Slide guitar - bottlenecks

[Spudmurphy]

I remember when I first joined the forum there was a great thread on bottlenecks so because it's been a couple of years I though that I'd start a new thread on this.

I'm a big fan of Sonny Landreth, Lowell George and Bonny Rait and have dabbled in the black art of slide playing over the years.

I prefer using a glass slide and make my own now from old bottles.
My hobby of stained glass comes in handy here, as I have all the necessary cutters and grinders. It's quite funny when I shop for wine as I look for the length of the bottle neck to see if I can use it for a slide. (I understand that the neck can also be cut using a powered tile cutter and some wet and dry paper instead of my wet wheel grinder! )
I also use metal slides but prefer glass. The ceramic slides are nice too!

Lowell George and Bonny Rait used a Sears Roebuck spark plug socket but this is very heavy. When you start using vibrato the weight of the slide acts as a "flywheel" and the vibrato becomes more intense. It is kinda nice to use

I also wear the slide on my little finger so that I can perform all the "Landreth tricks" behind the slide.

My Al's are set up too low for slide and I use a £25 junk shop Strat with a high action. I also turn the tone control right the way down and add compression from my Pod XT - you get a nice sound.

So if any of you guys want to pitch in with any slide tips or tricks then chime in?

- I would love to master the art of slide playing in normal tuning but that skill still evades me!!
Spud

 

[alba22]

Ok, find an old aluminum toilet paper holder, remove the spring between the two pieces, and there you go. Their so light that you don't have to raise the action of your guitar. They work great!

 

[Spudmurphy]

^ Mmmmm interesting.

I wonder if a metal aluminium cigar tube would work ??

 

[robelinda2]

i use standard tuning for slide, and use a glass one, i play slide a lot. i use the slide on my middle finger. When i want to play slide i just jack the action up using the truss rod wheel and away i go.

 

[zenmba]

Spud, when I was a youngster I used an aluminum lipstick cover - my mother never figured out what happened to it I tried a socket, but it was too heavy (I'm not a girly-man and I guess Bonnie Raitt isn't either to use one).

Now I use a glass slide. I prefer it on my middle finger so I can fret chords. I also seem to have more vibrato control.

I once kept one guitar setup with high action, but now just play with a lighter touch on my guitar of the month (usually tuned in standard or open G).

Cool that you make your own!!

 

[Multiversal]

Glass slides on electric guitars, and metal slides for acoustic! Better sounds for each in my opinion.

 

[JMB27]

Slide playin' ?

Standard tuning most of the time, sometimes in open E.
Metal or glass slide? Brass with a mid to heavy weight, worn on the ring finger ... have also been known to grab a lighter (carefully, so not flamin' the geetar)
Little bit of compression sometimes and light to medium overdrive.

When in doubt, just crank it up and let 'er rip