Slides

[swarfrat]

Okay slide players. What kind of thingy do you use for a slide and what would you recommend for someone with very small hands. Very small. My son is 5 - this is for my mini-tele project for him. He doesn't really play yet, and has some fine motor delay (pencil grasp/scissors stuff but I think it's mostly he hates preschool type crafts. Tell him you want to build a fort and need a plan, and he'll try)  But he still loves to play with dad in the music room. I'm building matching Tele's for him and me, but his will be set up for slide, and tuned open.)

Bottles? Metal? Tone bar? Spark plug socket? As I said - he's 5, and this is dedicated slide, might as well be a lap steel, so he doesn't need to switch back to fretting. I personally don't care for low mass glass slides, and prefer something not so breakable. But I'm thinking he might like the "coolness" of some special piece of purpose built hardware. The jet slide looks cool but it's probably not going to fit his fingers.  Are the tone bars going to be ridiculously heavy for little hands?

 

[Seamas]

I have a bit of a collection of slides, I have a couple Coricidin bottles (Like Duane Allman used), some stainlness steel slides, a couple bottle necks, brass slide, a store bought glass slide, socket wrench, and several ceramic slides.

Overall, my favorite material is the ceramic. It has much of the same qualities as glass, but is more durable. I've dropped them on several occasions and have yet to even see a chip in it. They are also reasonably light weight.
They come in all shapes and sizes.

I like the novelty of the Coricidin bottle, but after a while, because of the closed end, they tend to get a little humid inside.

Stainless steel is a decent option, certainly durable, come in many sizes, but for some reason I don't care for their sound. You can go to the local hardware store and by a socket in whatever size fits your son's finger, though they tend to be a little heavy.

I don't much care for brass. I think they sound a little dull--but that might be because of tarnish. I should try polishing one and seeing if there is a difference.  Mine is a little heavy and a little too large for my finger.


This is all personal preference, and it is cheap enough gear where getting a couple won't kill you.

I prefer using the slide on my pinky finger.
It felt unnatural at first, the ring finger seemed easier, but I like having the ability to voice chords with my other fingers. A good amount of practice and the right size slide will make that unnatural feeling go away.

The size/length of the slide is another issue. Very rarely do you really need to play all the strings, so one wider than the fretboard is way too long imho. enough to cover 4-5 strings is usually plenty.


LOL

Just re-reading your post --in regard to a tone bar. I have never even tried one even though I have dreams about one day owning a pedal steel.

 

[bagman67]

My vote is for the ceramic slide, as well, but I also have a lot of luck with a green wine-bottle cutoff slide.  For your youngster's small fingers, though, I'd think the inside diameter of a wine bottle neck would be too large.  If he breaks it, glass is more likely to have a very sharp and dangerous edge than ceramic, as well.


Rocky Mountain makes a ceramic slide with a 14mm inside diameter here, available in three lengths:


https://rockymountainslides.com/product/cochetopa-finger-slide/


I'm with Seamas on the Coricidin bottle - the novelty is fun, but it gets sweaty in there.  The weighty end of the bottle gives you a little more mass, which is nice, too, but my wine bottle neck is pretty hefty and lets my finger breathe.  I also have a Dunlop 215 heavy-walled glass slide that I like plenty fine.


I hate my steel slide.  I don't know why I still have it.  It's not that heavy, so it sucks on acoustic, and it sounds like cats f*cking on electric, and that's not a tonal option I strive to include in my music.  Lou Reed already made Metal Machine Music and I have no need to replicate that opus.


I have a very heavy brass slide I use on acoustic, might be a Dunlop 224,I don't really recall but it looks about right.  The mass of it really cuts down on unwanted clatter and overtones while allowing the note to really sing.

 

[Rick]

Five year's old ... and playing slide!  Damn!  The sign should "Swarfrat's son Rocks"  :yourock:

 

[bagman67]

There's also this guy, which your youngster can strap on his finger so it won't fall off:


https://www.jimdunlop.com/product/229-7-10137-01034-5.do

 

[Steve_Karl]

I've got 3 glass, 1 small steel chrome plated and 1 Dunlop Pyrex thick wall.
The pyrex is the best sounding to me.

