Guitar Slides – What They Are and Why You Would Want One

 Guitar slides are synonymous with that old western, timeless, blues sound that became iconic in the west.  There was a time when people would use metal pipes or even glass beer bottles lying around in a junkyard or sometimes more frequently even the bottle they just finished drinking with.…….. sighs*, those were the days……

 Of course you no longer need to down a full bottle of bear or rummage through garbage cans to find that perfect piece of broken glass to replicate that unmistakable blues tone we’ve all come to love.  Now days you just need to pay a visit to your local guitar shop where you’ll be able to purchase a slide that was actually designed specifically to be use as well…..a slide.  Slides today will generally come in two basic materials, glass or metal, they really haven’t changed much, the only difference is now you don’t have to worry about accidentally cutting yourself while playing.  Right off the bat this invokes a different question, which is better glass or metal?  The answer is it depends on the sound you’re going for.  Glass slides have a more mellow sound, but they are more fragile and can break much easier, metal slides are sturdy and produce a sharper sound.

Here are most of the common slides you’ll find:

 Steel Slide—this is the closest to the original steel pipe make-shift slide that blues players frequently used but this slid is modified to include chrome plating which not only looks nicer but moves along the strings a lot more naturally and sounds smoother.

Polished Brass—Once again this sounds a lot like the classic old pipe but gives a softer tone than the steel one does. 

Clear Glass – Glass is not going to give you the metal on metal sound, but at the same time, the sound that it does produce is somewhat fuller and less bright than the metal slide.

Corriciadan Medicine Bottle – this is a replication of the old medicine bottle made out of glass, it’s very similar to the clear glass one above that creates a more mellow sound, the people who tend to buy glass slides, buy them for the more mellow sounds they produce but they’re not the most durable and thus aren’t the most popular choice.  If you’re going for that timeless blues sound, the steel slide is your best option. 

 When using a slide its best to play with it on your third or fourth finger with the hand that controls the Fretboard.  This allows your other fingers to play chords and leads. Although I’ve never tried one myself I have seen a slide advertised in a magazine that is open on one side and can be rotated around so that it’s open on one side and you can also use the same fingers to play as you normally would when the slide is not needed, so it offers much more flexibility. 

Here’s a few famous people who have been known to use a slide: Ry Cooder, George Harrison, George Thorogood, Robert Johnson, Bonnie Raitt, Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers), Johnny Winters, Jimmy Page, Rory Gallagher and Duane Allman.