Tub Talk - Washtub Bass Workshop
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- Meeting of the Masters! Two great washtub bass players, Gut Bucket Giff and Washtub Jerry, share thoughts and discoveries about the washtub bass. The 2016 workshop took place at Stickerville, the gathering of musicians at Weiser, Idaho during the annual National Old Time Fiddle Festival. Many differences between the two bassists, yet still the same challenges in playing this amazing instrument.
You are invited to view Gut Bucket Giff's two-part washtub bass instructional video on TH-cam, "Compleat Washtub Bass".
Really appreciate you all sharing these tips, I'm an old bass player, turned mandolin player, now have arthritis tendonitis issues, so lately it occurred to me that playing tub bass could be a way to give my hands a break but still keep jamming. I made my first one with a cheap galvanized tub, the top stretched after only a few jams started the dreaded oil can effect, Oh No! So I wasn't so shy about taking a hammer to mine to draw the top together like Jerry does with a dowel only with a ball peen hammer to beat the oil can out of it, so far so good, hopefully it will last long enough till I find a heavier guage bucket.
I'm having a good time playing, gives my arthritis a break and folks really get a kick out of it too, love to see the smiles!
Great to read your story..thanks. Playing washtub bass doesn't require manual dexterity, but does need a good ear and good upper body strength...there is constant work going on in the torso, arm department. For me, the biggest challenge has been the left leg/foot. Not only does the leg tire and knee lock, but the blood ends up in the lower limb. I've just "invented" a device I call the "Humanizer", which allows me to stand on both feet, like a human instead of a water fowl.
Hello Giff and Jerry! I am a fellow bucket player, have been working on left handed bass while playing the keyboard with the right, this is the best instrument, so fun to play! Great workshop!
Rock on!
Howdy ! I been playing wtb for years ! And I can remember when I found my first tub it was down in basement of my mom's store she had on main streets. After I had changed the light bulb that had burt out i was looking a around to see what I kick on in the dark ! And there it was and old tin washtub with the laber still glue on the outside of the tub! So with it in hand back up stairs I went to ask mom if I could have it ? And of course she said yes . So off to home I went couldn't wait to get home and to the shop for a drill and a bit as I was fixing to drill that hole right in the bottom of that old tub I couldn't hear gradpaw voice in my mind tell me but that a perfect good tub what are you doing?? I answerd out loud No it's not someone let the white wash dry inside of it gradpal ! And with that said I put a hold right in that tub. So now I had to find some cord . And I need a staff but what? Where? It need to a hardwood of some kind with the right look and long Enf to get the sound I wanted ?? I ended up haven to go help my buddy fix some fencing out at the farm to earn a buck or two. We're out fix fence taking out the old wooden hedge post and putting in a new metal one. After doing this all day it was time to pick up are tools and take them old wooden post over to the burn pilea & under loaded! that's when I found the right staff for my wtb right there in the burn it was just what I had been looking for so, I load it in to my truck and home I went .That fence post (staff) is osage orange hedge about 60 years old hard as a rock and right at 6,6& ahafe foot long with a dawg leg up by the top wow! Now all I need is some cord !! Long story short I try all kind of cord but what I the best was a 50/50 bend of cotton & polyester it's 1/8" to 3/16" round it will stretches when pulled and that white wash on the in side dose some thing to the sound makes it richer and to get A bit more sound out of her I put a old bone under the lip on the front side of the tub so they can hear me on the back row !!! And I did this when I was 19 to 20 years old I'm now 58 .I 'v had a lot of good times over the years and still do!!! Thanks for the fun!
Your friend
Zadoc, Bluem
Wowie Zowie! What a great story! My first tub came from the local hardware store, all from one place. Your bass parts were harder to find, but glad it all worked out. And glad you’ve been playing your washtub bass for all these years! Me, too! What fun! Gut Bucket Giff...March 5, 2021
loved this discussion of the washtub as a real instrument. mine is totally different but still the same.
Thanks for your support. I've been preaching the WTB as a "real" instrument for 52 years! And yes, there are all kinds of variations of constructions. Pluck on!
Welcome to the workshop, "Tub Talk"! Please let me and Washtub Jerry know what you think.... Gut Bucket Giff
Very interested in WTB. Made a mini version one day while smoking and drinking. Put a piezoelectric disk and 1/4in Jack. Used a industrial sized bean can and a dowel rod. Found sum elastic 3d printer proto pasta to use for a string. Works really great. A little feedback but I like it to feedback a little.🤘😄🤘
Glad I found this! I was looking up building a WTB last night and was trying to reconcile the youtube builds with Gary's setup at Lark Camp, and this explained a lot. I'm definitely not going to Mexico for a tub or start wearing special boots, no offense. Now I think I'll try to reverse-engineer the WTB from what little video I can find of the group Blackbird Raum.
Constantly experimenting and improving the sound. My latest discovery is how sensitive the top (and sides) are to being dented or bent.
@@gutbucketgiff Yeah, I played it at a wedding with lots of drunk people and something dented the top of mine, so now I gotta buy a new one. I put weather-stripping for car doors on the bottom of the washtub to keep it from sliding around, and spray painted the pole & tub and added a clear coat, so it looks quite nice. I used stair railing from Home Depot for the pole b/c it has a flat side. I cut it so that the entire assembly is as tall as I am, and painted the flat side black, so now it looks like a fretboard. I used diamond rope because the brake cable didn't have as much flexibility. All-in-all it came out pretty well, and it's loud enough to annoy my roommates. 😀
@@moresnacksplease526 I learned from Washtub Jerry that you can smooth the top to remove dents. I just did that (with a piece of wood) and got rid of a killer dent that was really bad. Good luck with that.
@@gutbucketgiff Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a shot! Cheers!
my washtub bass recently cracked, so now I gotta buy a new one.
Perhaps not...If it cracked around the center hole, you can have 1/8 " aluminum discs cut for you, maybe 4-5" diameter. Have a 1/4" hole drilled center for the eyebolt shaft. Big washers is what they are, one for the top, one for the inside. I do that for all my basses now, and it prevents the center hole from ripping out.
You also can buy 2-part metal expoxy for fixing metal. Can't remember the brand name, but it works, kinda.
All you can hear is the guitar playing!!!
Yeah, the sound quality isn’t great. Try playing it through a good sound system to eq the bass up, treble down. Good luck, Gut Bucket Giff
In the UK washtubs were hard to get hold of, so the tea chest bass was invented. like so:
th-cam.com/video/1rWok_nwAMg/w-d-xo.html
I don't read music or know 1 note from another. Pull the string tighter and the note goes higher, slacken for low notes. It always sounds like it's being played in the right key.
We play Rockabilly, Blues and Jazz tunes and it just fits in and sounds like a double bass.
Just because a person doesn't read music doesn't mean they aren't musical....I say, "If you can sing it, then you can play it". An ability to listen to music and reproduce the sounds heard gives one pleasure and joy for life.
Absolutely, having rhythm is more important than knowing what note to play, a tune is just a bunch of notes without it.
Bit too much chat and not enough play and demo!
It was the way it happened, comparing two basses and two players. More playing can be heard if you check out my other videos, search “2 Bit Jug Band” or “Gut Bucket Giff”. Thanks, GBG