What kind of slide should i buy
More than just your average brass slide, this one is aged by hand to have the appearance of age. And since hand processing is used, each slide will look different from the other, some having more black, or rust colors, making each one a truly unique and personal musical tool. Interestingly, only the look is aged, because the finish remains as smooth as non-aged brass slides. Although a bit pricey, this is a stylish and useful slide that's worth the investment.
Steve Clayton and his team created the Brass Socket Slide in honor of the tool sockets that were actually used by musicians of the past.
It retains the same 12 star interior for good grip and snug fit while doing away with the weight issues of tool sockets, having equalized weight on both ends. It also features a cut-out relief which makes moving your finger with the slide more comfortable.
Finally the smooth finish and craftsmanship make it comfortable to both your eyes and your hands. Ceramic slides have characteristics that sit somewhere between glass and metal. The feel of these slides can vary depending on the ceramic mixture, so they can play as smooth as glass or rough like metal. The resulting tone is a healthy mixture of warmth and highs, while the medium sustain that you get is not as short as glass, but not as long as metal. One thing to keep in mind with ceramic guitar slides is that they are fragile, at times - more fragile than modern glass slides, so make sure you keep them safe.
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry may not be considered as a virtuoso by some, but he sure knows how to apply soulful slide sounds to their chart topping hit songs. This signature "Boneyard" porcelain slide reflects his guitar style, versatile enough to work on both acoustic and electric, and polished enough to make sliding through your strings easy and convenient.
While the price point is a bit higher compared to other slides, the premium feel and sound that you get from this slide makes the pricing justifiable. If you're looking for an all-around slide, then check this one out. Since most guitar slides are affordable, don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone and try ones from a different maker or with a different material. This way you get to experience for yourself the feel and tone difference that might inspire you to create new music.
At the end of the day, the guitar slide is just a tool, it's your creativity that makes it fun and fulfilling, so why not have one more? The booze blues glass bottleneck slide gives you that tapered shape in a glass slide.. I'm not affiliated.. I would even come close to making the claim that "this size should fit you", without measuring the finger and the interior dimensions of the slide.
People wear the slides on all four fingers depending on their preferences, and many slide makers are just awful about giving these specs. They should include the ID of the slides in Imperial and Metric as well as the thickness and lengths. Unless you've measured the digit that you want to use the slide and you know the exact dimensions of what you're purchasing, don't buy it online, try it on in a store, unless the online store offers easy returns.
Finding a good fit can be maddening because many most? Now you know. A big amen on that Bob. It's been a gripe of mine ever since I started playing slide. It's generally a huge waste of time for me. This means finding a slide that fits snugly enough that it comes to a stop right above your second knuckle, yet is long enough to cover all six strings when you lay the slide across the fretboard see photo at right.
Anything longer will just make it that much harder to sense where your finger is inside the slide, which in turn will affect your sense of where to place the slide to cover a particular string or fret. So whether to pick a Stan Laurel- or Oliver Hardy-weight slide is ultimately also a matter of personal taste and comfort.
Golem or Terminator? The next choice is material. Will it be glaze-finished clay or gleaming chrome or steel? Dark brass or reflective ceramic or glass? Each type of material and its density will inform your tone and approach. Metal slides are the most popular, with steel, chrome, and brass leading the pack. If you find metal appealing, but desire something that sounds less bright, brass and bronze fit the bill.
Brass and bronze slides also tend to be a bit heavier than steel and chrome. Explore all the options. The late bluesman Iverson Minter, better known as Louisiana Red, was a fiend for both distortion pedals and metal slides, and tried every kind of metal tube he could lay his hands on, from thick-walled to skinny, and from aluminum to nickel to zinc. On a trip to Germany, he was invited to tour a metal distribution center, and Red asked his host to cut off a few inches of every tube in the joint that fit his pinky.
Fans of metal slides often carry their slides in their pockets along with coins and keys, so the metal will get scars that add character when applied to guitar strings. Some players even leave their slides outdoors in all types of weather to achieve a worn patina they believe will increase friction and make for a grittier tone in their slide attack.
A shorter slide can even be used for fretting an additional note in a chord. Glazed clay, ceramic, or glass slides are also terrific options. All three provide a smooth surface that glides comfortably over strings with little resistance.
Although some specialty versions of these slides offer a sandpaper-like surface on at least one section of their curvature for a grittier sound. Since they are less dense than metal, they all sound warmer than metallic slides. Elmore James played a glass slide—often an old bottleneck, sawn or cleaved with heated wire from a wine bottle. In recent years, ceramic and glazed clay slides have come increasingly into vogue.
Like glass, they produce warm sounds, and the thicker their walls, the darker their tones—at least to my ears. And to my hands, they also feel supple and easy sliding against the strings.
While ceramic, glass, and clay all yield kinder, gentler tones than metal, they can also break when dropped. Not a problem with steel, chrome, brass, or bronze. And glass slides with thin walls can shatter during boisterous playing. Some say the action on a roundneck guitar should be raised for slide, but that makes it harder to switch between slide and conventional fingering.
Plus, with a little amp overdrive, most neck noise gets lost in the dirt. Glen or Glenda? And then, we have the outliers. Wine bottles frequently have seams that can run afoul of smooth slide tones—purposefully or not—and their curves and bulbous upper lips make them hard for unskilled sliders to bring to bear on the strings with accuracy.
Ditto for knives. Sometimes I find these comfortable, sometimes not. It depends on the slide and the shape of your hand. The best way to zero in on which slide might be ideal for you is to locate a store with a generous slide display, bring in your favorite axe, and work your way through as many slides as possible until you find the ones that allow you to play comfortably.
Starting out, you may find the ring finger to be comfortable, but at some point it, you should switch to the pinky finger. This allows you to have your first three fingers to be open for playing chords. Whatever finger you use, you want the slide to fit over the first two joints of your finger but not be too tight. The length of the slide should be able to go across the whole fretboard without being too much longer than the fretboard.
It may be difficult to find a perfectly sized slide, so just get as close as you can. The second consideration is the weight of the slide. Heavier slides tend to be louder, have more sustain, produce less string buzz, and have warmer tones. However, heavier slides may be harder to move around and use properly. Now that you know the different types of guitar slides and how to choose the right one for you, here are the best guitar slides for acoustic guitar that we could find.