Ceramic are said to be "screechy" noisy because of the glaze. I haven't tried them. Was going to buy one after reading this thread but the price and some of the reviews about noise put my CC back in my wallet.

 

[swarfrat]

Lol, he's not playing YET! But I figured he would stand a better chance at having fun playing slide in open G than trying to fret for now. Not saying you guys would WANT to listen to a 5yo playing slide either. The reason I dont have a more informed opinion on the matter is I myself usually give up after a while. But I've always tried to do it in standard tuning

 

[Seamas]

But I've always tried to do it in standard tuning

While I prefer playing in open tunings, I am often playing in standard (because the guy calling the tune didn't give warning!).
Probably extra crucial to get those unwanted strings dampened when playing standard--which is easier to do when playing fingerstyle (at least for me).
It does have both a minor and major triad baked right into the tuning so it isn't without advantages.

 

[swarfrat]

Yeah, that was always one of my thoughts about open tunings. You're pretty much stuck to I,IV,V and bVII.  Perhaps that would be a good thought exercise - figure out a tuning optimized for slide.

 

[Cagey]

The reason I dont have a more informed opinion on the matter is I myself usually give up after a while. But I've always tried to do it in standard tuning

That's always been me, too.

It's funny - any time discussions of slides come up, I'm always surprised at how many slides slide players have. They collect them like most of us collect picks, and for pretty much the same reasons - comfort and sound.

 

[Tonar8352]

Joey Landreth signature The Rock Slide  Great for small fingers and great tone. https://www.therockslide.com/portfolio-item/joey-landreth-the-bros-landreth/ If you are not familiar with The Brothers Landreth check them out, (lots of YouTube video)  no relationship to Sonny Landreth.  He is a killer slide player and singer. 

 

[swarfrat]

They collect them like most of us collect picks, and for pretty much the same reasons - comfort and sound.

I wonder if losing them is a reason? I might better put up the acoustics - he's still hiding my picks in guitars.

 

[Cagey]

Could be. I remember the only song I ever learned to play a slide lead part in was "Tie Your Mother Down", and needing to quickly get to a chord immediately following it, I'd just drop the slide rather than try to put it someplace reasonable. I don't remember losing one that way, but I also don't have a slide any more, so...

 

[swarfrat]

I kinda figured anything sold as a slide would be too big. But all the complaints about the Ernie Ball Pinky slide look like it might be just perfect. Price is right too.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/ernie-ball-pinky-slider/585812000000000?pfm=item_page.rr1

 

[Cagey]

Well, at $6, it's a pretty low-risk experiment. Worst case, someday it becomes a spacer for something. Or, it ends up on the floor and you step on it in bare feet and invent some new cuss words  :laughing7:

 

[DangerousR6]

The reason I dont have a more informed opinion on the matter is I myself usually give up after a while. But I've always tried to do it in standard tuning

That's always been me, too.

It's funny - any time discussions of slides come up, I'm always surprised at how many slides slide players have. They collect them like most of us collect picks, and for pretty much the same reasons - comfort and sound.

LOL, no doubt. I'm not an accomplished slide player, but I do have a collection of slides...Some bought, some I machined from various materials... :icon_biggrin:

I'd have to say Titanium and polished nickel are my preferred...

 

[Seamas]

I recall making a concerted effort to learn slide something like 25 years ago.
Prior to that I had had one, and played some parts of some songs that had a slide part, but it always seemed like playing a different instrument--totally foreign territory.

My strategy was for about a month to ONLY play slide whenever I picked up the guitar.
My roommate and his girlfriend hated it. I probably sounded like the "beginner violinist"--and playing too sharp and too flat. It took a while to learn to trust my ears instead of my eyes.
It also took a little while to learn some of the ins and outs of the different popular open tunings--which are actually more similar than they are different.
Since then it is always a part of my playing. I mostly play accompaniment to a songwriter and incorporate slide in a lot of his stuff. It is interesting to see people's reactions when I use it in open jams --they seem surprised to hear it.

