Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Boo on July 18, 2011 at 12:12pm

i found the bottle that i cut the neck from whilst walking by the river. it fit perfectly so i cut the neck off there and then and rubbed the edge smooth on the concrete river barrier. can't get any cheaper or traditional than that. mind you i would sell it for $50.00 if anyone is astute  enough to part with thier hard earned dollars for it ;-D i could then build about 5 or 6 more box guitars with the proceeds! (ps i also took the rest of the bottle away from the river bank which helped the environment too)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Clock The Wolf on July 18, 2011 at 12:23pm

$50.00?!?!?! Shubb  makes a lap steel slide that usually sales for around $30.00 or so online, and that's the most expensive slide I've ever seen or heard of... I just use a polished 1 3/4" length of bronze pipe.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Stevenson on July 18, 2011 at 12:48pm

I have a 16" thickwall polished stainless pipe that I got for about 20.00.  will make about 8-9 nice steel slides. 

I might pay 50.00 for a glass bottle for a slide, but it also better contain some darn good wine. john

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Cigar Box Nation on July 18, 2011 at 1:28pm

I get all my guitar slides from one location:  Lowe’s Hardware Dept!  The slide pictured above is a $1.50 axle spacer found in the section that sells nuts and bolts.  It’s dense, fits my finger perfectly and cheap enough to give away at the end of my gigs.   I use this slide on all my cigar box guitars with 4 or more strings.

For my 3-string cigar box guitars, nothing beats a 3/4″ socket.  It just fits across all three strings but is stubby enough for me to play individual strings.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on July 18, 2011 at 3:37pm

H

 I think their are as many opinions as types of slides. ey whatever gets you their, somebody threw a great bone in our composter, that I salvaged, works well and the price was right. I did however feel I was spending big bucks in buying a $6.00 store bought glass slide just to see if it was any better.                     Cheers Ron.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on July 18, 2011 at 7:50pm

It's easy to spend $50 on a slide...and each to their own, but a good old-fashioned bottleneck does it for me.  The main difference is that folks playing cigarbox guitars and the like, they are shooting for a minimal approach with the hardware, in order to concentrate on the music...and this seems to encourage a more direct route to musical self-expression...and it's all round a more satisfying and complete experience.

 

If you go down the path of expensive guitars, it's easy to fall into the trap that the sound you are after lies somewhere out there, and is created by this magical ideal instrument, slide, strings, amp or whatever. These people seem forever dissatisfied with their gear, and feel that somehow they'll find the "holy grail of tone" if they spend money on more and more outlandishly expensive amplifiers and guitars....and yea, brothers and sisters, they shall ever pursue the always fleeting end of the rainbow, for such is their folly.

 

 

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Seaman Jay on July 18, 2011 at 10:07pm

Maybe it was a "bar", not a "bottleneck"? They tend to be a little more expensive. I did a quick lookup in my favourite music shop, found at least 20 different slides under 20$ (glass, brass, ceramic, straight, conical, open, closed, full, ring+plate type etc.) In other words - a piece of brass or glass tube, bottleneck lookalikes, cutted and formed metal plates.

 

BTW: "The path of expensive" - my dissatisfaction with "the gear" pushes me farther and farther down the "acoustic fretless" road. It means from an electric Yamaha bass guitar to an EUB (price of the Yamaha-$300) to the guitarron (price tag: EUB-$200. And, boy, does this thing sound!). From a 300$ (actually  quite cheap in the above context ;-) ) guitar to the i-don't-know-how-much-but-sure-as-hell-less-than-$10 CBG. Kinda proves your theory, John.

 

ChickenboneJohn said:

It's easy to spend $50 on a slide...and each to their own, but a good old-fashioned bottleneck does it for me.  The main difference is that folks playing cigarbox guitars and the like, they are shooting for a minimal approach with the hardware, in order to concentrate on the music...and this seems to encourage a more direct route to musical self-expression...and it's all round a more satisfying and complete experience.

 

If you go down the path of expensive guitars, it's easy to fall into the trap that the sound you are after lies somewhere out there, and is created by this magical ideal instrument, slide, strings, amp or whatever. These people seem forever dissatisfied with their gear, and feel that somehow they'll find the "holy grail of tone" if they spend money on more and more outlandishly expensive amplifiers and guitars....and yea, brothers and sisters, they shall ever pursue the always fleeting end of the rainbow, for such is their folly.

 

 

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by YeahDoIt on July 18, 2011 at 10:58pm

I found a broken beach umbrella in the dumpster. It was made from steel tubing. I cut off a piece with a plumbing pipe cutter (it might produce a better edge than using a hack saw). Works OK. Cost $ 0.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Seaman Jay on July 18, 2011 at 11:02pm

California wine bottles. Necks are wide enough for an average finger. Nice, heavy glass. I have to master the art of cutting yet. Hopefully my liver is strong enough.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on July 18, 2011 at 11:25pm

I think there is a lot of psychobabble about slides, people talk about hearing the difference in tone between clear glass and green glass...give me strength.  In my practical experience it's down to weight (a lightweight slide doesn't have enough mass to 'stop' the string cleanly) surface hardness and smoothness, so the slide can glide cleanly and not drag on the strings or create grinding noises. The two factors of weight and smoothness then allow you to produce good clean glissandos and help with a smooth, open sounding vibrato. Too light a slide and the note wont sustain, and too rough or soft a slide material, and the note will sound muffled and dull.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Hip Bone Bellaire on July 19, 2011 at 2:06am

OK, As some may know the reason for Hip Bone Bellaire is because I had my hip replaced last April... I also work at the hospital and use my persuasive skills and try my hardest to keep my hip bone "Femur" for a slide... I know it was a long long shot but hey.. what the heck.. having a bone slide from ones own leg would have been the  best ever!  Priceless!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Thomas Smith on July 19, 2011 at 2:54am

I bought a green glass slide made from a wine bottle on ebay for $5 and got a second green glass slide free (with a cool cloth bag) with the purchase of some of Keni  Lee Burgess video lessons.  My metal slides were cut from a piece of electrical conduit I found (free).

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page