@HolmeBass is referring to a different bass mentioned earlier in the thread, not the Eastwood.
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Eastwood "The Sandman" 2-String Bass
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I was answering a question about Les Claypool's Wham-ola bass, which I am pretty sure is a one-string bass.
I've been GAS'ing hard for the Eastwood Magnum.... the Ovation copy. Love the tones on Tool's Opiate and Undertow albums.
Chris Bellew played with Sandman in a side project called Supergroup before moving west to form POTUSA. I asked him once why they used only 3 strings on the guitar and 2 on the bass and he said (paraphrasing) that it required them to think more about what they were playing instead of just wiggling fingers around.
Supergroup recorded a rare single in 1995. Notice that Bellew played a two string bass but not with a slide while Sandman used a 3 string guitar.
BTW, Supergroup's whole concept was to make up their songs on the spot at their gigs. The B side of the single was in fact recorded live, but the A side was done in the studio.
Somewhat related I have long been planning to raise the nut of my 4 string 28.6" scale Mikro Bass, and turn it into a slide bass.
And I think I am going to go through with it next week.
Equipping it with Elixir guitar stings of the gauges .062 - .032 - .042 - .036 and tune it C# (as a baritone tuning) - C# (as an octave higher) - G# - B, for an open Minor tuning.
And just looked it up, seems like Sandman most of the time used an open D tuning, that is like the high D string of a 4 string bass in regular E standard tuning, and then the fifth above that A, like the low A on a guitar (though he did use other tunings as well): Mobiusbandwidth.com Morphine tablature transcriptions
So as I questioned earlier, the standard E - A tuning and appropriate strings for that tuning that the Eastwood comes with, according to the specs they provided, is not authentic to what Sandmand actually played.
And I think I am going to go through with it next week.
Equipping it with Elixir guitar stings of the gauges .062 - .032 - .042 - .036 and tune it C# (as a baritone tuning) - C# (as an octave higher) - G# - B, for an open Minor tuning.
And just looked it up, seems like Sandman most of the time used an open D tuning, that is like the high D string of a 4 string bass in regular E standard tuning, and then the fifth above that A, like the low A on a guitar (though he did use other tunings as well): Mobiusbandwidth.com Morphine tablature transcriptions
So as I questioned earlier, the standard E - A tuning and appropriate strings for that tuning that the Eastwood comes with, according to the specs they provided, is not authentic to what Sandmand actually played.
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I posted the Metallica song as a joke and a tie in to the name of the bass not knowing the backstory. I guess it didn't come off as funny.
In all seriousness, seeing "The Sandman" makes me feel like a 6 string bassist thinking about 4 string basses. There's a few strings and a lot of benefits missing for me. Plus, it would be hard to play bass lines without shifting all over the neck all the time. I wouldn't be able to play power chord arpeggios, up high in the third octave, or write music very easily on a 2 string bass.
Been there, done that
Pulled the frets though. The gauges are bigger than what Sandman used . 132 and 95, I think for D and A
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I have both a bad Japanese Rickenbacker copy ("Bad Rickie") and a Hohner headless with two strings I play in 4th's, 6th's or octave, depending.
Slide bass is like a different instrument in many ways and playing it with various slides, knives, and even lap-style is loads of fun.
At least, IMO.
But then I like black pepper on my fries, sometimes dip 'em in honey-white.
Slide bass is like a different instrument in many ways and playing it with various slides, knives, and even lap-style is loads of fun.
At least, IMO.
But then I like black pepper on my fries, sometimes dip 'em in honey-white.
Well, they idea is to use a slide.I posted the Metallica song as a joke and a tie in to the name of the bass not knowing the backstory. I guess it didn't come off as funny.
In all seriousness, seeing "The Sandman" makes me feel like a 6 string bassist thinking about 4 string basses. There's a few strings and a lot of benefits missing for me. Plus, it would be hard to play bass lines without shifting all over the neck all the time. I wouldn't be able to play power chord arpeggios, up high in the third octave, or write music very easily on a 2 string bass.
Is it half the price of a 4 string since it only has 2 strings?
Seems like it. The Sandman 2-string is $499, whereas all the other current Eastwood "Custom Projects" range from $999 to $1899.
Everything about it looks wrong, the upper horn, the lower horn, the lower body, the pickguard shape, the control panel...
Looks like one of those weird Russisn basses from the '70s!
Other than that, if I wanted a 2-string bass, I'd go with this one.
Sure, it's not an exact copy but the resemblance is enough for me.
I tried one four or five years ago.
Looked good but I just didn't like the humbucker...nothing intrinsically wrong with it, but it just didn't sound special. If I remember correctly, it felt like a quality bass, but even the used price wasn't enough to sway me.
Fortunately, only a few weeks later I found this on Reverb at half price and jumped on it.
One of the best online bass deals I ever made.
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