wash basin bass

[schecter5string]

I went to the local bar last night and so the strangest bass I have ever seen.
The band was called comatose catfish and the bass player was playing a basin bass. Here is how it was made, a metal wash basin upside down with toilet plungers for legs. A boat oar for the neck, and weed wacker string for the one and only string. A upright bass pickup was mounted to the oar, and a preamp was mounted to the basin.

And to tell you the truth it sounded alright.

After doing a search on google, it seem alot of people make them, I knew about them before but thought they were from a time long ago, and I had never seen one let alone heard one with a band.

I'm thinking I may have one of these in the future, any one here already have one?? and if you do how about some pics??

[dave64o]

What's the best weed whacker string for metal?

[schecter5string]

After reading how to build one of these and reading some people use aviation cable for the string that would be my guess for best metal string

[mndean]

I've seen these more than once, and there's lots of materials you can make them out of, though metal washtubs and a long wood board were the most common. We called them a washtub bass, and you can google it to find plans. You just need a resonant base, a board to keep the string under tension and the string to pluck the notes. It can be elaborate or very simple.