If you really want to scare people, try an Alembic 6 string bass.....

Yo, Jimmy.  Don't tell me that you used to have a Rick 3000, too!  You almost NEVER hear anyone mention one of those.
Rich

Actually the only time I've really scared people was when i walked in with an 8 String (not double strings like a 12 string guitar, 8 single tuned strings) Conklin bass. The neck was as wide as a surf board!

richbass939- i dont used to have, I HAVE ONE... and im usung one now, untill i get my next alembic!

Jimmy, I bought a dark brown one new in Jan 1975.  Sold all my instruments (including the 3000) in 1978.  A couple of years later when I was getting back into playing I found one just like it (not the same instrument, though) but passed it up because of the price.  I didn't know how rare they are until the 1990s.  Were the 3000s the ones they only made in 72 and 73, with the 3001s a few years later?  I have a pretty sketchy knowledge of the history of the 3000 series.  I would love to see a few pictures of yours.  Nothing can replace how I feel about my Alembics but it was love at first sight/play with my 3000.
Rich

a CONKLIN 8 string!?!?!?
Phew!
Well I would like to try a 7 string once ...when I'll be a grown up ...and rich and wealthy ...and more self-confident ...huhhuu ...
When I'm sixty-four
HA!
 
Paul TOBO

I'll tell ya Paul .... I couldn't get comfprtable with the 8 string. My fingers were full out stretched to reach the B string and after doing a few gigs with it my wrists were killing me from the angle I had to play it at to reach the strings. It was quite the conversation piece though, and very pretty. The neck was purpleheart and the body was maple colored red. A few years after I traded it in I got another one, a 7 string, because i thought i may be able to make peace with it, it was used and it was a steal at the price. But again it hurt my wrists to play it so i think I'll stick with 4 and 5 string basses from now on. Unless my hands grow another 4 inches that is!

Paul,
 
My experiences echo Raymond's.  I had a Conklin 7-string for a couple of years, and while it was quite the conversation piece and sounded great it was killing me to play it.  I lovingly dubbed it The Tendonitis Machine because it made my left wrist sore for days after a gig.  I flirted with the idea of stringing it with a low F# to change my hand position to something more reasonable, but never got around to doing it.  I loved that bass and miss it in many ways, but it was destroying my body..
 
John (who can handle about 5 strings max, excepting the 12er...)

I don't want to hurt anyone by saying this but, were you playing this 8 or 7 string monster the same way you play a 3, 4 or 5 string???
It occurs to me that you have to change dramatically your playing technique??? Other ways to walk, other spreads to make with your fingers, another path from low to high ...i dunno  ...just wild guesswork.
I never touched one.
 
Paul TBO

I have 2 Conklin groove tools 7's, still play em on and off, I've been playing my Tobias 6 lately, still waiting for my Alembic 6 to be finished, but I found a used Modulus fretless 7 prototype, it has a smaller width neck than the Conklins and is quite comfortable to play, it was custom made for Karl Hill that played with Ginger Baker at one time.
 
Bruce

The issue I had with the Conklin was that I didn't play in the higher registers all that much (you see, I'm a bass player) and the reach to play the lower registers is significant.  My left hand position had my fingers so flat simply to reach the big strings that there was little I could do, short of playing everything up an octave or two.  The initial 20-minutes or so (before the pain) were always a lot of fun though.  It also dispelled any illusions I may have been under about being one of those extended-range bass virtuoso guys...
John

Yep ...got it!

Maybe you could play it with a slide?
 
Bill, tgo

My Cocobolo Spoiler lined fretless 7 has Jazz spacing and is very wide so I have to play it up high. It is very scary to those who don't venture out of the off the wall herd. Lately my black Excels with led's get nothing but compliments, though only 1 guy knew what an Alembic was. My latest Excel plays like a dream and has sustain like crazy. But to each his own. People here, (myself included) have very solid opinions about things but in the end it's all just ether. Please enjoy what you have and share your joy with your audience, even if it is your pets at home. Life is too short to quibble about music and gear. (esp. when we can be playing) I'm at work so that's why I'm typing and not practicing.

Hi Bill; play it with a slide huh?  I supposed if you tuned it up a step or so to get the strings really tight and raised the nut and bridge a good bit.  And then maybe add a generous helping of distortion.
 
Danno; it's all just ether.  I like it!!