How much pressure to put on the slide

You only put enough pressure on the slide to get a clean tone - you do NOT press it so far that you fret the string, the slide replaces the frets. This means that, to get an accurate note, you have to position the slide directly above the fret, like you would to get a 12th fret harmonic, for instance.
To stop unwanted noise, use your non sliding fingers to damp the strings, behind the slide.

You don't need much pressure on the slide at all - just enough to press the strings down slightly. If you press them all the way to the fret board, you're going to a) rattle the frets and b) miss out on all the subtleties between the frets.

Another important thing to remember is to damp the strings slightly behind the slide - ie between the slide and the nut - to avoid unwanted harmonics. This by itself has the effect of bringing the slide into clean contact with the strings.

To sum up, keep the strings as far away from the frets as possible - this is why many guitarists use heavier gauge strings for slide, and sometimes even raise the action.

:D :D :D

Vic

EDIT - LOL, posted exactly the same time as Greybeard!!!

oh oh. anoher player snared by the magic of slide.
welcomer man to another world.
and a good one at that!

eventually you will get the feel of your slide. it will become an extention of your fingers and mind.
you will discover that varying pressures deilver dfferent tone, feeling, and mood.

as the other wisely said, dont press so hard that you hit the fret borad and finger damp the strings (not always).

try out slides other than a glass bottle.
a metal slide will give you another sound.
explore.

I tried to do what the instructions said, to run it under hot water then cold and tap it, but that didn't work, so... When I tried to make one, I boiled the bottle for 5 minutes before dropping it in a bowl of cold water (whilst cowering as I was sure it would explode) and then covered it in a tea towel and hit it - nothing. Hit it again - nothing. Hit it slightly harder - 5 thousand very small pieces of still-hot bottle. Went and bought one instead :mrgreen:

SAS is just as addictive as GAS, but doesn't take up nearly as much space.

S A S is a wunnerful thing - just don't ever stop :mrgreen:

Well done with the bottleneck :wink:

Slide On!

Ian.

http://www.diamondbottlenecks.com

DO click on Ian's link above to http://diamondbottlenecks.com/ No finer glass slides are to be found anywhere.

Thanks Rico.... :wink:

Slide On!

Ian.

I wll echo Rico's sentiment about Diamond slides. In contrast to many companies, you'll also get excellent customer service.

I like the metal slides
I've broken too many of the glass ones
You'll end up with at least a dozen or more anyway
just so you can find one when you want one
I leave them all over the place so I can just reach over and grab one when I need it!

Be sure to keep your slide parallel with the fret and not at a sloppy angle
It takes practice, but it's addictive!

Thanks for all the help guys!!!

I would have prefered a metal slide, but as I said, I'm saving for an electric!!! ; )

Just a few other questions... what finger should I put my slide on?? Does it matter, or is it preference?
And when buying a slide, should it should fit snuggly on your finger right? It shouldn't really be loose?

Thanks for all your help with my sliding!!!

-Alex

alex. good to see you hanging in there.
you are playing a round neck (non squreneck lap style) guitar with a glass slide.

what finger the slide goes on is a bit subjective; players will have favs.

when I did bottle neck slide I tended to favor the ring finger.
somehow I wanted my pinky free to hit other strings and other frets while sliding.
another reason , my ring finger felt like it had more stregth.
not hat much is needed for bar pressure, but for the extra work that finger got.

I am looking for small metal slides for the fingers now myself.

Thanks for all the help guys!!!

I would have prefered a metal slide, but as I said, I'm saving for an electric!!! ; )

Just a few other questions... what finger should I put my slide on?? Does it matter, or is it preference?
And when buying a slide, should it should fit snuggly on your finger right? It shouldn't really be loose?

Thanks for all your help with my sliding!!!

-Alex

You should experiment with having it on each finger. I wound up using it mostly on the pinky (for years), and recently started putting it on the middle finger because I was interested in getting what I found out were called 'slants.' Then I got a lap steel and haven't played much slide guitar since. ;)

As far as the fit is concerned, again you can check out different sizes. My regular metal slide was one of those 'standard' Dunlop ones - for the pinky - and it would fit up to the second knuckle. But I've also gotten the larger ones where my finger can rattle around inside and it still doesn't make too much difference because when you're playing your finger sorta bends inside it and it gets snug all over again. I've also got an actual medicine bottle (not Coricidin <sp> though) - I think Bufferin had a bottle in the 70s or something. That one's weird because it fits all the way over the pinky but there's no hole on the other end so your finger becomes like a clapper in a bell, almost. Plus your finger sweats in there :)

Right now, I'm sticking with a steel bullet bar.

I slid mostly with my ring finger for years. Lately I've mostly used my little finger. I switch for certain tunes, as there are things you can easily do with one but not the other.