Slide guitar basics...

For some reason I got the idea I wanted to play Beck's "Loser". Slide is something I've never done before and I have a few general questions after messing around a bit.

1) Do you try and get the slide right on the fret or just below it?

2) Is there a pickup type that is better for slide playing? (bucker or single)

3) Is there a good website with some free slide lessons?

Feel free to chime in on anymore slide tips you think I might like

For some reason I got the idea I wanted to play Beck's "Loser". Slide is something I've never done before and I have a few general questions after messing around a bit.

1) Do you try and get the slide right on the fret or just below it?

2) Is there a pickup type that is better for slide playing? (bucker or single)

3) Is there a good website with some free slide lessons?

Feel free to chime in on anymore slide tips you think I might like

1) The note should be over the fret. But remember, the reason you're going slide is the movement and wide vibrato.

2) Duane Allman used humbuckers. Sonny Landreth uses single coils. Sounds good both ways.

3) Youtube. Always youtube.

Make sure you dampen the strings above the slide and any that aren't being played. A slide is abrasive enough to cause a string to vibrate. Higher action and heaver guage strings work best.

maybe this will help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIueIIoupjY&feature=related

steve

Yeah higher action and heavier strings, but mostly just enough so that the pressure to get a good note will not cause you to clunk into frets. No need to Dobroize the thing and make it unplayable for non-slide purposes.

And sometimes, the slide friction making the strings go is just what you want. But for those times when you don't, right hand muting, left hand muting, and learn to not play with a pick.

Make sure you dampen the strings above the slide and any that aren't being played. A slide is abrasive enough to cause a string to vibrate. Higher action and heaver guage strings work best.

you're doing that with your fretting or picking hand?

maybe this will help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIueIIoupjY&feature=related

steve

i'd take lessons from her any day

3) Is there a good website with some free slide lessons?


This one (http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Lessons/Lesson-Of-The-Day/duane-allman-slide-guitar/) is a real winner....

you're doing that with your fretting or picking hand?

Yes.

Try this: With a slide, hit a note at the 12th fret. No muting on the nut side of the string. Then drop back to the 9th fret. You'll hear a descending note, and an ascending note, the string vibrating above and below the slide. It can be a cool thing (Sonny Landreth sometimes picks above the slide just for that) but until you want it, you don't want it. So you mute on the nut side with the slide hand.

Now, put the slide across the strings and slide a note on the B or E string all the way up to the 12th fret. You will hear, at least, the low E ring, too. It can sound cool, but for the most part, it sounds sloppy. So, with your picking hand, you mute the strings you don't want to ring.

Here's my friend Pat Rush playing slide with The Jeff Healey Band on a tele in standard tuning:

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Pat's a master slide player, in fact, he's one of my all time favorite guitarists, and a hell of a nice guy to boot.
He always plays with his bare fingers, and always uses a glass slide.
I use a pick w/fingers, and a metal slide.
Pat can play beautifully in both standard and open tunings -whichever happens to be convienient at the time.

Here's a very cool slide:

http://www.therockslide.com/new/main.php

I've tried quite a few different types (glass, bottle, bottleneck, flared, brass, socket etc) but settled on the chrome plated medium-sized version of the "Rock Slide" on my pinky. But it's a VERY subjective issue. Try them all and find what works for you.

I mainly play in open G on a Regal resonator.

A P90 is generally regarded as a great element for slide guitar.

fretboard radius????

Flat radius, heavy strings, high action, and a cheapo guitar, tuned to OPEN D, into a cranked up small tube amp. HEAVY ASS SLIDE, ceramic is my preference with glass and brass also being favorites. Danelectro U2's are FABULOUS slide guitars.

how high of an action are we talking about?

Fender specs are:

Neck Radius / String Height Bass Side / Treble Side
7.25 / 2mm / 1.6mm
9.5-12 / 1.6mm / 1.6mm
15-17 / 1.6mm / 1.2 mm

How high would you go beyond that?

And what is a standard string gauge for slide? (everybody says "heavy") Does that mean 11s? 12s?

Thanks