Demo of me playing the bass I just built.
Click to viewThe late Mark Sandman of the band Morphine invented the 2 string slide bass, no commercial instrument makers offer them, except as a custom job, so I made one myself, with an original body and head design, it took 5 weeks of spare time, and cost about $200 in materials. A web page detailing the building process can be found here:
http://mobiusbandwidth.com/bat-bass.html
I don't play with a pick very much, so I'm still working on that, and I've barely begun to work with a slide, so this is a whole new instrument for me, but it's coming together. Before shooting this clip, I probably have only played this instrument for a handful of hours so far, so forgive any mistakes or bad notes, thanks.
I am playing the bass through a vintage mid 1960's Gibson Falcon guitar amp, at a fairly low volume so as not to over-modulate the camera's mic and distort the audio, so you can hear more string noise than you would otherwise be able to. Through a bass rig this bass sounds very rich and deep. the electronics are passive, I used Seymour Duncan pick ups, and a Dunlop brass slide, purchased at Mr Music in Boston, a shop Mark frequented.
For more information on Morphine and the Mark Sandman Foundation please visit http://www.hi-n-dry.com
If you live in Boston, or near enough you can see the documentary "Cure for pain, the Mark Sandman story" starting on the 29th at the Somerville theatre
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=182362978476986
http://www.somervilletheatreonline.com/