One of my to-hit-weekly sites is
 
http://musicthing.blogspot.com/
 
which has a story a couple of pages down about this amazing 2-string bass inspired by alien artwork...
 
Imagine an Alembic variation of this as Custom of the Month!
 
More photos and MP3s here:
 
http://www.pouringrain.co.nz/music_2string.htm
 
EffClef

Quote from the second link:
 
The E and the A string is all a bass player should need to do the job properly,If you want to play fancy stuff on the skinny strings then you should be playing lead guitar.

Here, here!  (LOL)
 
Bill, tgo

This insteresting creation showed up on eBay a few months back at a pretty unrealistic starting price.  IIRC, it was relisted time and time again at slightly lower prices, but never received a bid.  I could be wrong, of course, but I don't see how one could justify several thousand for something of a novelty.  Unless you need it for self-defense at rough joints, in which case it could save lots on medical bills .
 
Adam

Good quote Dave.  A similar one from one of Molly Hatchett's former bassists, If you use more than two strings for a bass line you're just showing off
 
Sam

Now see, this is what happens when we fool around with Darwinism.
 
Help us Aliens!
 
Thanks for the warning EffClef.

No offense to anyone, but that's the stupidest thing i've ever heard. And that thing is ugly. lol... guess its a bad day ;]
 
Austin

Well that guy has a point with the E and A strings are all you need because let's be fair, if you're a bassplayer that plays a lot of root notes, that's bassically all you need.
 
Take for example Stig Pederson from the Danish hard rock band D.A.D. he plays custom two string basses with a very narrow neck similar to the alien bass. Pictured there.
 
And then there's the Late Mark Sandman of Morphine who played a very heavily battered Pawnshop bass strung with Two D strings with a glass slide. Producing a kind of Mwah that was different from playing a fretless bass but uniquely his own.
 
And there's Chris Ballew from the Presidents of the United States of America who plays guitar strung up with Two bassguitar strings and is actually very good on them.
 
And for those of you who are still offended by the Less is more approach of these gents let me remind you of Tony Levin who used a Custom made Musicman Stingray proving that he didn't need a G string to be as virtuosic as he is.

This is all KID STUFF.
 
If you really want your bass imagination cleared out totally visit the Atlansia website
 
www.cnet.ne.jp/atlansia
 
and ascend into the elevated imagination of Hiyashi-san, 'H. Noble' to those of you who remember (and recently re-ssued) the SB1000 Arias of the 80s, and recently revived with John Taylor back out on the road with D-D.
 
Amazing instruments!
 
J o e y

Cool stuff Joey!

I come from a jazz background and well, there is an entire fingerboard there so I figure I will use it.  What's wrong with that?  You pay for four strings or more and 24 or how many frets so why not use them all?

Mark Sandman did some neat stuff with Morphine on his 2-string.  He was actually a very busy and melodic player...
John

In case anyone got the wrong impression, I totally disagree with the quote I posted above.  Read the quote again and think about the history of music, the bass players that played for Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, Parker, Davis and Coltrane, the Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa and the Allman Brothers, Stax, Muscel Shoals and Motown, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever and Weather Report, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and King Crimson, etc. etc.
 
In my opinion, to say that the E and the A string is all a bass player should need to do the job properly is to ignore the history of music and the role that bass players have played in that history.  Because the statement infers that the work of every great bassist from Mingus to Wooten has not been done properly, the statement is on its face patently absurd.
 
But that's just my opinion.  Others will have different views on what constitutes properly played music.
 
And yes, I use all the notes; and I use them often.

Oh oh Dave, you may have blown your chance to appear in Spinal Tap II. I'll be hog tied and drop kicked if I spend all this time and money on lessons and equipment, never mind dragging all this seed twisting hardware around, to play only two strings! Besides, those skinny strings come in handy when you have to slap down some pesky guitar player.(If they are old & tired with one lesson under their belt that is).

Tony Levin plays a 3 string Musicman.
When he talked about it in a Bassplayer interview he made me laugh when he quoted the answers he ivented when he was asked why.
One of the best was  
Oh ...my string endorsment contract only covers three strings.
 
Paul TOBO