I know it's a guitar question, I'm very very sorry.

[bigd1]

As well as playing Bass I play quite a bit of guitar. I want to start playing slide, but as have never used a slide. I wonder if any BC musicians can offer any advice as to which slide to buy. Brass, glass, plastic etc I know they all give a different sound and are really personal preference, but how are they different.
I quite fancy, and I don't know why, a Jim Dunlop slide.
Any advice, thoughts etc would be fantastic.

Ta very glad
BIGd

[Ben Jamin]

I've got one of those cheap blue plastic ones. Really not that hard to use - I just keep it in the garden and my nephews/nieces love it. Not sure how you'd use it with a guitar though.
Although I don't really know much about guitar to be fair

Edited August 15, 2012 by Ben Jamin

[bigd1]

[xilddx]

Slides are quite personal. I have a Dunlop and I don't like it. I prefer the idea of making one's own. I like the look of Gilmour's on the Pompeii vid. It depends on what you want to do with it too. I used to use a piece of thin brass pipe from a wind chime as a gliss, a la El Alien.

[Geek99]

I found glass easier in the bad old days of playing thin wimpy strings. Brass was a bit clanky.
Now go and beat yourself up for messing with the dark side

Edited August 16, 2012 by Geek99

[geoffbyrne]

I have a brass one that's too big for my finger (given to me as a present - must've thought I had fingers like sausages) and then I got a chrome one that fits me better.

Whatever you get, make sure it fits snugly. Glass is meant to be 'warmer' than metal.

G.

Edited August 16, 2012 by geoffbyrne

[Rayman]

Glass slides give you a warmer tone, whereas brass (or metal) slides give you a slightly brighter, thinner sound, at least to my ears that is. I ended up with a ceramic one, it's a Joe Perry signature one, trouble is, with my sausage fingers, it's not really large enough for me, and only fits on the top part of my finger.

It's all in the ear of the beholder, but I prefer a warmer tone, so glass would be my first choice, and the neck of a beer bottle seems to have the edge, can't think why.

[bigd1]

I think it's the warmer sounds I'm after, for Blues/Rock type styles. Gilmour, Page, Bonamassa, Gallagher sort of thing. It's always difficult explaining the sound you have in your head.

[Commando Jack]

Might be worth considering the guitar and type of pickup. For the single coils I use, I really can't abide the sound of metal slides (really thin sound), so it's glass all the way for me.

[Dave Vader]

Glass on a 'lectric, and Brass on acoustic usually.
Works for me, and if it's not tight, stick bits of cloth/paper in there until it is.

[mart]

They're cheap enough: buy a few different ones and see what works for you.

[xgsjx]

My friend has a Brass one that he uses & I found it too twangy for my liking. Beer bottle all the way!

[Big_Stu]

I once saw a tutorial on how to heat up a Jack Daniel's bottle& tap the neck off to get an authentic Southern slide..............y'all.

[skankdelvar]

I worked my way through various slides over the years and came to the conclusion that plastic slides weren't to my taste - too 'sticky' on the strings. Glass was good, steel was better and brass was best - for me.

The most important thing, IMO, was that they had a bit of mass, so I eventually settled on a brass one where the thickness increased towards the top. Very heavy but it felt easier to control. Downside was that you had to give it a quick polish with brasso every so often, because the tarnishing spoiled the sound a bit.

Slides - def a YMMV thing. And anyway, you can always play slide on a bass's G string. Such larks!

[RhysP]

[quote name='bigd1' timestamp='1345108168' post='1773520']
I think it's the warmer sounds I'm after, for Blues/Rock type styles. Gilmour, Page, Bonamassa, Gallagher sort of thing.
[/quote]

I sincerely hope the Gallagher you are referring to is Rory & not Noel.

[bigd1]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1345122951' post='1773838']
I sincerely hope the Gallagher you are referring to is Rory & not Noel.
[/quote]
Rory all the way. Noel who ?

[jaydentaku]

I have a glass bottle neck slide and I believe it has the nicest and warmest tone

[rogerstodge]

Bottle o bud

[SpaceChick]

My OH uses a glass one, our guitarist in the band uses a brass one.

To be honest, I think the glass one gives a softer tone, the brass one sounds brassier and harsher in my mind.

depends on the sound you are going for.

[musophilr]

I believe it is customary to use heavier guage strings with a higher action for slide guitar, although light strings and low action never seemed to bother Ritchie Blackmore when he used a slide.

[MoonBassAlpha]

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1345192443' post='1774696']
My OH uses a glass one, our guitarist in the band uses a brass one.

To be honest, I think the glass one gives a softer tone, the[b] brass one sounds brassier [/b]and harsher in my mind.

depends on the sound you are going for.
[/quote]