What’s cooler than the bass guitar? Literally nothing. Fact. Certain versions of the bass guitar can be cooler than other versions of the bass guitar, however, and this Commodore 64 bass guitar made by Jeri Ellsworth definitely deserves one of the upper rungs on the ladder of bass guitar awesomeness, right up there next to the classic Millennium Falcon bass.
Featured at the Bay Area Maker Faire, this rockin’ homemade bass is no show-piece; it actually works. Using a built-in FGPA Ellsworth installed hereself, the Commodore bass picks up string vibrations and button presses and then routes them through the original soundcard to produce sound. What you get is a righteous combination keytar-bass, complete with its own effects toggles, that looks awesome and sounds unique. I’d love to play some funk on that bad boy. Since I can’t, I’ll have to settle for the available video of Ellsworth messing with it, and you will too. Still cool though. Check it out.
(Synthtopia via Laughing Squid, image credit Makenai)
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