Anyone tried "Rock Slide" slides?

I don't think they'd be any better than any other, perhaps a bit more ergonomic. I just use a big thick honkin chunk of brass pipe

obviously they spent a lot of time engineering their products. they look nice.

I play lap style so I dont have much experience with finger slides.

Yeah, those slides look nice. I'm one of those people they mention: "Anyone can grab a hacksaw, cut a piece of pipe, chrome it if they are willing and call it a slide." Right now the slides I've got with me are a green wine bottle neck I cut off myself, and a bronze bushing from Tractor Supply Company that I smoothed by polishing it with 0000 steel wool. They suit me just fine. On my heavy-stringed resonator, my favorite slides are a big old Craftsman socket wrench (that I'd put up against any of those fancy Rockslides) and a Dunlop #224 brass slide.

The nicest thing about the Craftsman sockets is that they come in all sizes, SAE or metric, 6 points or 12, to fit any finger. Just go down to Sears' hardware department and try 'em on. They've got a lifetime guarantee, too, BTW.

Different materials produce different tones. Metal is the "hardest", ordinary glass is relatively mellow and lead crystal comes between them. I have a lead crystal slide from Diamond slides - although no great shakes at slide, I think this produces a wonderful tone. I have a truly cheapo guitar, that has a lifting neck (it'll fall off in about 30 years) that sounds really goooood with that slide.

Aside from differences in slide mass and any tonal differences between materials, there's a lot of difference in surface texture between different slides, and how "scratchy" they sound. Sometimes you want a really slick slide, sometimes not.

Anybody who slides much is going to collect a bunch of slides, and favorites will vary from day to day.

I like the way they're cut away, that'd probably reduce chafing on the underside of your finger, especially if you play a lot of slide....

:D :D :D

Vic

I've never noticed finger chafing. The brass Dunlop turns my finger green after playing a long while.

Thanks for the replies. You "DIY" guys crack me up. I tried a piece of copper tube and it sounded terrible. Somewhere between fingernails on a blackboard and alley cats in heat.
Anybody who slides much is going to collect a bunch of slides, and favorites will vary from day to day.

Excellent point.

I think I'll head to the Sears hardware dept. first. Could always use another long socket if I don't like it for slilde.

Cheers,

I was going to try the Dunlop Hoolahan Slide:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=accessories/search/detail/base_pid/363022/
But now I might also take a trip to my local Sears & check out their slides..., er, sockets! :wink:
Good idea Ricochet. 8)

The key word there is "also." It's as hard to have too many slides as it is to have too many guitars. But slides are a much cheaper variation of GAS. :lol:

I agree with you about the copper pipe, Mitch. I've never been able to get a sound I like out of that stuff. Too light and too scratchy.

We have a couple of Rockslide's in our glass-shop collection - they're very nicely made, but I.M.O. a Craftsman socket does exactly the same job. I alternate between a glass bottleneck & Craftsman socket for my own playing to achieve different tones ( Rico's correct when he say's you can't have enough slides :wink: ), and we've found that when adding a 'comfort cut' (..or 'notch-cut') to a slide, you then limit yourself to one small section of playing surface. We receive regular calls from players who have bought custom glass slides from us with the 'notch-cut' option inquiring if we can polish out surface scratches on that particular section of playing surface due to continuous useage - with a slide that has no 'cut' in it....you can just spin it around to another 'face' for continued use!

Happy Slidin'

Big D.

http://www.diamondbottlenecks.com :D

Mitch, be sure to click on that link at the bottom of Big D's post and take a look around there. It'll give you GAS.

One night at a friends house - guitar being passed around, eventually came to me - didn't have a slide, so I used a whisky glass...managed to do a passable "Little red rooster" with it....

:D :D :D

Vc

I've been having lots of fun playing "Little Red Rooster" lately. :D