Rattlebrained

Brushes are great with washboards! The only downside I can think of is that the metal ones can get stuck between the wood and the metal rubbing surface when you play which is a nuisance since that can damage the brush as well as screw up the song you’re playing. For that reason I’ve been using nylon brushes because they aren’t as fragile; they don’t sound quite as nice but close enough. I’ve also put tape along the bottom of certain washboards, covering that gap.

However once you’re playing with musicians who have amplified their instruments brushes usually aren’t loud enough. Not that much of a problem if you are being miked and have a sound engineer but big enough when you aren’t in front of a mic, in small venues the washboard rarely needs it, or if there is no one at the table to adjust the volume. So a couple of years ago I bought some Blasticks (as I mentioned in my post on washboard gloves). The first pair I used was strictly for washboard playing so I shortened the length of the brushes (cut them down) as well as thinned them out (I think I removed 10 to 12 strands more on one than on the other to have a variation). This worked fairly well, not as nice to use as real brushes but a lot louder.

However when I added a snare to my setup last year these were too short so I got a second pair (see picture). I can’t get them to move quite as smoothly as the thinned pair but I believe you can with practice. Unfortunately as Swamp Train, the band I’m playing electric blues with, gets better – they also are getting louder so it’s been back to stage one.

Last fall I picked up a pair of Ahead TipStix and indeed with the added nylon tip these are a louder plus, depending on how you set them up, they can be pretty flexible. The best of both worlds it would seem. Unfortunately I don’t like the way they sound and that is really frustrating. They sound “cheep” is the only description I can think of at the moment although cheep they are not.

So a few week ago when I noticed a pair of Splashsticks at my local music shop I was really tempted to buy them until I found out how much they cost. The fact is that all these sticks are in a between $30 & $40 price range (at least that is so here in “everything is twice the price” Swissland – all the more with the exchange rate these days…), and when I looked at the splashsticks I though: well I can make some of those. So I did.

A trip to the local do-it yourself stores (as they are called here) and I picked up two packages of 25: 3.5mm thick – 50cm long bamboo sticks from the garden center and 14: 3mm thick – 1 meter long beech sticks (the only kind they have). Plus a roll of heavy duty 4cm/1.5 inch wide black tape. I cut the sticks down to 41 cm, chose the straitest strands (for the bamboo) and made the two pairs pictured by taping them together – with some white glue added beneath the handle part – and a ring of tape approximately half way between the handle and the tip. I also added rubber rings salvaged from my first pair of blasticks thinking that the tape would not hold up but so far it doesn’t look like that was needed. I used 12 dowels for the beech and 10 for the bamboo.

Unfortunately the drummer I share a cellar with “borrowed” the beech sticks before I actually was able to try them and, knowing him, they were certainly abused. He bangs hard, loud and fast and when I finally found them again a couple of the dowels were broken.

That said, on the bright side I’m surprise they resisted as well as they did and in any case, neither materials resisted being rubbed on a washboard, the bamboo splits and the ends fall apart and the beech chips off. However they sound good, much better than the TipStix, and they reduce the volume of the snare enough so that the volume balance between it and the washboard is pretty decent. I’m practicing holding one in my right hand to hit the snare and cymbals, while my left hand – and my right when not using the stick – play the washboard with thimbles (and yes, I do get tangled up…).

Meanwhile curiosity got the better of me and so I bought a pair of Splashsticks to compare. The “Traditional” (VSPST) is heavier with 19: 3mm thick birch dowels. This makes sense since birch is a more flexible wood and is known to resist well to shocks. That said just a short bout rubbing on the washboard chipped off the end of a dowel so I’m not about to force the issue. Also even with their heat sink type assembly, I really don’t think they are made to be used as an all out drummer utensil, perfect for lower volume settings is what the blurb says. I would bet that my drummer friend would quickly make mincemeat out of these too (he is not one for lower volume…).

So…

1. What I would love to see is a TipStix type product with a wood tip, preferably (for myself) hickory.
2. I don’t advise using wood multi-dowel sticks to rub your washboard with.
3. Without amplification brushes on a washboard are not that loud.
4. That’s the way it is and in fact is part of the charm of their sound.
5. Of the two wood sticks made and the one bought I prefer the bamboo I made.
6. I could make 5 pairs (10 stick) for the same price as the store bought pair.
7. It didn’t take too long to do either.
8. Sorry, this post is a bit scatterbrained but it helps me keep track of this stuff…