What you guys refer to as a gut-bucket was known to us then youngsters in the UK as a 'tea-chest bass'. Exactly that. A plywood tea-chest in which loose tea had been imported, a hole in the top for the single string (any old bit of string), an inverted sauce bottle top nailed in one corner, and a broom handle.

This was my first band (or, properly, skiffle group) instrument. I missed a gig one night when the bus conductor wouldn't let me stow my 'bass' in the compartment under the stairs. "Yer not bringin' that bloody fing on here, cock!"

Happy days.