Rattlebrained

First posted in July 2010, updated

At first I had thimbles on all my fingers and also had made aluminum “whackers” for my thumbs, but when I started to play with brushes too, I had a hard time not losing the thumb whackers so they ended up remaining in the box. Then since thimbles on my pinkys never seemed that useful I gave up on them too. With three thimbles on each hand I can pretty much get all the sounds I want, plus I can still hold things between the two non thimbled fingers. I should add that I’ve never been that good at tapping and don’t really use each individual finger separately; I kind of rub and tap with one or more thimbles depending on how thick the sound should be.

I’m not a drummer and am currently struggling with the basics but since I began combining a small drum set with my washboards, I’ve been using Blasticks a lot. These are cool but they often ended up pushing the thimbles off when I hit the drums with them (since I would play with them and the thimbles). So I figured I really needed some washboard gloves and bought a pair of Ahead Drummer Gloves (top picture – I removed the brand name, it was a bit loud).

I attached the the thimbles with double sided tape, except two that I stuck on with a “blu-tack” type putty as a test since I think I would like the thimbles to be changeable. At least for now. As you can see in the picture I also had to make a cut through both of the middle finger thimbles so they would be a bit bigger. The fit is tight enough but not too tight, the only problem so far is a thimble coming off in my bag, once, and I have been using them for just over a month now. I really like these gloves and am surprised at how comfortable they are, even while playing on hot days like we’ve been having lately. They’re great for the drum work too, to be able to brush the washboard and also hit the drums I use a jazz grip with both hands and it was irritating my skin between the thumb and fingers. With the gloves: no problems like that anymore.

Updated Aug. 16th 2010: A couple of weeks ago I replaced all the double sided tape with Tac Putafix – made by UHU – the “blu-tack” type putty mentioned above since it seems to work fine; I have yet to lose a thimble. But I did break one of the ones I had cut so I’ve replaced it with an uncut one, same size. It turns out it’s not that tight and since obviously cutting into the first one weakened it… I’ve also gotten use to the fact that depending on how you play and because the gloves stretch a bit, it sometimes feels like the thimbles are falling off. So far the only downside is that since the thimbles are fixed, they always hit on the same areas and it looks like they will wear through a lot quicker… /end update

Updated Oct. 9th 2010: Using a “blu-tack” type adhesive has worked out well. All the more since in three months I’ve almost rubbed through two of the thimbles on my right hand which is a lot faster than normally. I believe this is because the thimbles are always rubbing on exactly the same side so I just pulled them off, gave them a quarter turn, and pushed them back on again. No problem! Otherwise the only issue is that the gloves have stretched even more, giving the thimbles a loser feel. So if you try this don’t get gloves that are too big. /end update

Updated Oct. 26th 2010: Using a “blu-tack” type adhesive has worked out well until I lost a thimble in the middle of a song on stage last Saturday. I was fortunate in that I found it between songs and stuck it back on, not the end of the world but bothersome nevertheless. /end update

Updated Feb. 24th 2011: No thimbles have been lost since that one last Oct. so I think this is as good as it’s going to get. My biggest problem has been with the gloves stretching, probably due to my using the sides of the thimbles a lot instead of the tips. Using the tips pushes the thimbles down on to your fingers but using the sides can pull the thimble away from them. I’ve ordered a pair of mediums sized gloves (instead of large) to test, but I probably should work at changing my finger position…
(Picture of thimble wear after about 10 months) (BTW: I use zinc coated brass thimbles which are relatively soft so the thimbles wear out a lot faster than the washboard, but if you use harder metal thimbles like stainless steel for instance, than your (zinc) washboard will wear out faster than the thimbles. I don’t know what happens with both stainless steel thimbles and washboard…) /end update

Updated March. 8th 2011: So I received the above mentioned pair of medium sized gloves, put the thimbles on them with the same Tac Putafix adhesive putty, replaced two that had rubbed through and cracked, and used them for two gigs this last weekend. Perfect!
My advice if you were to make similar washboard gloves is that you buy the smallest size gloves you can fit into. /end update

BTW: other washboard players have successfully sewed pearl snaps on their gloves and from what I can see with the videos on the web, some use thin cotton gloves too; whatever works for you!

Updated June 2012 to add: My review of Clanky Dog Bottle Cap Washboard Gloves

Updated September 2013: On my gloves this last year I’ve been using the Heavy Nickel Plated Brass Thimbles from Bone Dry Music. Initially (in June 2012) I also wrote a review for them, and now can add that after a year I am still thrilled with these thimbles. They’re lasting a whole lot longer than any other brass thimble I’ve bought and they still have a lot of rubbing to go. So if you want extra weight, tone and smoothness in a long lasting thimble: these are a nobrainer!

Updated April 2017: I have to say here that as my drumming skills get better, it became clear that wearing gloves with thimbles on them (while playing the drums) was making things harder; to say the least. So this last winter I stopped using gloves when I’m playing both and just have two thimbles on each hand; keeping my thumbs and indexes for drumming.
This works well most of the time…

Updated June 2018:

For good or for worse, I’ve given up using washboard gloves as I realized that they where hampering my drumming. Practicing without the gloves made this clear. It’s a compromise, I’m now using two elastic banded thimbles on each hand on my middle and third fingers.