This is an electric bass with a Sitar bridge installed on it. The sound has the characteristics of both a Sitar and an electric bass.
As far as I know the only Sitar Bass in existence was made by my friend Randy Ward and is recorded on 'Bell Peace' on 'Yellow Bell / Svadharma'. The sound of this bass allowed us to use an acoustic bass on the piece as the two basses had such different tones that they did not combine into a muddy mess. They both had different roles in the piece - that also helped in separating the sounds.
If you know of someone else who has tried combining instruments I would love to hear about it - or hear a recording.
Hear the Sitar Bass on 'Dharana' from 'Svadharma'