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mandolin123 - Posted - 11/12/2009: 11:27:43
Anybody play the washboard/scrub board? Thinking of giving it a whirl in a few places. I just love to irritate people. Seriously though, it does have a history, I'm just curious about folks here on the hangout. David Holt has it on one of his you tube videos and it is quite good.
Well, hmmm, if that don't crank your truck.
RatLer - Posted - 11/12/2009: 11:53:32
Got a friend that plays. She has a sewing thimble on each finger (both hands)! Sounds great...not sure if you can play it and the banjo at the same time though...
RatLer
Axeman79 - Posted - 11/12/2009: 11:59:07
It would be a percussion instrument right? Just like a scratch-board or a jug.
Axeman
If the minimum wasn't good enough...it wouldn't be the minimum.
georgiagoodie - Posted - 11/12/2009: 12:18:11
I play washboard!
I love it!
The fun part is searching out and attaching weird old artifacts to make more weird sounds, like a table bell, a cowbell, a old tin cup, a wood block, a bicycle bell, or a old car horn. It is fun building your own custom board.
I have made thimble gloves, by gluing thimbles to the ends of to heavy duty cotton gloves.
I have a small and a large custom washboard (with bells, blocks, horns, etc., as well as (2) "virgin" small wash boards. My three small boards are all Vintage National Zinc King #703 Lingerie models, pretty much known as the "Stradivarious" of musical washboards. They have a wood "resonator" behind the rippled steel surface that makes them desirable. There is a good website discussing these boards:
http://www.bonedrymusic.com/SearchR....asp?Cat=425
I found mine on ebay.
The 703s are small and are to be used for more old-time thimble "tapping", than the zydeco scraping, as the zinc board is only about 8" tall. But the sound....OMG,,,there is no other board that makes such sweet sounds. Highly recommended.
georgiagoodie
"Frets? We don't need no stinking frets!!"
Nosferatu - Posted - 11/12/2009: 13:26:38
Goggle Washboard Hank.
Thank you,
"Count" Hugh
"I bent over him, and tried to find any sign of life, but in vain." -- Jonathan Harker, Dracula
Banjowik - Posted - 11/12/2009: 14:20:50
I play a washboard, and sort of collect em. They look good hung on the wall. But they are fun to knock around on for something a little different.
When in doubt, whip it out! Thats what I always say!
oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 11/12/2009: 14:29:50
We have a number of friends who play washboard. Some are better than others. Some are a whole lot better than others. The thing to remember is that despite the "novelty act" nature of the washboard - you actually have to be good at it.
If your rhythm is in the slightest bit shaky, if you speed up or slow down, or both, If you get lost in the middle of your big solo, perhaps you should be practicing, instead of playing.
Washboard is loud and it tends to take other players with it, wherever it goes. If you can't do it right, don't do it in public.
Since most of our friends learned from watching out friend Rachel - who keeps better time than an atomic clock - the standard around here is gloved with buttons sewn onto the fingers. Our friend Randy (who is also one of the greatest Washtub Bass players) uses the small "lingeree" model and plays with thimbles. Unlike all the players of the standard size boards, he holds his between his knees and uses a hand on each side. It does have a unique sound.
A couple of our friends use zydeco boards but most stick with the wood frame jobs.
http://www.rocketsciencebanjo.com
Rocket Science Banjo - Advanced Clawhammer Techniques for beginners and long time players alike. Plus videos and 25-40 EZ Clawhammer Tunes.
& check out "How To Mold A Mighty Pinky" at:
http://www.pricklypearmusic.net
banjo brad's great banjo site
Edited by - oldwoodchuckb on 11/12/2009 14:38:31
PF. - Posted - 11/12/2009: 15:33:51
its a really fun instrument if you can keep time well. If im a a jam and they have a few banjo players ill take mine out. its equipped with some tin cans of various sizes for more sounds to.
rteale - Posted - 11/12/2009: 16:33:33
I too play the washboard after a fashion. I specially imported mine from the US :-)
I couldnt find metal thimbles that stayed on so I used metal banjo/guitar picks bent over the tip. Works very well.
Ray
mandolin123 - Posted - 11/12/2009: 17:10:00
Wow! thanks goys.
Well, hmmm, if that don't crank your truck.
majikgator - Posted - 11/12/2009: 20:28:26
Hmm can't play the banjo and washboard at the same time, may want to watch out Mike Gregory doesn't find this thread he might figure out how to make a wahboard banjo and here some people worry about thumping the head.
jk
barbbanjo - Posted - 11/12/2009: 21:39:11
We love our washboard. One time Ken and I were at an antique store and lo and behold - there sat a washboard with all the bells and whistles. It was $30 and we snapped it up immediately. They told us at the register that it had just come in, too, so we were lucky to get it. Our 11 year old grandson loves to play it when we do FMB. It is wonderful when you go busking because people can hear it from a distance and they flock towards it. We have a lot of fun with it. We also use it as a means to connect with the audience as we invite people to come up and play along with us on the washboard. Once we had a guy come up to play it who had been a drummer. Boy! We would love to have signed him up right away! He was sooo good with that washboard! Audience members see the washboard as not a real "instrument" and they like the idea of playing along with a band.
Edited by - barbbanjo on 11/12/2009 22:22:12
Jim Yates - Posted - 11/13/2009: 08:23:25
I have a few washboards. My favourite has a cymbal attached. I use golf gloved with thimbles on the tips of the fingers, taped on with electrical tape, or work gloves with walnut shells fastened to the finger tips. I got this idea from my friend Teilhard Frost. He puts yellow glue in the wallnut shells and holds his fingers in them till they dry. I bore three holes in the shells and sew them on with dental floss.
I've been playing a lot of jug band stuff lately and the washboard has been getting a workout after spending most of its time on the wall.
Here's a picture of Washboard Hank back in the seventies.
http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango...66&albumid=0
Google him to see what he (and his washboard) looks like nowadays. My son Calyton played mandolin and guitar for Hank before moving to Newfoundland.
Jim
www.myspace.com/jimyates
www.myspace.com/kirbyandyates
www.myspace.com/kirbyyatesmazurek
Edited by - Jim Yates on 11/13/2009 08:26:47
Bassora - Posted - 11/13/2009: 09:11:24
Keep your eye open at flea markets for just the RIGHT washboard.
There's a flea market 10 miles from my house had eight nice washboard, three which had a ice sound (storekeeper found me amusing, but she uses me when musical instruments come to the shop).
Bassora Mo
from near the Big Mo
Jim Yates - Posted - 11/14/2009: 08:34:46
Keep your eye open at flea markets for just the RIGHT washboard.
Bassora said,"There's a flea market 10 miles from my house had eight nice washboard, three which had a ice sound (storekeeper found me amusing, but she uses me when musical instruments come to the shop)."
You should try going to the hardware store and trying deepwell sockets
on your finger till you find one that fits. If you don't explain that you're a slide guitar player, the clerk gives you some very strange looks.
Jim
www.myspace.com/jimyates
www.myspace.com/kirbyandyates
www.myspace.com/kirbyyatesmazurek
mandolin123 - Posted - 11/15/2009: 17:58:22
Well I'll be. That's an old saying from around here. I scoured through several antique markets around here, they're everywhere . I found several nice ones , but none that were "me". Lo and behold I got one today from my grandma that I can remember her using when I was a boy. I hit it a few time wit steel wool and it is just right. I may finish it real nice with stain and shelac to look at when no playing.
How cool is that? PS: Nannie is 84 years young and PawPaw is 85
Well, hmmm, if that don't crank your truck.
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