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View Full Version : Mark Sandman anyone?



ArtLiestman
09-02-2011, 07:59 PM
Thinking of bottom heavy bands today, I got nostalgic for Morphine. For those of you who might have missed them, they were a power trio from Boston consisting of drums, 2 string slide bass (yep, 2 strings), and baritone sax. That's some low sounding music! The bass player (the late Mark Sandman) was also the vocalist and wrote most of the tunes. I only saw them live once, but it was quite an experience. According to wikipedia, he played a 3 string bass at times, but I don't remember seeing that one.

You might want to watch these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWwp2kGMqB4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUEQl_p7ghw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRN-lpIZ1sg

The third of those has a good closeup of the bass at about 1:27.

Mark Sandman had a heart attack on stage while performing with Morphine in Italy in 1999 and passed away soon after. He was an innovative musician. Apparently there's a documentary film about him in the works. There's a trailer for that on youtube, as well.

Elmeaux
09-02-2011, 09:18 PM
I'd never heard of them before. They're pretty cool. They have quite a wide selection of their stuff on Napster. Thanks for the tip!

I love their sound. Love the bass. That big ol' saxophone sure has some power to it, too!


I found some pix of three string basses some time back - Mark Sandman probably did up his own, but these are specific 3-string models. I'd like to get that black "Threestroyer." Love the pickups!

http://www.thunderrow.com/showthread.php?511-Three-Of-The-Finest&highlight=3-string

The green AV bass is too curly for me, though.

This little video shows the Threestroyer and you can hear it playing. The video is not very appealing - I just like it for the sound of the distorted bass.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ino8G1vT-nY

Mutineer
09-04-2011, 02:53 PM
Morphine! Wow, I haven't thought of them in years. Had forgotten how much I liked them, too.

I guess I never realized he was playing a 2-string bass. Weird.