I'm relatively new to slide guitar. I use a glass slide on an electric guitar with an 11 gauge string set. The glass slide is just getting a little scratched and sticks a tiny bit. It is not as silky smooth as it was. What are people's thoughts on when to replace a glass slide or how to polish it smooth again...or whether scratches on the surface just create different opportunities for making new tones. All advice welcome. Thanks. http://www.youtube.com/carsickphil
Are these scratches from your strings? You don't pack your slide in a pocket with keys & change, I hope :wink:
Real bottle glass polishes beautifully with wet-or-dry sandpaper. Work slow, use it wet and work down to very fine grit -- my set goes 320 grit to 400, to 600, then finishes with 1,500. Have never tried this on a Pyrex store-bought slide. Real bottle glass has always seemed harder to me than Pyrex & probably less prone to scratching.
You might like the rougher sound of a scratched-up slide, although if you're noticing the scratches when you play, I'm guessing you prefer it smooth. Real bottle glass has an inherently imperfect surface that (to me) adds "character" without adding harshness or detracting from smooth response. Brass slides add more character still but add noise & seem to cut sustain. The Craftsman socket wrench is perfectly smooth, heavy, sustains for days, but maybe it's a little bit sterile sounding.
And... welcome to the forum!
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
Thanks Crow. Great advice. Thanks for taking time to reply.
I've been using a perspex slide for a year or so now, it's had quite a lot of playing time, and still looks flawless...not quite as much sustain as glass, but it's so light and controllable I've loved it! The major upside? Perspex slides are about 1/3 the price of glass slides....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
The major upside? Perspex slides are about 1/3 the price of glass slides....
And don't smash when you drop them, I guess. Been there, done that.
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
The major upside? Perspex slides are about 1/3 the price of glass slides....
And don't smash when you drop them, I guess. Been there, done that.
Yeah. The first bottleneck I cut by hand went "overboard" on a weekend trip to the coast. It made a fabulous sound when it hit the sidewalk. I bought another jug of Chilean Merlot for $8 US, enjoyed the contents, then put in around four hours with a triangular file and sandpaper, which would make the resulting slide unaffordable if I paid myself for time & labor, but I don't. 8)
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
Had to laugh at that, Crow!
Tomorrow I'm going to have a go at cutting some more copper slides - got to get the power saw out anyway, got the top half of a bush to trim & recycle. So while it's out, might as well use it!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
