Favorite slides

[tfarny]

So, I've gone through about 5 or so different slides looking for the perfect one - my sense is that everyone who plays slide does this, and that it's very personal. Hated plexiglass, the 'real bottle' was very uncomfortable etc.
So I got a Jim Dunlop "Preachin pipe" in medium, and I think me slide searching days are done. I can't believe how much of a difference the little details make in getting a good playing slide. This one is small, all brass, flared and radiused, with nicely machined edges. Just so comfortable. Need to get a couple of spares in case they ever stop making these.

Anyone else been through some slides and want to share their faves?

 

[NLD09]

I jammed with a band a while back. And it was quite the jam band, no real song structure. We'd just pick up an old 9-volt off the floor and do a slide bit with it.

 

[jackthehack]

I can't really play slide, but if you going to, you should use a 40's/50's vintage amber glass pill bottle that originally contained Codiene.

 

[tfarny]

Yeah you guys, I know it's cooler to use a ham bone with the grease still on it, but if you really try to mute properly, be in tune, fret behind the slide, etc., it's nice to have one that feels good on the finger and doesn't get in your way.

 

[whyachi]

Saw a guy using a Phillips screwdriver one night on stage. The band sucked, but he was fun to watch.

 

[hannaugh]

I have several glass slides and 2 metal slides, all of which don't see much playing time at this point because I've discovered that while my acoustic isn't too bad, my LP is incredibly difficult to play slide on.  I'm guessing the tall frets and the compound radius are to blame for that.  And can you guess which guitar I play the most right now?

I would say though, my favorite is a short wide slide I got on ebay.  It is Coricidin I believe (whatever that means... probably a fancy word meaning "glass").  I also have a glass slide someone gave me because it was too small for him.  I don't like the metal slides because they are really heavy.  The glass weigh almost nothing. 

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Eric Sardinas has a few signature slides of different materials like brass and glass.  I've never used one enough to have a preference as far cylindrical vs. conical, but glass is definitely the way to go.

 

[dbw]

My first slide was a short piece of copper pipe I cut for the purpose.  Then I got a glass one from a friend, which was a huge step up.  Then I kinda stopped playing slide...

 

[stubhead]

I was deeply fanatic about this in the 70's & 80's, I had corician bottles, home-made wine bottles (Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry, ahhhh...), I bought a 3 foot piece of brass pipe and cut off all the different lengths, re-ground cow bones*, steel... I had a little fitted case with my 12 favorites, one of the many things I lost in a robbery living in Miami. After I bought a pedal steel my slide time has diminished greatly - it's like riding around on a Big Wheel when there's a Ferrari in the garage - but these are my current USING faves:

Dunlop glass slides, short, long, long/big: #218, 215, 213
http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=84&pmh=products/slides

Stainless steel slide from "Stew" on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/STEWS-STAINLESS-STEEL-GUITAR-SLIDE-THICK-WALL-2-1-8S_W0QQitemZ130341179581QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item1e58f090bd

This is the size I have, but I've talked to him and he's a machinist who can do up just about anything you can think of. You can also buy 3 feet of the brass or steel pipe yourself for about the cost of three slides, and go crazy if you have the machining facilities.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370265794841&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390089504777&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I also have a couple of brass machine bearings exactly the size of the Dunlop #218 glass slide, that I've rounded & polished and lined. I guess maybe I'm still a little fanatic? :toothy12: I always have at least one beater guitar with a new raised nut for dedicated slide playing, even though I'm not playing the bar-band repertoire these days. If I were planning on getting monstrous again, I'd buy a blown-crystal slide from Ian at Diamond Bottlenecks, I have one of their leaded crystal steel guitar bars and it's terrifyingly vibey. The good terrifying, not the bad terrifying.

http://www.diamondbottlenecks.com/DB08/index.asp?n=13

*(What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground beef....) :help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf2k7WpkIxQ

(1:45->  whew.)

 

[MUYFUE]

...I use a lighter.  :headbang:

 

[mayfly]

I've been through a pile of slides.  Here's what I use now:

http://www.v-picks.com/accessories/44

It's got a lot of meat but still cuts.  Comfy on the hand, and most importantly STICKS TO YOUR FINGER AND DOES NOT MOVE.

Does the trick for me!

 

[AprioriMark]

This is actually a long standing irritation for me.  I have some thick fingers, and no manufactured slides fit comfortably... most not at all.  My wedding ring is a size 12.5, I think.  My finger bones are just that thick.

Anyone have any good ideas?  Halp!

-Mark

 

[hannaugh]

Go to the hardware store and find a piece of metal tubing that fits your finger, have them cut it, then file the ends until they are rounded enough not to bite you.

