glass or metal slide?
 

Just starting to play around with a slide. My question is a basic one: glass or metal slide for acoustic guitar? My dealer said that a glass one will get cut by the steel strings. But then again, he only had metal slides. :rolleyes: So I would trust your opinions more.

Sounds to me like a sales pitch to get you to buy a metal slide. I've been using glass for years and I don't think my slide even has a scratch. (Wouldn't you have to have diamond-coated strings or something in order to scratch glass??) I like the sound of glass much better, especially on acoustic, and I think it's probably more common than metal. Some of my favorite slide players, though, such as Lowell George, used metal. I think it mostly depends on what you become used to.

I saw a slide made by Shugg at the NAMM show...it was designed with a slide on one side and open on the other side....you spin it to choice the slide or the open side for fretting with that finger....anyone here see or try one of these yet?...

I've got a metal one and a glass one, and honestly I like the glass slide better....course take that with a grain of salt, cause I can't play either one worth a crap...LOL.

But to me, the glass slides sound a heck of a lot more musical.

I like the sound of glass better on acoustic for sure.

Depends on the material of the metal slide. I prefer a heavy brass slide over glass for acoustic. The only glass slide I like tonally as much as a brass is a bottleneck but they are just to dang bulky for me to control.

Other metals like aluminum, I could care less for (far too much slide noise, thin sounding and less sustain). I prefer glass over these types of metal slides.

GL

I found a link to the bronze reversible slide I mentioned earlier...see it here...

http://www.shubb.com/axys/index.htm

I have a number of slides. I find I like metal for some pieces and I like glass for others. I think it is just a personal think as to which sound you like when.
Midnight Shadow

I prefer the tone of glass on acoustic and metal (chrome plated) on electric.

I use an old piece of copper pipe for acoustic or electric. It sounds neat and I'm also cheap.

I use a porcelain (glass) "Mudslide" and like it much better than my brass one. I have also used a large deepwell craftsman socket too. (Got that idea from Bonnie Raitt)

Personally I like a nice heavy brass slide over say steel or glass. I think the brass has a deeper, more gritty sound. I do have a glass slide, but I generally only use it on my electric. I think the glass sounds awesome on the electric where as I think brass sounds awful on it. Go figure. Probably due to the pick ups.


Sharon

I thought the Shubb slide I mentioned above was brass but a closer look at the description finds it is called solid bell bronze.....how does bronze differ from brass?....Anyone know how bronze will sound as a slide material?....thanks in advance...

I have both a glass and a brass slide. But, what I use most is the 17mm deep socket. I also have an old glass medicine bottle that sounds awesome and I would use that all the time but it is too large of a diameter for me. It seems to me that the best things I have ever heard were all homemade.

ken