SLIDE TRICKS

[Guest]

ANYONE HAVE ANY TRICKS/TIPS TO REDUCE THE SOUND OF A GLASS BOTTLE SLIDE ON ELECTRIC GUITAR? I'VE TRIED "FAST FRET" AND ANOTHER SRTING CLEANER/LUBE. I CANT SEEM TO GET RID OF THAT GLASS ON METAL NOISE. I USE D'ADDARIO REG LTS. (10-46??).

 

 

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[Lee Flier]

It's all in yer hands, dude. You're probably either using too much pressure on the strings or not enough. It's a delicate balance and you have to work at it.

 

I don't know if your guitar is set up for slide. A lot of people keep a guitar with rather heavy strings and high action specifically for playing slide. I gather that it helps folks who have problems with noise. Still it is possible on a guitar with low action/light strings, I do it all the time, but it takes a lot of patience to develop the technique!

 

--Lee

[KHAN]

Right on Lee. Also make sure you are adequately muting the strings behind the slide. That can be a source of noise also.

[Sir Bob]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

....A lot of people keep a guitar with rather heavy strings and high action specifically for playing slide. ....

--Lee

Great, I could use another Strat.

[michael saulnier]

I recently watched Warren Haynes's instructional video and as Lee mentioned he suggests getting a nut thats "higher" than normal and also having a "higher" setup on the bridge. Basically having a "slide guitar".

 

He also demonstrates a right hand muting technique he uses to keep all the strings but the one he wants to hear totally quiet. He basically uses his individual right hand fingers to mute one or two strings each while only one plays the string that "sounds".

 

He points out this technique takes a little work to master, but if you are convinced you want to play great slide guitar, you'll need to develop this or something like it.

 

There's a cool LA based slide blues player named Eric Sardinas. He tends to play very wildly, using open tuning, and very little muting. I like his emotion, but sometimes all the overtones he generates with that style are too much!!! Mute some strings once in a while Eric!

 

Owwwww... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/eek.gif

 

guitplayer

[Lee Flier]

Geez, now you guys are getting me to actually THINK about the way I play! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif It's weird trying to describe it to someone else!

 

Anyway YES, muting is very important! I try to mute everything but the string(s) I'm playing, if a "clean" slide sound is my objective. I mostly use my right hand for muting, but some people use their left too. Right hand muting is such a huge part of what makes someone's playing unique, and it's usually so intuitive that you forget to mention it after awhile!

 

Another thing that's important is not to let the slide "angle" too much. It should always be as perpendicular and level to the strings as possible.

 

--Lee

[stanner]

noise,harmonics,clicks,electronic howls,buzzing,hum,static,finger scrape,pick attack,glass,brass on strings-these sounds(noises?)

are inherent to playing the electric guitar; i say let it happen,make it a part of the whole,make it musical...thats what i try to do,anyway...

[D. Gauss]

if you want to avoid string/fret buzz...take a guitar and put a pencil under the strings in front of the nut. this will give you really high lap-steel type action for no money. just remember to land on your notes a bit off the fret as your string length is now different.

 

-d. gauss

[jzbluze]

It's all about the fret-hand muting. If you play with the slide on your pinky, you might try it out on your ring finger. I've found it offers better balance and control. Keep your middle finger glued to your slide, so it's always muting right behind it. Duane Allman, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks all use the ring finger method, and are all extremely clean-sounding slide players. I get a very clean sound using this method, and I use a chrome slide. The tradeoff is of course that you have 1 less finger to fret with (your pinky doesn't count)