metal, glass, or?
We seem to be low on controversy here, so…
seriously, what kinds of slides do the guitarists out ther use, and why? Different for recording and live? 
Either glass or a piece of chrome plated bicycle handlebar. Glass sounds cleaner, chrome tube sounds more metallic and “nasty” - you know the good kinda “nasty”.
.-=gp=-.
I don’t use one much except to muck around. I can’t play anywhere near good enough to really pull it off live with any consistency
I have a glass and a brass one.
Brass is way heavy but I think the glass sounds nicer and not so harsh.
The brass gets more string noise. Depends on the sound you want though
Rich
I’ve been wanting to try slide again someday…as soon as I settle the lawsuit the neighbors filed against me for running all their cats off the LAST time I tried it! 
TG
For years and years in the bars, in our Blues/Swing/Jazz band, I’ve played just a couple of blues slide tunes : Howlin’ Wolf’s “Red Rooster,” and Elmore James’ “The Sky is Cryin’.”
Mostly for fun, and the image, I can’t resist using a broken bottleneck. I just find a wine bottle that fits nicely over my little finger, put on some heavy gloves and take it out back to break it over a rock inside my garbage can! I enjoy the look of the broken edges…and they really aren’t all that sharp or unsafe.
I’ve used the metal slides too. Both are fine. You just adjust your tone on the amp since the glass is not as bright as the metal.
Thanks for the fun question!
Hurray for n-trackers, and this great forum!!!
I should also add that I don’t really think any of my guitars are really set up properly for slide as I get way too much noise of the slide banging the neck or frets.
Even my acoustic has a pretty low action - which is good for the stuff I normally play.
If I had a higher action I could probably get the brass one to sound better without so much clunking aroud.
The glass being lighter is a bit easier to control and keep from hiting the neck/frets.
Rich
My favorite one is lost. It was glass and was a kind of old medicine bottle shape with no curve. For me it was easier to control than the bottle top curved type.
Until I find the perfect replacement I am using a thin brass one which is OK but harder for me to tame.
Slides, one of my favourite topics!
I used to be a glass slide guy. Once I constructed an “ultimate recording slide”: I had an oversized glass slide that I could tuck a metal slide in with some tape padding between. It’s so heavy my finger tires about mid-song, but the sustain’s great. (picture left)
About an year ago I happened to buy a ceramic slide (Mudslide brand, sort of blackish brown) and haven’t used glass since. Great, full tone.
A tip: put some tape inside the slide (whatever the material) so your finger fits snugly in. That way you can keep your finger relaxed inside the slide without dropping the thing. My wife bowls, and she gave me some stickers they use for the bowling ball finger holes, that are much neater than gaffa tape… (middle right on the picture)
Mudslide, hmmm…
One of the cool things about slide is that even badly played stuff can sound good.
I used metal for years, with the idea ths sustain was key, but you know how when recording distortion, less is more? It seems to me that glass often sits better in the mix, for sort of the same reason.
One time I had disassembled a desktop mic stand (not for a PC, but professional gear) and noticed that the neck of the stand was about the same size as a guitar slide. It’s a solid piece of metal and is relatively heavy. I wedge it between my middle and ring finger on my left hand (or just cup it and play over hand) and this little thing helps make some great sounds — lots of sustain and a real thick tone. The only problem is that the threading for the mic holder or base gets caught on the strings. Not sure that this is a recommendation other than sometimes you can improvise with the use of household items.
Wood.
And don’t forget to hug the tree and apologise first before carving its heart out.
Nah, tried slide many years ago, but as I only had one guitar at the time, it was too much of a pain raising the action every time, so gave it up.
Anyway, if god had intended us to play slide, he wouldn’t have invented fret-wire. (Day 4 I seem to recall, right between major galactic clusters, and ducks). (Genesis 1:022; King James Authorised Version, First Draft), (the recalled and mostly destroyed version, compiled in the Dog and Bucket pub in Glasgow, which contained footnotes such as; “Aye but Jimmy, yiv gotta put something in aboot kangeroos an’ that! Ah mean, they kangaroos are really big weird buggers aren’t they, so someone woulda noticed something an’ pit something in aboot them?? So how’s aboot makking the serpant inty a kangergoo but? And ye can have Eve jumpin’ up an’ doon as she tried to take the apple and that! Great potential for filums and that stuff, an’ it’s gonna keep they new Ostaralian colonists happy! Bunch a heathens ah know, but whit ye gonna do?”).
Anyway, fretwire. 
Ali
all depends on the sound ya lookin for man,i have several,main thing is too crank the amp,this will turn heads,i promise,
| Quote (RichLum @ May 02 2005,22:58) |
| noise of the slide banging the neck or frets. Even my acoustic has a pretty low action - which is good for the stuff I normally play. |
If your getting alot of banging then your slide might be to heavy or you might want to take some light dumbells and using a slow motion (carefully) gover over your movents to the song with the weights three times with 30 second to 3 min rest between songs. Then try it, if the weights help then do that 3 times a week with a days rest inbetween.
| Quote (Mwah @ May 03 2005,03:47) |
| A tip: put some tape inside the slide (whatever the material) so your finger fits snugly in. That way you can keep your finger relaxed inside the slide without dropping the thing. |
Good tip, there is nothing worse than having your slide fly off during a song and hitting the babe in the frount row rite in the cleaveage! Try fishing that out before the songs over
| Quote (RichLum @ May 02 2005,22:58) |
| I should also add that I don’t really think any of my guitars are really set up properly for slide as I get way too much noise of the slide banging the neck or frets. |
Rich, I prefer pretty low action, too. The only thing I do to set my guitars for slide is to install .012 strings in open tuning… but as I don’t have that many of them, they have to be usable with normal playing, too.
If you listen to Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt’s A Meeting by the River album (as anybody interested in slide guitar really should!) you hear a lot of banging from Ry’s side. You just have to bang in rhythmically correct places.
Also, I perfer a small slide, that helps limit the banging. But M is right if your trying to be quick to a note and you lift your slide to get there, it is normal to hit the neck with the slide. Open tuning is a premium.
Well depends on the guitar (acoustic or electric) and what sound I’m looking for. Glass works best for me on electric, sometimes use brass and play with fingers instead of pick. Acoustic I prefer brass or metal, but am looking at the ceramic slides at musicians friend and thinking of trying them. Merle Watson used to use a Craftsman Deep Well Socket (whatever fits your finger size) for playing slide because of the weight. Merle fest was this past weekend, didn’t go due to wifey being sick. But is always interesting to hear some of the young bluegrass pickers and the different styles of picking being introduced in bluegrass (if yer into it). Not my cup o tea but interesting.
Anyone used the Joe Perry Boneyard Slide yet?
This thread has inspired me to dig out my slide.
Found my glass one but can’t seem to find my brass one
I just happened to have an acoustic tuned to an open C tuning for another song I’ve been doing lately (without a slide) so I have been playing with that and I gotta say. Tuned down to an open C tuning the thing sounds pretty bad ass
Top fun!!!
Mwah - I already use 12’s on my acoustics. Wouldn’t want to restring my main electric for slide and the others are floating bridges so too much of a pain in the ass at the moment
Rich
I have a small slide called a buzz slide (I think). It covers 2 strings & it’s made of metal. I keep one of my Ibanez strat’s set up for slide playing because I do a fair amount of slide tracks.
However, Sonny Landreth uses a glass slide I believe & I’ve been thinking of switching.