Somehow this made me think of this group: Surbahar

[tomhug]

Rajeev Janardan plays Raga Bhimpalasi alap on Surbahar  
 
Have there ever been Alembics created with sympathetic strings for intentional drone affects?

[David Houck]

That was nice.  I like the deeper tone of the bass sitar.  I had never really focused on the extent to which strings are bent and the degree of control with which several different notes are played on one bend.

[hb3]

That sounds cool. It also makes the guy look like he's like two feet tall against a normal sized sitar.  
 
Quite a few years ago, I saw a brochure for a bass guitar that had frets at irregularly shaped intervals, like a sitar, I guess. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I didn't catch the brand name.