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piebaldpython
December 27th, 2007, 12:04 PM
Slides for the most part come in one of three materials; metal, glass and porcelain/ceramic. I have all three.
Metal can mean anything from steel, to brass/bronze and aluminum. If you drop one of these, don't worry about it!!
Glass is either bottle glass (pretty much a set inside diameter) or lead crystal glass (which can be made to any length and inside diameter that one wants). That is great news as most glass bottlenecks come in at around 19mm for inside diameter. Don't drop 'em!!
Porcelain/ceramic means just that. These are baked in a kiln and finished with a glaze and come in a variety of inside diameters. Don't drop these either, though a bit more rugged than glass.
Thickness: No matter which type of slide you get, you want it to be THICK. The thicker and denser means the BETTER sustain you get. So, no wonder then that the sliders of old gravitated towards bottlenecks and Craftsman spark plug sockets. They were THICK and heavy.
Which is why so many hated the old Dunlop metal and pyrex glass slides. They were thin walled things that didn't sustain worth a damn.
Sound/tone: For all intents and purposes the sound you get goes like this: a metal slide sounds the "harshest" or most "insistent". Glass is the "warmest" with the ceramic slides somewhere between the two.
You can use all 3 types of slides on acoustic and electric guitars interchangably. Yes, I know that some are supposedly better on some guitars than others, but I can throw so many exceptions to the rule that it becomes a moot point.
My advice is to EXPERIMENT with the sounds you get and see what you like best.
Which finger to use?? ahahahaha The age old debate is also moot as it depends on what you want to do and what kind of a setting you play in (solo or in a band---one guitar or two?). Most people slide off their pinky finger as they prefer to fret with the first three fingers. A decent minority slide off their ring finger (Duane Allman), some off their middle (Bonnie Raitt, Billy Gibbons) and Dave Hole slides off his index finger (albeit though he comes from over the top of the fretboard). The determining factors for which finger to use are two-fold: 1) can you make a nice, clear tone and does it feel comfortable to slide with that finger? AND, 2) can you isolate that finger IF you want to use the other fingers to fret with?? If you want to fret and can't isolate your slidin' finger, you've got a problem!! ahaha
Length of slide: Most slides come in at around 2.5", give or take a quarter inch. Some companies do offer slides in a smaller length of 2". If you need smaller, then time to get out a hacksaw (but not on glass or ceramic) and cut yours down. OR, have it custom made to a specified length. Of course, much depends on the style you play. If you do a lot of open tunings/chordal type slidin', then you want something that covers all 6 strings. If you do a lot of single string work, then you can get away with smaller if you prefer (Mississippi Fred McDowell with his small gin bottleneck).
Tunings: Learn the big 3: standard, Open D (E) and Open G (A). I do recommend that one "tunes down" to Open D or G rather than "tuning up" to Open E or A due to increases stress on the neck. It's better for your guitar to tune down then capo up. Much has been written before about tunings so I will just say that Warren Haynes (Gov't Mule and the Allman Bros) is a monster slider who slides in standard tuning.
OK, that about covers it. Hope this helps!!
As for me: I like glass slides best. I slide off my middle finger and like my slides at around 1.5" because my index finger can completely dampen behind the slide.