Gibsons are just expensive because they’ve always been, don’t bother. The squires are so good they rival the fenders so you can just get one of them if you don’t care about the brand on the headboard. The sterlings are cheap and heavy, poor imitations of the Musicmans they’re based on. But again, who has the money to afford one aside from professional washboard players?

Then of course there are your Japanese imitations, which are great if you know what you’re looking at. Or you could go a Yamaha digital washboard that you can also make sound like a jug, slide whistle, and even a fiddle. The DSP chips in them have gotten so good you can’t tell the difference most of the time.