How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

[GuitarStv]

Yeah, I know that you can just raise the hell out of the action and it'll work for slide . . . that's why guitars that suck are awesome for it. I've been playing some slide on my acoustic with a heavy brass slide and it sounds great - deep full, and slippery ringing goodness. The slide just moves nicely while resting on the strings. When I try to do the same on my electrics it's not working at all. The slide pushes the string down too much and bashes into the fret . . . and if I go lightly enough that it's not hitting the frets it won't sound the note properly and just buzzes.

Do people use lighter slides for electric than acoustic or something? Am I that heavy handed? I know I could set up a dedicated slide guitar with huge strings and high action and get it to work, but I'd really like to do it with medium-low action and normal strings (.11s) and just add the slide as an occasional thing for some colour. Am I asking too much there? Is there some sort of trick I don't know?

[dystrust]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

The trick is to raise the action just enough so that the slide doesn't cause fret buzz. I'd say I like my action medium to slightly high, so I can play slide on most of my guitars as long as I use a light touch. I also use a heavy brass slide most of the time, so I don't know if material plays much of a role in setup.

[Mincer]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

May people just have a different guitar for slide...especially if you are used to thinner strings with low action.

[NecroPolo]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

I am sure that it is far from textbook correct but it works for me fine. I use my regular light string, low action guitars and a very light touch considering the slide. It is Hoolahan type where most of the material is sawn off, making it much lighter than a typical metal or glass tube. Less mass, easier to control I guess.

[Securb]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

Depends on your approach if you are using gain the fret buzz is not as prominent and can actually give a gritty effect (think Page). I find low action is less of an issue on the thicker strings versus high up on the neck. I don't play enough slide to set up a dedicated guitar for it so I just adapt to what I have when I take the slide out.

[GuitarStv]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

Thanks for all the suggestions!

After a lot of futzing around last night and this morning, I think I've figured out something that'll work. First, the heavy brass slide that works great for an acoustic with medium strings is a total no go on electric. Even on 11s it's just too much weight and pushes the strings low - this happens from the resting weight even without any pressure. I cut a piece of copper pipe in that was lying around in our garage and gave it a go - this is about a quarter as heavy and works much better for electric. Sounds much worse on the acoustic though.

All my guitars have medium low action, but the one that was giving me the most trouble seems to have something funky going on with the nut. It's like the strings aren't radiused properly, the D and B strings seem to be a little lower than the others . . . Which means the pressure from the surrounding strings makes you push harder to cleanly sound a note on the low ones. Which then bashes the slide into the frets. Oddly enough, this doesn't seem to make any noticible difference when playing regularly. Guess I'll look into replacing the nut.

[jeremy]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

i play slide a lot and dont switch guitars. everything has 11's but ive used 10s and that can work. warren haynes put it "a little too high for leads, a little to low for slide" when talking about his action. derek trucks action isnt high at all surprisingly. i use a heavy brass slide for acoustic and a glass bottle for electric. i can get by with the heavy brass on electric but its much harder to wield. like most things, the more you do it, the easier and more natural it is

[NegativeEase]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

If my pinky finger I broke in May at the knuckle doesn't come back (it's really stiff and slow still) -It'll be my slide finger

I play 11s and they slide and play well on tall vintage and jumbo set ups.

[ehdwuld]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

Schubb finger slide

[NegativeEase]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

Schubb finger slide

Cool man!

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

I play slide on one song in our set. I’m playing a Parker P-38, with a 9-46 set and very low action. I already have another guitar tuned down to open C, so I didn’t want to use yet another guitar just for slide. Plus I alternate between slide and fretting parts in the song.

The way I got around the slide pressing the strings into the frets was to use a very heavy brass slide. This way I don’t have to press the slide against the strings, which was a problem with the glass slide I was using.

So I just have to hold the slide against the strings and prevent it from crashing into the frets. It’s a lot easier than it sounds.


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[jeremy]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

its really all about technique and finding what works for you. i use glass for electric because thats what duane did and by the time i discovered lowell george, i was already stuck on glass but ive played slide with a big lighter on someone elses shredstick and made it work

[Securb]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

I have a couple of really nice glass slides I keep in the house but I practice and gig with brass. I have broken so many glass slides I just gave up after the last one rolled off my head and shattered on the floor. I prefer glass but, o' well.

[Dave Locher]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

That's funny, I was going to recommend you try a piece of copper pipe! Works for me too.

[Francois]

Re: How do you set up a guitar for slide, but still have it fun to play?

Learn the proper right hand muting (with fingers) and left hand damping (behind the slide) from David Hamburger. He has videos on Youtube and books. I learned from him.

For the action it depends if you want to mix fretted notes and slide or play slide only.

You can get easily a lap steel-like super high action with just a extended nut (quite cheap by the way) which requires no permanent modification to your guitar set up.