 

[stubhead]

Deep-well sockets are pretty popular too, and come in all sorts of sizes. I could always get along with a 3/4" or 11/16" one, but they get real, real big. Some of them have a lot of gnarly knurling and lettering in inappropriate places, but I remember that the Sears ones are good and smooth that way. They are hard-chromed tool steel, so if you get really "inspired" you'll probably munch on your frets some. Lowell George used to use the Sears sockets, but for open-tuned, dedicated slide guitar playing only. The best guys like Landreth and Derek Trucks tend to have a dedicated slide guitar setup, though they can use their fingers somewhat. Duane Allman played an open-tuned SG for his big slide songs, and only rarely stuck his slide on to solo in open tuning on his main guitar (Mountain Jam - stupendous solo, 33 minutes in!). Jeff Beck & Warren Haynes are among the few great ones who play slide in standard tuning, without changing guitars - I've never been able to get that to work properly, it's not the tuning as much as the light string gauge and low action. Jeff Beck, Haynes & Landreth use Dunlop heavy glass, Trucks uses the Dunlop "Coricidan" bottle. For touring guys using glass, it's pretty important not to get all emotionally attached to a particular, irreplaceable bottleneck.

If you really want a big one, you could e-mail that "Stew" guy, because I know that the steel pipe he uses comes in 1.25" and larger sizes - I've been tempted to buy a section and start selling slides myself, but I really don't want to spend time chasing down money on Ebay, I need my playing time more than I need money. If you want a big glass one, the biggest Dunlop #213 says it fits ring size 14 - they're huge, I have a big pad inside mine. 

 

[blue313]

II would say though, my favorite is a short wide slide I got on ebay.  It is Coricidin I believe (whatever that means... probably a fancy word meaning "glass").  I also have a glass slide someone gave me because it was too small for him.  I don't like the metal slides because they are really heavy.  The glass weigh almost nothing. 

Coricidin is an old cold medicine (they actually still sell it).  It used to come in small glass bottles that were very common to find in anyone's house, back in the day.  It was a very popular slide for that reason.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I've met this guy, and my guitar player is worshipper of him.  He has a Dr. Z amp endorsement and a Lentz signature model guitar.  You can find videos of him on YouTube playing with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Gary Moore, and Clapton.  He is very modest about his slide playing and cites Derek Trucks as a modern day slide master.  This video has him playing with a Coricidin bottle.  Also, if you trust YouTube clips, it's a decent sound of a Tele bridge and P-90 neck, don't know which one he's on though.

[youtube=425,350]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vvG5Hq2x_h8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vvG5Hq2x_h8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]

 

[Return of Guitlouie]

I used the most plain jane Dunlop chrome slide for a long time.  It took me a long time to get good enough with the slide to know what I didn't like about that one.  When I finally began looking for a new one, I found this guy from South Carolina who makes slides out of old bottles and calls his company Mr B. slides. He does ones that he leaves the top on, and ones that are double cut.  Some are concaved, some convex.  Some are very straight, and some have a taper.  They are all fairly unique, so I first picked the size that was about right for me, and then grabbed every one that the local store had and sat around for about an hour messing with them.  The one I finally picked out is fairly large, but not too heavy, green glass that is polished excedingly smooth.  It is double cut, so there is no bottle lip on it, but it has a rather steep taper.  I actually think that I wear it upside-down from how it was intended to be used, so that the thinner part is nearer the top strings, and the thicker part nearer the bottom strings, but it works.  Glass gives me the sound that I prefer, which is warmer and mellower than my old chrome one, and there is just something about the feel of it that seems better to me.  It's almost like it drags alittle more than metal slides, so I don't go too fast on those nice long drawn out slides.  Anyway, Mr. B slides.  My recommendation.

 

[bbl4ck]

I have personally only tried one; a Dunlap Moonshine Slides #246.
It is a ceramic slide and I did not care for it at all.  Just too big and clunky!
I love slide guitar music, but have never ventured into it much.

I came across this Shubb Axys slide that rotates on your finger and allows you to have use of all fingers when in the reverse position.
Seems like a good concept...  Has anybody here tried one?  And if so, what do you think?
Inquiring minds want to know.
:rock-on:

 

[whitebison66]

I go in and out of slide phases, and I have an embarrassingly large assortment of the darn things, but the one I like best is the flared type:

http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=87&pmh=products/slides

 

[Volitions Advocate]

I use the Chrome Planetwaves one that comes in the little plastic container.  I think its a medium size.  no taper or convex/concave shape.  Just cylindrical.  I really like it.