I play a simple washtub bass: stick, string and tub. The tub gets attention cause I painted it metal flake black and mounted a vintage Fender insignia on it.
I am a former sail maker and have been playing WTB for about 30 years. I have always used 505 polyester leech cord for the string. About 3/16", good tone, balance of tension and elasticity, holds a knot and is impossible to break. Any sail loft should have it.
The stick is a small, straight cedar tree which transmits vibration well.
I play fairly accurately with only string tension to get pitch. The stick is tall enough that I can lean my head against it to really hear the notes.
I have recently achieved the best rattle free tone from the tub by eliminating the handles and beating the bottom into a relatively smooth dome. I was thinking of going over to some sort of wooden box, but now the tub sounds so good, I probably won't.
The string is attached to the tub by tying it to a screw eye which goes through a hole in the bottom and into a small wooden block inside.
Thanks for the thread....