Hi, I've got a newbie quesion for you guys. I bought a slide to play around with a little bit, but have found that on my acoustic (which has pretty low action) I can't completely bar anything from open to about the 7th fret or so - the slide gets high centred in the middle and can't touch both the 1st and 6th string at the same time. So I had to go out and buy a concave brass slide, but I'd prefer a glass one.
So, for a guitar that's properly set-up for slide, what's different? Is it just the action is higher, or would you also make all 6 strings level (i.e. not follow the radius of the fretboard). Also what about string gauge - if you aren't as concerned with fretting as much do most people put on a really heavy gauge string?
Thanks
To the best of my knowledge, having the action a bit higher is the key -- at least for the occasional slide player like myself. You'll get used to positioning and moving the slide.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
I personally wouldn't recommend getting carried away with high action or heavy strings. If you're going to play bottleneck blues by yourself, you need to be able to fret a bit as well as slide, and don't want your intonation shot (which means no raised nut), but you have more leeway on the heavy string side because you're not going to be bending strings much if you have a slide. However, on an acoustic the top's strength is going to limit what you can do with the increased tension of heavy strings. A set of .013-.056" acoustic strings works well for most folks. Some will put a 15 or 16 on the 1st string to make sliding easier without crashing into the fretboard. After you play a while, you'll learn (or should) to stop the slide in the right place by muscle memory instead of relying on the string tension to catch it, and you can play on pretty much any strings. The arched strings are easy to fix with a concave slide, as you found, and that's really easy to do with wine bottle necks. Many are perfectly curved. Also, lots of experienced players seldom play full 6 string barres and prefer the partial contact of a straight slide on an arched string set. It's a matter of preference.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Sorry if my answer was misleading -- I tend to play slide rarely and on electric (where I choose the guitar with higher action). But I wouldn't raise the action.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
I've got several electrics that I've put 12s on (from stock 9s or 10s) without adjusting the truss rod or bridge, and that alone raised the action enough to make them easy to slide on.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I'm probably the odd man out here, in that I like light (D'Addario 9's) strings on all my guitars, even the Squier Tele which is set up for slide. I haven't raised the action on that, but what I did do is adjust the individual saddles so that all the strings are the same height at the bridge, rather than following the curve of the fretboard. I play mostly bottleneck blues on slide, but on some songs, for instance "Vigilante Man", there is some fretting involved, so I don't want a high action OR heavy strings.
: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.)
