Brass? Glass? Copper? Porcelin? Plexiglass? I have three of them,bottleneck,brass,and plexiglass.Which one do you all use?
I only have three slides. for acostic guitar or electric my Dunlop glass slide. very generic, but suits me.
for my lap steels I use a heavier chrome bullet slide. 3/4dia. 8 0z.
the other slide is a big and heavy slide that came with a pedal steel guitar. I don't use that. it weighs a ton. great for pedal steel tho.
I started with a Stevens bar. the squre end with the side finger grooves.
I gave that away once I got the knack of holding a bullet bar.
no it is second nature.
I've only just starting on slide and I chose these to begin with (needed that RJ mojo :wink: )
I use a Jim Dunlop, 2" long, thick glass, big enough to fit my snausage fingers....
I used to change to a different one for acoustic....now I just use the one.
My very favorite bottleneck slide is a red Diamond Ultimate made for me. I have another very heavy dome end purple Ultimate I bought from another player. Other long time favorites are a Dunlop 224 brass slide and a Sears Craftsman deep socket. (The new kind with the size laser etched on one side, slick all over elsewhere.) I like my Bigheart Bronze Bomber, too. But I've gone from using very heavy strings and slides to lighter ones generally. I have a section of the muzzle of a 12 gauge Remington shotgun that sounds good. Has a slightly more textured surface that works well for some styles. I've got a zillion other slides of various styles and materials, and they all have something to recommend them.
On lap steel, I have a customized GS steel with one end rounded and one sharp, a Stevens bar, and for the 8-strings a Shubb-Pearse SP-1. I also have a Dunlop 921 bullet bar, but don't use it as much. I like the railroad track bars.
If you have an auto or truck shop nearby, ask them if they have any old piston wrist pins or gudgeon pins lying around. An old favorite for steel guitar tone bars, they also can be nice bottleneck slides, usually on the heavy side, and can be found in every imaginable size.
Then there are sections cut from motorcycle or bicycle handlebars, bicycle seat posts or frame tubing.
And don't forget the good old wine bottle neck.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Ricochet has more bars than anyone I know.
he could open a tavern, so to speak. 8)
A Dunlop brass slide, 222 is the only one I have at the moment. I used to have a couple of glass slides I used on acoustic guitars - but I'm not going to buy another one till i can afford one of those nice Diamond slides. Ric and Steinar have convinced me that's the way to go.....
: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.)
Bought a glass Dunlop slide at the local guitar shop for $6.99. A week later, knocked it off my desk with my elbow to catastrophic results. Ran around the house pissed off looking for something to use so I would have to go and spend yet more money at the guitar shop. In the garage, I found a metal pipe about 1" in diameter. I sawed off about 3" with a hacksaw and have been using that ever since. Works for me...
I USE AN INSULIN BOTTLE .JUST HOLD IT IN MY FINGERS
Different slides, like tone bars, have different tones and characteristics. I have a bell brass slide that is somewhat rough and is a killer blues slide. I have a bottleneck made for me by Houserocker Johnson that is the perfect size and length, and has a very smooth sound. A socket rounds out the collection for the massy, sustainy tone I love with a lot of dirt on the amp; my reference tone is Watermelon Slim's "Black Water".
I have a few slides - all different. I have a curved chromed Dunlop slide - not really very good, you can get all six strings on a Strat, but pay for the slightly rough surface. I have a real bottle neck (commercial), that is pretty good, but somewhat too big (I put the slide on my little finger). I have a bottle neck, that I made from an empty wine bottle - pretty nice and is about the right size. I have a shorty brass Dunlop, that I modified by slanting one end so that it fits better in the joint of my finger - not great for sustain but great for intermittent slide (Albatross, for example). My favourite is a lead crystal slide from Diamond Bottlenecks. There are very few companies with the service that you get from Diamond and Ian is a true bottleneck guru. The tone of lead crystal is very subtle, but it makes a definite difference - I've tried to record the difference between glass and lead crystal, but your ears are a far better tool than a recorded clip.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
3/4 copper pipe and a Boone's Farm Apple Valley bottle neck.
The main one is a wine bottle neck I cut myself, and it is perfect. There are Kobalt and Craftsman sockets for backup. I have two fake Coricidin bottles, two (real) vintage medicine bottles, a curved (?) brass Dunlop thing and a brass shorty Dunlop. Also a handmade bottleneck I didn't cut myself -- but I don't remember where I got it.
"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