Recommendations for slide guitar

[seannx]

I’m considering getting an electric guitar to use for slide (mainly blues), and would appreciate recommendations.

[Steel and wood]

I think just about any guitar works for slide even if I'm not really a slide player myself.

[Bob Womack]

There really are two streams to slide guitar: those who love a full, smooth sound and those who love a a bright, more metallic scratchy sound. If you want a full sound like Duane Allman go for a variation on the Gibson: humbuckers and driven amp. If you prefer the brighter sound like Bonnie Raitt, go for a hardtail Strat and come to kindly terms with the Origin Devices SlideRig pedal for sustain into next week.

I've preferred the full smooth sound for years and played slide on a Les Paul. Eventually I added a lap steel as well. Your mileage may vary!

Bob

[seannx]

Thanks for the advice! Bob, I have a vintage Rickenbacher Lap Steel, but want a regular guitar to play, too. My son has a nice older Les Paul that he wants to trade for my Martin, so that seems like a good option for the sound I want.

[Bob Womack]

Listening to Joe Walsh, the James gang albums and The Smoker You Drink the Player You Get, ie. "Rocky Mountain Way" feature the Les Paul sound and So What? and But Seriously Folks began to migrate towards Strats and a Rick... if you need any further comparison.

Bob

[M Sarad]

I added lap steel and Weissenborn to my arsenal. My challenge for slide on a six string is getting the action to the proper height and finding the right slide for my ears. I still have the Corocidin bottle I used when I first heard Statesboro Blues on the Taj Mahal lp when I was 12. I keep it as a memento and use heavier glass.

I first learned slide on my brothers nylon string with a cigarette lighter for slide. When I got my Melody Maker with Humbuckers at age 16 I got the tone I was looking for with the Corocidin bottle through a Bandmaster or a Princeton Reverb. This was from ‘72 to ‘75.

Now for slide I use my NIOMA lap steel mainly, but adding a pedal steel player to the band I stick to my Brondel Strat, SG with Throback pickups, PRS Gold top with Soap Bars, all through the’58 Tweed Deluxe. For grit in the tone I use a Zen Drive. The pedal steel player has a Sarno Earth Drive that I will try soon.

Have fun on your quest.

[Dru Edwards]

As mentioned, you can play slide on any electric but best if you setup the action a little on the high side. A slide on a Les Paul or SG sounds great.

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by M Sarad

I added lap steel and Weissenborn to my arsenal. My challenge for slide on a six string is getting the action to the proper height and finding the right slide for my ears. I still have the Corocidin bottle I used when I first heard Statesboro Blues on the Taj Mahal lp when I was 12. I keep it as a memento and use heavier glass.

I first learned slide on my brothers nylon string with a cigarette lighter for slide. When I got my Melody Maker with Humbuckers at age 16 I got the tone I was looking for with the Corocidin bottle through a Bandmaster or a Princeton Reverb. This was from ‘72 to ‘75.

Now for slide I use my NIOMA lap steel mainly, but adding a pedal steel player to the band I stick to my Brondel Strat, SG with Throback pickups, PRS Gold top with Soap Bars, all through the’58 Tweed Deluxe. For grit in the tone I use a Zen Drive. The pedal steel player has a Sarno Earth Drive that I will try soon.

Have fun on your quest.

Yes, I added a lap steel long ago because I liked the idea of sitting down and using a metal slide like a pedal steel player. (Playing pedal style licks in standard tuning with others).

[clintj]

My preference is the Gibson Firebird. Nice, cutting tone, deep body cutaway, and for me at least it sits at a perfect angle for good slide access. Johnny Winter was famous for using one, if you want a tone reference.

I play slide with my standard action height, but I have to use a heavy wall chrome slide like Dunlop sells to do it. Brass and glass don't have enough mass.

[maxtheaxe]

+1 on the suggestion for a Gibson, especially the SG for slide. Fenders are great too, but you might have to contend with the steep 9.5" radius on a Fender vintage-type neck. Either way, something with a 12" or flatter radius will be easier to play cleanly.

[FrankHudson]

Yes, most anything will do. Different sounds from different choices, but there's valid sounds recorded on a wide variety of electric guitars.

Per Bob's dichotomy between Fender single coils and Gibson humbuckers, the "in-between" pickups are great with slide too. P90s (larger, hotter, single coils) and mini-humbuckers (smaller, lower output humbuckers) as used on some Firebirds. Lately I'll reach for a Telecaster with a Firebird style mini-humbucker in the neck position more often than any other when I want to play slide.

For some players and some styles, fairly unsubtle compression can help get some sounds, regardless of pickups used. Cranked small tube amps with tube rectifiers can get there without pedals "naturally", but in many cases a stomp box or software plug in on your DAW may be called for.

As to neck radius, preferences vary there too I suppose. I used to setup my Teles to not follow the fingerboard radius on the treble side. This gave me a flatter, slightly higher action for slide and I thought it let me grab the side of the string for extreme string bends with conventional playing more easily too.

[rockabilly69]

My preference is anything I can lay a slide on, my fave though is an old '65 Supro Lexington And I personally only like seamless glass slides.

There are slide fills all over this original song here, but @ 1:56 you gan go right to the solo...




and here's my old Supro Lapsteel...

[jseth]

One thing you'll want in a dedicated slide guitar would be a nice high action... if you can find an old Melody Maker or Les Paul, Jr. that needs a neck reset, you'll be in PERFECT shape!

Use the obviously needed neck reset (and likely re-fret) as a way to get the purchase price down... but you don't need no stinkin' frets to play slide!!!

I love both "schools" of slide that Womack mentioned... absolutely enthralled by Duane Allman when I first heard them in the late 60's; seeing him at a tiny club in Hollywood with the Allman Brothers Band is a highlight of my live music experience!

At the same time, Ry Cooder can lead me to tears with his evocative slide playing on a Strat... and to my mind, Lowell George was an understated MASTER of the slide guitar; story has it that he was the one who showed Bonnie Raitt and Ry "how" he got his sound... Lowell would get this smooth, slightly compressed FAT tone from his Strat, possibly due to using an old Craftsman 13/16ths deep socket for a slide... while Duane used an small glass Coricidrin bottle (an over-the-counter cold remedy from the 60's).

Good luck with your experiment!

[Bob Womack]

By the way, Lowell George was the fellow who came up with technique that led to the Origin Effects SlideRig. Lowell would run through TWO UREI 1176 compressors and squash the CRAP out of his signal to give him a clean sound with infinite sustain. Et Viola! A new sound.

Duane taught both Joe Walsh and Don Felder to play slide.

Bob

[loco gringo]

I think Ry Cooder has a lap steel pick up in his strat. Jason Isbell has one like that, too. He also make do with the Duesy.



Slide is at about 4:45


Slide is at about 6:30