Author Topic: Slides (Read 4190 times)

badgermark · « **on:** October 08, 2007, 09:18:43 PM »

Anyone use these tubes of wonder? I'm tempted to dip my toes into sliding, so where should I start? Glass? Brass? Advise me good people.

the_bleeding · « **Reply #1 on:** October 08, 2007, 11:16:31 PM »

i have both slides, and i really dont hear a big difference between them.
Soundwise, the glass is a bit smoother on the highs and doesnt sound as ringy... i guess it sounds more controlled to me. My buddy whos really into blues prefers his brass though because he says its not blues without a brass slide :lol:
They do however, feel different... i cant really describe it.

Theyre fun as hell though, especially in open tunnigs. I wish i knew some slide songs... i usually just wank around with it.

In my opinion, get a glass... but i dont know which finger you'd want... hopefully somebody else around here knows more

38thBeatle · « **Reply #2 on:** October 08, 2007, 11:23:58 PM »

Personally I prefer glass -feels better than steel and the tone is, to me, warmer.Never got on with a ceramic one either. You need to work out which finger you are going to use-I use third finger but some prefer to use others. I would suggest glass first from my experience-they are fairly cheap-don't spend too much cash and see how you get on. Listen to some great players like Elmore James, Duane Allman, Lowell George, Warren Haynes, Sonny Landreth, Derek Trucks , Ry Cooder and many many more than I can't think of right now.Can I suggest Fretboard Roadmaps blues edition will get you going too and bear in mind that you can use different tunings -I think that string damping is one of the most important elements of playing slide. I play mostly in standard tuning though as I use the guitar for a 2.5 hour set and don't like having to mess with the tuning but at home I have an acoustic open tuned in G. Sorry,I have prattled on.

Brow · « **Reply #3 on:** October 08, 2007, 11:56:18 PM »

I have 3 slides myself:

Dunlop medium weight Glass
Heavy Brass
Medium weight metal

I generally prefer the Brass slide when playing acoustic guitar, the glass and metal 1 seem too 'zingy' to my ears.

On electrics I usually use the glass slide as it works better with the lighter gauge strings I use on my electric guitars (10s or 11s compared to the 13s on my acoustic).

I like the metal slide for the odd harmonics it gives out from using metal on metal, but prefer the other 2 slides for general playing :)

ToneMonkey · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2007, 08:41:07 AM »

I have bumped into the guy from Diamond Bottlenecks a few times (and I think each time, we got rather drunk). I can highly recommend his slides. Personally I don't use slides as I'm still strugling with fingers. I do have a few mates who use them though and they're absolutely top notch.

I'm sure he does half brass and half glass slides which look funky. Check out his website, I think it's www.diamondbottlenecks.co.uk

WezV · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2007, 08:47:21 AM »

i like a big heavy chunk of brass - i feel the weight really helps with the slide playing.

the other one i had was an aluminium one that came free with guitarist years ago and it was next to useless - just very light and hard to get a good feel for slide technique with it

My final slide is a proper steel for lap playing - its chrome plated brass and again very heavy for what it is, but works wonderfully!!

On a side note, Lap steels are great little projects for budding guitar builders.

Mr Ed · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2007, 08:49:18 AM »

I use a steel one for random noise-making and messing around. Good fun, everyone should have a slide.

Elliot · « **Reply #7 on:** October 09, 2007, 09:35:46 AM »

Check out Stefan Grossman's Beginning Bottleneck Guitar - excellent intro to slide.

I think what ever fits your finger is best to begin with - go and check some slides out

badgermark · « **Reply #8 on:** October 09, 2007, 09:55:00 AM »

I shall get myself a glass/perspex dealie today and have a play around.

Cheers big ears.

Ratrod · « **Reply #9 on:** October 09, 2007, 11:09:59 AM »

I use a glass pinky slide. This way you can still do some barre chords in between.

horsehead · « **Reply #10 on:** October 09, 2007, 01:55:56 PM »

Got a glass cocordin bottle (for those real Duane Allman moments) & a porcelin one (Mudslide ?) and I prefer the porcelin one personally. The glass does sound good for electric admittidly but the porcelin one's great for acoustic (which is where I play most of my slide stuff)

badgermark · « **Reply #11 on:** October 09, 2007, 02:13:02 PM »

Picked one up today, a Dunlop pyrex glass one. Just getting the hang of it really, figuring out how to sound notes cleanly and trying to work out what I can use it for. I like getting new toys.

Elliot · « **Reply #12 on:** October 09, 2007, 02:22:32 PM »

These might help - a bit tedious to download as they are about 1 minute each

http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/electric-slide-guitar-introduction.htm

and this:

http://www.12bar.de/slide.php

38thBeatle · « **Reply #13 on:** October 09, 2007, 06:54:55 PM »

You have to adjust a bit to getting the slide directly over the fret. I use mine on my 3rd finger and use other fingers to damp the non playing strings.You can cheat, quite legitimately, by waggling the slide back and forth to get a vibrato and therefore you can be less than accurate but that is not always an option and so getting the hang of placing the slide over the fret is worth working on.

WezV · « **Reply #14 on:** October 09, 2007, 07:03:00 PM »

yeah - its made slightly more difficult by the angle you are looking at the string from so trust your ears rather than your eyes - the same goes when playing a lined fretless bass