Octobass

Octobass

Photo of an Octobass at Musée de la Musique, Paris.
Classification	Bowed string instrument
Inventor(s)	Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume
Related instruments
Double bass

The octobass is an extremely large and rare bowed string instrument first built around 1850 in Paris by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875). It has three strings and is essentially a larger version of the double bass – the specimen in the collection of the Musée de la Musique in Paris measures 3.48 metres (11 ft 5 in) in length, whereas a full-size double bass is generally approximately 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length.