The best slide material is...

[LiveMusic]

For playing slide guitar, what do you think is the best type of slide material? Glass, brass, etc.?

 

Also, if you go to www.shubb.com you will see an Axys Reversible Slide. Do you think that would be good? Seems it would. Any idea if you would buy it for your middle finger, ring finger or pinkie?

 

(Read the info and it mentions that the adjustable (in one second... using your thumb on your fretting hand) nature of this invention means you don't have to settle for using it on pinkie only... which a lot of people do with 'regular' slides because they want to free up other fingers for fretting.)

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by LiveMusic:

For playing slide guitar, what do you think is the best type of slide material? Glass, brass, etc.?

 

For a while I thought the best material was the chromed metal that makes up mic stands.... Then I realized I could play it and now use a metal slide. Less dense materials sound thin, that buzzy plastic-comb slide sound annoys me in general, I don't get it unless it's for a cliched effect.

 

Of course, I don't play traditional blues. In which case if I did, it would be obvious to simply use whatever material "Blues Slide Player X" used that I thought was the most idiosyncratic.

 

http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by LiveMusic:

For playing slide guitar, what do you think is the best type of slide material? Glass, brass, etc.?

 

For a while I thought the best material was the chromed metal that makes up mic stands.... Then I realized I could play it and now use a metal slide. Less dense materials sound thin, that buzzy plastic-comb slide sound annoys me in general, I don't get it unless it's for a cliched effect.

 

Of course, I don't play traditional blues. In which case if I did, it would be obvious to simply use whatever material "Blues Slide Player X" used that I thought was the most idiosyncratic.

 

http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[Lee Flier]

I use a "real bottleneck" more than any other type (very thick glass), but I played a brass slide one time and then had to go out and buy one, because it really does impart a whole different tonal quality than glass, which can be cool for some things. It's really just a matter of taste and what fits the song. I like have a couple of different choices, and definitely if you haven't tried all the different types, you should.

 

I have never liked regular metal slides though, or thin glass ones. YMMV, as always.

 

--Lee

[LiveMusic]

Any comments on that Shubb adjustable slide? Revolutionary or hype?

[michael saulnier]

The shubb slide concept solves a common slide player's problem... what to do with the slide when you want to finger notes normally... I've seen guys drop the slide... (not suggested with glass slides), have a little "slide holder" of some kind on their mic stand, put it in a pocket etc... Shubb and similar products make it easier to go back and forth.

 

In terms of materials, here's what some guitarists have used.

 

Duane Allman - Corcican bottle, (this is a prescription drug, but you can just buy the bottle... or a replica these days).

Lowell George - Lowell is famous for using a Sears socket... I forget what size...

Derek Trucks - Glass, I think one of the Dunlop brand.

Muddy Waters - pocket knife... or what ever was handy...

 

Those are some that immediately come to mind. Like Chip and Lee said, the materials certainly make different sounds... so if you decide slide is for you, you might start a little collection and figure out your personal favorite or use a specific one for a specific tone.

 

guitplayer

[Lisa]

Try out different slide materials and see which one best suits your playing style in terms of tone and which one feels most comfortable. The same goes for finding the right finger. Just experiment with the slides and fingers you use them on and see what works best for you. Everyone has their own preferences. Something else to note about playing slide is that it works out best if you don't have super-low action on your guitar. If you do, then you may want to raise up the action just a tad so the slide won't be hitting the frets.

 

About a year ago I checked out a slide called the Jet Slide (www.jetslide.com), which stays on your finger, like a ring, but can be slipped back and out of the way for normal fingering. Check out the company's website for more info. I thought it was kind of cool because you can keep it on your finger throughout a song and not have to stop to resume non-slide playing.

 

Slide playing definitely takes a lot of practice to be good and finding the right slide is essential. I've always considered myself a pretty horrible slide player, mostly because I have small fingers and just never found a slide that fit comfortably. Most stores just had a few huge slides that practically fit over two of my fingers and were just way too big for me to deal with. In the last few years manufacturers have finally started giving players more options, so now it's a bit easier to find a variety of slides in different sizes and materials. Keep searching until you find the one that's right for you.

[lrbreez]

I use Coricidin bottles (like Duane Allman). I think they are the best (at least for me).

 

I retired my Coricidin bottles a couple of years ago for the Duane Allman Slide. They are EXACT duplicates. Red Dog (one of the roadies for the Allman Brothers) found a box of Duane's slides. He gave one of the slides to John McGough (the owner of the company that makes The Duane Allman Slide). John got a hold of a bottle making company and had molds made to duplicate the slide and uses the same kind of glass. I have to keep my originals separate because you cannot tell the difference. They also sound the same. Guitar Center sell them for around $11. The diameter for your finger is a tad more than 3/4 of an inch (maybe 25/32 of an inch-a penny will drop inside the bottle but a nickel won't). They are great slides!

Buddy

[chedrob]

Several years ago (late 70s or early 80s) I discovered some cone shaped slides. I believe the brand name was "Harris". The slides were closed on one end and that end had a slightly larger diameter than the open end. The closed end was rounded like the steel used by pedal steel players.

 

There were some different models to choose from that were made from different materials. The one that I liked the best was a light metal and coated with a black material that gripped the strings slightly. This gave the slide a more biting sound that was similar to George Harrison's slide work on "All Things Must Pass"

 

Unfortunately I lost both of these slides that I had when two of my guitars were stolen. The slides were in the cases and although I got one of the guitars back, the case and contents were gone.

