Blues slide guitar on a JP

[ivanmihaljevic]

There's this song titled "Deja Vu" off of my band's last album and the song starts off with a bluesy slide guitar intro.
Every time we play the song live I don't like the way this intro sounds because the action on my JP is too low for playing slide clearly (the action is not low at all, but it's too low for slide playing and you could hear a lot of string buzz) and besides I suck at playing slide.

Today I gave myself a task to figure out what to do with that intro because I don't want to settle for something that doesn't sound good.

So, I came up with this interesting technique and I thought it would be nice to share it with you guys. I'm using only my fingers and my trusty tremolo bar on my JP. I tried to mimic the sound of a slide guitar with my fingers and a tremolo.

Take a listen and tell me what you think: http://www.ivanmihaljevic.com/slide.mp3

 

[Larry]

I think it sounds good.

 

[greenwizard]

Pretty close to the real deal!

 

[ivanmihaljevic]

I recorded the clip right after I figured a way to do this. I'll practice it more and it will sound better, but I think this might be a solution for this song.

 

[wolfbone07]

If you listen to some Michael Lee Firkins, he uses this technique a lot. Tremolo unit used to simulate slide guitar is a cool technique.

 

[ivanmihaljevic]

If you listen to some Michael Lee Firkins, he uses this technique a lot. Tremolo unit used to simulate slide guitar is a cool technique.

I know, he inspired me to try this.
I haven't actually played anything like this ever before, so this is a new technique for me.

It's funny actually, I've practiced all sort of techniques (alternate picking, legato, tapping, string skipping, sweep picking, whammy bar tricks...) for years and I've never tried something like this before (even after seeing Michael Lee Firkins doing this kind of stuff).

 

[robelinda2]

good job dude, i love playing side on my balls. I just use the truss rod to jack up the action for the one or two songs i do live, you can adjust it so easily on stage before the song!!!!

 

[Phrat]

Thats pretty darn close...if not band on!

Nice work

 

[karolwoo]

I like that sound, but I don't know anything about that technique Could You tell me how to do this?

 

[ivanmihaljevic]

Press the tremolo bar down before you hit the notes, then hit the notes and gradually return the bar to pitch and use the bar to create a slight tremolo.
Experiment with it!

 

[robelinda2]

Firkins is awesome. Years ago i bought his instructional video because it was on sale, turned out to be one of the most original and best ones ive seen!!!!

 

[karolwoo]

Thanks! That isn't as easy as it seems (like a lot of guitar techniques ). I found some short movies with this on youtube...

BTW isn't it awesome that You can learn something new about guitar every single day!!! YEAH!!!

 

[Axilla]

Thanks! That isn't as easy as it seems (like a lot of guitar techniques ). I found some short movies with this on youtube...

BTW isn't it awesome that You can learn something new about guitar every single day!!! YEAH!!!

Just like you say, bro !

Cool sound, Ivan !

 

[candid_x]

That's very clever, and it sounds good.