The washtub bass that I built was inspired by Dennis Havlena, who has a great web site about numerous, home made musical instruments that he designed and built. Check it out sometime: http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/db.htm Dennis had some drawings, plans, and pictures of a washtub bass he made. His design used a maple neck attached to a circular #3 galvanized tub. I decided to make my own washtub by improvising upon his basic design. The finished product turned out much better than I envisioned, both in appearance and sound (See pictures 1 and 2). The tub I used for the bass was a #3 oblong galvanized tub ($20 new). I removed the handles from each end of the tub by hooking the handle over the "ears" of a bench vise and opening the vise. You could probably use some strong pliers to do the same thing. I cut a bunch of small pieces of pine 1" x2" board and glued them to the inside of the washtub using Liquid Nails (construction adhesive). I made sure that the top of each piece of wood was one-fourth of an inch below the top rim of the washtub (See picture 3). If you cut the pieces at a slight angle, when mounted to the slanted side of the tub they will have a top surface that is roughly parallel with the front that will be glued on later. You could use epoxy instead of Liquid Nails for the same purpose. To make the front of the bass (the table), I turned the washtub upside down and traced it onto the back (rough side) of a 2' x 4' sheet of quarter inch birch plywood ($10). Alternately, you could chalk the top and transfer it to the wood. To take into account the width of the lip of the washtub, you need to cut the wood about one-fourth of an inch INSIDE the tracing. The saber saw blade leaves a jagged edge when it cuts, so be sure to cut with the good side down (giving it the smooth edge after cutting). Then sand the edges of the top and fit it into the tub so that you have a snug fit inside the tub, fairly flush with the lip (See picture 4). I used a piece of 1" x 4" pine board for the main support. If I did this again, I would use hardwood because the pine is not strong enough to resist bending under the pressure of the strings. I cut a rectangular hole at the top end of the tub to fit the main support through the tub so that the neck end sticks out about 7". The top edge of the hole should be about one-half inch below the rim of the tub. If you cut three sides of the hole in the tub, it leaves you a metal flap that can be bent and then screwed into the main support. Later, the neck of the bass is mounted to the part of the main support that sticks out. Also, I wedged a wooden block at the top end of the inside of the tub between the bottom of the main support and the tub bottom. That block is used to mount the screw eye bolt (using washer and nut) that will hook to the turnbuckle. At the foot of the tub, I attached the main support using two wood screws from outside the tub into the wood. The main support was mounted about one-half inch below the rim of the washtub, which gives adequate clearance from the top even when it flexes during playing. Also at the base of the washtub, I mounted a wooden block using four wood screws. The block wedges between the bottom of the tub and the main support. The block serves two purposes. First, you need to drill a hole through both the tub and the block to mount a screw eye (with a washer and nut tightened from the inside) to which you will later attach the end piece for the bass. The end piece holds the bottom ends of the bass strings. Also, you need to drill a hole into the block for the endpin. I used a hardwood table leg about 14" long for the endpin; it screws into the block via a threaded T-nut mounted into the wood block. By far, the most difficult part of the project is cutting and shaping the neck/fingerboard of the bass. I used a piece of 1" x 4" x 8' length of red oak ($15). No doubt it would be preferable to use some other hardwood that is less grainy such as "rock hard" maple or rosewood. First I cut the oak board into two pieces 35" long each. I overlapped them by 25" so that 10" stuck out at each end. Then I glued them together and clamped; that way you have 1.5" thickness for the neck/fingerboard. The top board becomes the fingerboard and the bottom board is the neck (See picture 5). The washtub bass requires the usual sound post and bass bar that you'll find inside any upright double bass. I took a small square block of wood (2" x 2" x 3/4") and drilled a hole into it to fit a piece of dowel (broom stick) for the sound post. I glued the block to the bottom of the tub (Liquid Nails), and then I stuck the dowel into it. You need to position it so that it will contact the top (the table) just below where the foot of the bridge on the G string side will be. I also put a thin (1/4") strip of wood between the top of the sound post and the underside of the top to distribute the pressure. The bass bar that I used was simply a piece of 1" x 3/4" of pine about 18" long. You need to glue and clamp it to the underside of the top (table) in a lengthwise direction roughly where the other food of the