One big influence was when I worked on a project in New Orleans and saw the street bands--I loved how the trombonists would take a big, long, slow slide up to their notes and would employ a really wide--or varied vibrato.
It sort of reminded my of the guitarists who listen to saxophonists in order to find new ideas for phrasing.

Ceramic are said to be "screechy" noisy because of the glaze.

I haven't had that experience . I'd say the sound is smooth like glass, but perhaps more mellow. I think of it is a more round tone. I like the feel/utility of the porous unglazed interior.
I think a lot of the perceptions are influence by other factors in a lot of this.
(I mean I could swear the COLOR of a guitar effects its sound, lol!)

 

[bagman67]

It's funny - any time discussions of slides come up, I'm always surprised at how many slides slide players have. They collect them like most of us collect picks, and for pretty much the same reasons - comfort and sound.

I have swarms of picks all over my bedroom and the rest of the house, for that matter.  But I only have a few slides.  It's been quite some time since I tried out a slide in a store that actually felt sufficiently superior to what I already have on hand for me to open my wallet.

The first is my chromed steel slide, the first one I ever got, back when I was a wee lad of 19 or 20 and a new player.  It weighs almost nothing, and accordingly sounds like crap, and the fact that I still have it when I have lost so many other things is just a sign of the universe's flair for perversity.  Anyone want a crappy chrome-plated steel slide?  I ain't using it.


My next slide was a reproduction of a Coricidin bottle.  I liked that one a lot because it had more mass and was just smoother sounding overall.  But as previously noted, it gets a little clammy in that closed-end bottle, so I don't miss it that much.  At some point I managed to break it.  At that time I actually picked up a package of Coricidin at the drugstore, thinking I would get the real deal, but it turns out the paper box contained a polystyrene plastic bottle, not a glass one, so... fudge.


To replace the Coricidin bottle, then, I picked up a Dunlop pyrex slide, which is similar in weight and diameter, and has the advantage of being open at both ends, so my finger doesn't get all sweaty. 


Back in 1995 when I graduated from college, my then-wife gave me the only gift that suggested she really "got" me - my Martin DM dreadnought.  To my ear, the glass slide lacked the clarity and mass necessary for a tone I wanted on the Martin.  So I picked up a heavy, thick brass slide, and I vastly prefer it with the acoustic vs. glass.  Gives almost a dobro tone on phosphor bronze strings on the DM.

About 10 years or so ago, I was trying out a guitar in a shop while I was on the road.  I  picked up the green glass wine bottleneck slide that was sitting nearby to noodle around, and when I was done I thoughtlessly put it in my pocket the way I do when I'm playing at home.  Realized my inadvertent act of larceny a couple months later when I put on the same jacket.  Couldn't remember the name of the shop to mail 'em a check to cover it.  It plays nice, and I have since become more into it than the Pyrex unit.

I have played countless other slides in shops, but that's the whole stable.  I have a tonebar for playing lap steel, but I got rid of the lap steel guitar, so the tonebar's just a knicknack on my nightstand now.

 

[swarfrat]

I've heard of this guy's band before. Ran across it looking for slide videos. Nice percussive tone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QHxWNl3TDI

 

[swarfrat]

Went by the local giantmegachainthatsucksbutitstheonlystoreintowncenter today, but they didn't have any small anything. Wanted to order from the Candy store but they don't carry the EBMM slide, so instead a EBMM pinky slide and the Dunlop Heavy wall small/short slide to start with from the stepsibling of the first place. Avoiding the $25 slides unless there's a compelling reason. Somehow I doubt they'd be more optimized to tiny fingers anyway. Also got a set of 12-52's for it. (And a good deal on a planer but that should go in the other thread).

I have some 5/8 rod and a 1/2" drill, but I did that before for a sleeve on some drum hardware - I don't think I'd have enough wall left to not suck all the tone out of it.  Maybe if I had some 3/4" rod and drill it 1/2" it might work.