks which helped with hand comfort.. since cold to the touch was a common complaint. Kramers have wood strips in their necks to help with this as well as making the neck lighter in weight. The imron caused another series of problems.. since it chipped.

Here is a quote from the Kaman article on the imron coating:
[quote]The fourth change that took place around mid ’77 was the coating of the necks. One of the constant complaints about Travis Beans was that the necks felt “cold” and some found that objectionable. (It’s a good thing these guys didn’t play saxophone). In response to this the company introduced the option of a Black Imron coated neck. Imron is a heavy duty automotive enamel. It was felt that this heavy finish would make the necks feel slightly warmer and, since it was a spray on finish it would be more like a standard guitar neck. This was an option on any guitar or bass and, as mentioned, pretty much standard on the 500 series.
[/quote]

Full article can be read here:
http://www.travisbeanguitars.com/index.php/ID/d9057bd7c2a79382e4a32260ae1aa2b0/fuseaction/history.main.htm

Thanks!
MN