bridge will be (the E string side). The sound post and the bass bar support the table and keep it from collapsing when under the pressure of the strings. They have to be finished and in place before you actually glue down the top to the washtub (using Liquid Nails). Finally, after the top was mounted, I used clear silicone sealer all around the rim of the washtub to seal the top to the tub and fill the crack. The fingerboard was 3.5" wide at the bridge end and 1.5" wide at the nut. I used a Stanley hasp to shape it very roughly (to make its surface gently rounded as you go to the edges) followed by the use of a long wooden sanding block (3 feet), which must be perfectly flat. You can staple sandpaper to the block or use spray adhesive to hold the sandpaper in place. The sanding is very tedious but must be done carefully to avoid flat spots. You sand lengthwise with the fingerboard (going with the grain of the wood) to make its surface gradually curved toward the edges. The same method was used to shape the neck, but the curving is much more severe. The best thing to do would be to look carefully at the neck of an upright bass to see the shape it should have. The last 8" of the neck at the top end are made into the head of the bass where the string tuners are mounted. The tailpiece was cut from the same red oak board. It was 10" long, 3.25" wide at the bridge end and 1.75" wide at the tail. I shaped and curved it slightly and smoothed the corners. I drilled four holes needed to insert the ball ends of the strings and also cut a thin slot about 1/8" wide coming out of each hole for the strings to slide into their mounting position. Also, I carved a shallow slot about one-half inch from the bridge end and inserted a piece of copper wire for the strings to rest on. I just bent about 1/4" of the wire at each end and inserted the ends into small holes drilled into the tailpiece. To attach the tailpiece, I used a short length of braided aircraft cable from the hardware store and some cable clamps (about 1/8" diameter). I threaded the cable through the two holes drilled into the bottom end of the tailpiece. The two ends were clamped to the screw eye bolt at the bottom of the tub. My buddy, Ward Walker used a Dremel grinder to carve my last name into the tailpiece in a scroll design similar to that used on the Kay double bass. Many thanks also to Ward for taking the digital photos used here and sending them to me as jpeg images. I cut two F-holes into the table (front) of the bass. From center to center, the F-holes are 6" apart toward the top and 14" apart toward the bottom of the bass. At the top, the holes are about 6" from the edge; at the bottom, the holes are about 2" from the edge. The curved slot connecting the holes is 3/4" wide at the widest part, but it tapers down to about 3/8" where it joins the holes. The bridge will be mounted about 15 inches down from the top of the table, so the F-holes should be cut accordingly. You want the bridge to be positioned about in the middle of the F-holes. The bridge also was cut from the oak, but you need to be sure that the wood grain runs horizontally when looking at the bridge as it stands up. My bridge was 4.5" wide at the base and 4.25" wide at its top. Its height was 3.25". The slot along the foot was 2.25" long. Two holes of 3/4" diameter were cut toward the bottom of the bridge. The two holes at the top were 1/2" in diameter and then joined by cutting a slot (See picture 6). The turnbuckle that I attached serves two purposes. First, it prevents the main support (and neck) from bending under the string pressure. Second, it allows the player to adjust the action of the strings (how far the strings are above the fingerboard). If the strings are too close, they will buzz when played. If they are too far above, the volume will increase, but it becomes more difficult to play (it takes lots of strength and effort to press them down to make a note). The turnbuckle I used had a body that was 4" long, plus you add the length of the screw eyes, etc. I mounted a block of wood inside the tub to mount one end of the turnbuckle using an eyebolt. The other eyebolt was mounted to the back of the neck (See picture 7). The neck/fingerboard unit was mounted to the main support via six wood screws, glue, and an oak wedge (used to get the proper angle of the neck). The wedge was 7" long, 1/8" thick at the head end and 3/4" thick at the other end toward the washtub (See picture 7). The strings that I used were Corelli Bass strings for a one-half sized bass, which were a perfect fit. The Corelli brand is Italian, but the strings are made in France. I ordered them from Quinn Violins on the internet for about $120. Sorry, but there is no substitute for good quality, commercial double bass strings (even the cheapest cost at least $75). I used standard, nickel plated electric bass tuning machines available at most music stores (about $25). Here's a picture of me (Bill Koch) playing the washtub bass in the beer garden of Player's Rretaurant near the University of Texas at Austin campus (See photo 1).
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