 

I have been looking everywhere for a chance to pick up more of these slides but to no avail. Perhaps someone on this forum has experienced these slides or knows where I can find some.

 

 

Charley

[chedrob]

Several years ago (late 70s or early 80s) I discovered some cone shaped slides. I believe the brand name was "Harris". The slides were closed on one end and that end had a slightly larger diameter than the open end. The closed end was rounded like the steel used by pedal steel players.

There were some different models to choose from that were made from different materials. The one that I liked the best was a light metal and coated with a black material that gripped the strings slightly. This gave the slide a more biting sound that was similar to George Harrison's slide work on "All Things Must Pass"

 

Unfortunately I lost both of these slides that I had when two of my guitars were stolen. The slides were in the cases and although I got one of the guitars back, the case and contents were gone.

 

I have been looking everywhere for a chance to pick up more of these slides but to no avail. Perhaps someone on this forum has experienced these slides or knows where I can find some.

 

 

Charley

[chedrob]

Several years ago (late 70s or early 80s) I discovered some cone shaped slides. I believe the brand name was "Harris". The slides were closed on one end and that end had a slightly larger diameter than the open end. The closed end was rounded like the steel used by pedal steel players.

There were some different models to choose from that were made from different materials. The one that I liked the best was a light metal and coated with a black material that gripped the strings slightly. This gave the slide a more biting sound that was similar to George Harrison's slide work on "All Things Must Pass"

 

Unfortunately I lost both of these slides that I had when two of my guitars were stolen. The slides were in the cases and although I got one of the guitars back, the case and contents were gone.

 

I have been looking everywhere for a chance to pick up more of these slides but to no avail. Perhaps someone on this forum has experienced these slides or knows where I can find some.

 

 

Charley

[Sir Bob]

Those old glass, pill bottles are the best. How do you spell it: cortazine. I can't get good tone from the steel ones and I am always impressed when another guitar player can.

[stanner]

hey i love the sound of glass on strings and due to that i still have my bottles from the early 70s w/ the labels intact(i dont use them tho).

it says on the label '25 tablets for temporary relief of symtoms as may occur in acids' - -mmm...(?)

 

~duane allman lives~

[gjh]

brass for electric (I use a plumbers thingy I found in a hardware store,

on my pinky cause I fret as well. My small hands made finding a readymade

slide that fit really hard).

thick glass for acoustic.

ps a glass slide also works nicely on mandolin.

[fantasticsound]

Coricidin ceased production of glass bottles for their product, I believe, a decade or so ago. There was a blurb in one of the guitar magazines that stated Joe Walsh heard about it and went out to a pharmacy and bought their whole stock, so as not to run out of slides! lol

 

As stated in another post, other companies build glass slides to the Coricidin bottle specs, specifically for sale as slides.

 

The Axys slide is a licenced or ripoff copy of a slide made for several years by the inventor of the Bird Of Paradise capo. He showed it to me 3 summers ago at the summer NAMM in Nashville. It was very neat, in practice, but I don't play much slide, so hopefully someone else can chime in on it's or the original's merits.

 

To be honest, a friend who worked with me at Guitar Center in Chicago (Clark St.) 10 years ago made me a wonderful metal slide out of conduit. The size and fit were pretty good and the varied ridges in the metal created some interesting tones and dynamics. It was also dirt cheap to make slides.

 

Also, Lauren Ellis, a luthier and fantastic slide player who recently moved from L.A. to Nashville, fashioned her slide holder from a butterfly mic clip (spring clamping) with a cork shoved in the thread end. She clamps it to the mic boom with the cork pointing at her. Works great.

 

Neil

[lrbreez]

<< Coricidin ceased production of glass bottles for their product, I

believe, a decade or so ago. There was a blurb in one of the guitar

magazines that stated Joe Walsh heard about it and went out to a

pharmacy and bought their whole stock, so as not to run out of slides!

lol >>

 

Coricidin stopped using glass in the 70's. I remember going to the drugstore to buy a bottle to discover to my horror that the bottle was plastic! I went all over town squeezing boxes. If the bottle gave in it was plastic, no give it was glass.

 

<< As stated in another post, other companies build glass slides to the

Coricidin bottle specs, specifically for sale as slides. >>

 

Be careful, all of the medicine bottles sold for slide are generic medicine bottles, except for "The Duane Allman Slide" which is an exact copy of the Coricidin bottle. "The Duane Allman Slide" is also sold with a clip that holds it on a strap under a different name. These are the only 2 authentic replicas that are out there.

Buddy

[fantasticsound]

Beg to differ, but, although they may have already introduced some plastic before this time, Coricidan DID make glass through the late 1980's for sure. FYI.

 

Neil

[lrbreez]

I'm sorry you're wrong. It could not have been any later that '81, because that was when I moved from the town that I had gotten the glass bottles. I called the manufacturer of Coricidin before I moved to see if they had any glass bottles that they could sell me and they said they did not have any only the plastic ones. In '82 I was being offered $50 a bottle in LA because no one could get them, BTW I turned down all offers. In '85 I started to research what it would take to have them duplicated (the lowest price I could get for the mold was $35,000-so I gave up on that).

 

BTW, on "The Duane Allman Slide" John got permission to use Duane pix on the packaging.

Buddy

[D. Gauss]

i dug up duane allman and now use the bone from one of his left hand fingers for slide. damn guitar plays itself now!

 

-d. gauss