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First time slide use

I have never played with a slide. Today I bought two to use with my first CBG: one glass, one brass. They are both medium, so I assume they do come in different sizes. Trying to use either on my ring finger, they both fit very loose. Is this normal, or should they fit a bit snug?

I can see it is going to take a fare bit of practice to use the slide without all sorts of buzzes and squawks. I see in some online lessons that you use your other fingers to mute the strings to prevent this from happening. Practice, I imagine... :-)

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Permalink Reply by gary herget on October 9, 2013 at 4:41pm

Sat in on a Justin Johnson workshop and he says to just bend your finger a little and this will help to keep the slide from slipping off of your finger.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Bento on October 10, 2013 at 2:35am

No, these that I bought are definitely too big. If I relax my hand in any way at all, the slide falls right off. I'll visit "Guitar Center" or some larger music store that has a greater selection and various sizes to choose from. Aside from that, it is going to take a lot of practice. My playing is mediocre enough as it is on a conventional six string, and the CBG is a whole new game (that I'm really enjoying).

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on October 9, 2013 at 6:56pm

Practice yes, as long as it keeps being fun.

There's a lot of stuff on youtube that tells you what to play, not too much that tells you how to play. Keep your fingers resting behind the slide to mute the strings and keep some physical contact with your guitar, maintain a light touch, keep your pitch accurate and your ears open and you'll do OK.

I prefer a comfortable rather than a snug fit, certainly wouldn't say loose though. It'll come down to personal preference, trial and error, your guitar, your playing style.....

Enjoy

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on October 9, 2013 at 11:59pm

Keep practising Joseph and it will get easy - yes keep the "following" fingers on the strings behind the slide to dampen them, though sometimes a loose slide can give a great buzz-saw sound. Hold the slide 90 degrees to the strings at all times, and when you move up to a fret hold it half a second before you move the slide up and down it like a sort of vibrato effect, sounds nice! Material for slide is personal preference, i like a medium chrome steel slide i've used for years, and a long brass one for a Lowebow. Lots of vids available on the Nation. (-:

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on October 10, 2013 at 12:20am

Joseph,

I am not a great, or even very good, slide player. I find letting the trailing fingers mute the strings while sliding to be curiously difficult and restrictive, plus I kinda like the sloppy clanky buzz saw tone. However, using the trailing fingers also helps stabilize the slide if you have it on your third finger. Cocking the finger just a bit so the first knuckle comes in contact with the upper inner curve of the slide helps, as does using your second and pinkie fingers to kinda trap the slide between them. It seems like too much to think about all at once, but focused practice over time will mean that you don't have to think about it.

Try really hard, unless you actually want to get a sloppy blues tone, to ensure the slide is right over the fret (whether actual or drawn) so as to get the note to sound sweetly. Don't press down too hard; let the slide ride lightly on the strings, just under its own weight. And practice, practice, practice.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on October 10, 2013 at 12:42am

yup as the others have said , ya kinda gotta find what works for you . i myself don't trail the fingers .. but i get away with not clanging that much ,, just through doing it for awhile .

also ,, if your slide is too loose , you can always put a strip or 3 or one sided sticky felt in there to make it comphy .

my old stand-by slide is a light mini medicine bottle ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on October 10, 2013 at 12:43am

Start by watching this.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HhMWkoKodc&feature=share&li...

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on October 10, 2013 at 12:56am

then get randy to make ya one ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Bento on October 10, 2013 at 2:36am

That's really cool! Are they "affordable?" :-)

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on October 10, 2013 at 3:58am

They are artwork! I just bought my first half and half. For what they are, the price is excellent. However, I played for a few years with just a $1.75 steel bushing that is about like a 3/4" socket. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but my approach was to learn and become happy with my results using less expensive slides first. Once I was happy I could actually play something descent I began to consider better looking and better performing slides like Randy's. That was just my approach to it and your experience may be different.

BTW, I have only played my steel bushing once to compare to the tone of the Mojobone slide. Haven't picked the steel up since then.

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Permalink Reply by Groucho on November 4, 2013 at 1:21pm

I was having a similar problem. I'm a cheapskate, so I bought a 3/4" diameter copper pipe coupling at Home Depot for 98¢ to use as a slide. It was a little wide on my skinny fingers, so I put it on my middle finger. It works ok. When I've made guitars as gifts, I've given the recipient a copper coupling to start out with.

I ended up making a slide from a wine bottle neck that fits on my ring finger really well. That's pretty much all I use now. I'm still a cheapskate.

Take an empty wine bottle and score it around the neck with a glass cutter (however long or stubby you want it). Then grab the bottom of the bottle and submerge the neck into a pot of boiling water. Take it right from the hot water and stick it into ice water (it may take a couple of times) and the bottle should break along the score line you made. Then sand down the sharp edges..........and viola, you have a glass slide.

(my first attempt didn't break off right, so I had to drink another bottle of wine and try again)

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Bento on November 4, 2013 at 2:23pm

(my first attempt didn't break off right, so I had to drink another bottle of wine and try again)

Oh darn! I hate it when that happens! :-) Looks like a nice slide.

I visited Guitar Center and bought a couple that fit much better. Now I just need to practice so that the slide engages cleanly without making terrible noises.