Hah! It never occurred to me that the washtub "non-player" I witnessed so many years ago, or even anyone who knows him, would read my post. Had I known, I might have held my virtual tongue. Just as well, I suppose; it's a pretty good story.

Well, let's consider another aspect of playing this instrument: do you need gloves? If you don't play regularly enough to build up calluses, probably so.

The tub has never been my first instrument, but back in the old days when I had one of my own and played it on occasion, I didn't bother with gloves. The left hand wasn't a factor, because I adjusted pitch primarily by loosening/tightening the string tension rather than by "fretting" the string against the broomhandle "fingerboard." And the right hand didn't sustain much damage, probably due to the relative softness of that oldfashioned white cotton clothesline. If I were to start up again using a metal cable. I'd sure as shooting wear a pair of gardening gloves, at least for a while. Even through a protective glove, you'd probably start building up a bit of callus and eventually be better able to play barehanded without drawing blood.