Slide Set Up Advice

[Rocky4]

I'm going to designate a guitar for slide. I want to raise the action. I have a Jr that I could just raise the bridge. My Tele is a different story. Raising the bridge would mean raising six different saddle pieces. Bowing the neck seems the easier method, but I wonder if bowing the neck would do any permanent damage. Any thoughts?

[The Breeze]

I would go with the jr. or take a cue from Gary Rossington and try this:- ... Then u can use either

[Andre S]

I'm going to designate a guitar for slide. I want to raise the action. I have a Jr that I could just raise the bridge. My Tele is a different story. Raising the bridge would mean raising six different saddle pieces. Bowing the neck seems the easier method' date=' but I wonder if bowing the neck would do any permanent damage. Any thoughts?[/quote']

 

Of the two which do you play more?

 

I would pick the other for slide.

[FirstMeasure]

Raise the saddles or Bridge, bowing the neck will be harder to put back to normal in case you want to play with your fingers again.

 

Personally, I'd pick the tele cause most people use a guitar with Buckers for slide, and I like to be a little different. That and I love the slide tones on Eric Claptons 461 Ocean BLVD, and that's all tele.

[Andre S]

Raise the saddles or Bridge' date=' bowing the neck will be harder to put back to normal in case you want to play with your fingers again.

 

Personally, I'd pick the tele cause most people use a guitar with Buckers for slide, and I like to be a little different. That and I love the slide tones on Eric Claptons 461 Ocean BLVD, and that's all tele.[/quote']

 

I would do either a tele with two singles and a humbucker or a melody maker with a single and a humbucker.....modified of course.

[Riffster]

I use my Squier 51 with very slight high action at the nut, you can learn to have a soft touch and be able to play the guitar either way. It is also nice to be able to mix notes between slide and fretting. I would not bow a neck.

 

This particular guitar I use has a splittable humbucker and the middle position is wired out of phase so I have the best of 3 worlds for slide sounds.

[milod]

There are lots of ways to look at this one.

 

First, I'd never bow the neck on a guitar. Period.

 

The Fender neck has more curve to the fingerboard - meaning that assuming you put an insert or whatever on the nut - or replace the nut - without flattening the curve, you will be in something of the same situation as a violin where double stops are easy but more than that and...

 

That brings us to the Gibson style neck that is easier to get 6-string chords for slide/bottleneck.

 

There's a good point that if you wanna keep the ability to finger chords/notes, you should just have a somewhat higher than normal action - and not that much higher. If your playing style is more like dobro/steel, you may want a new nut or I've seen nut additions that go on top of the nut and function to raise the action by about a quarter inch. Some raise it more.

 

A lot has to do with how you plan to use a slide.

 

When I was doing a lotta that sorta stuff for acoustic blues, I used an old F hole acoustic that had a higher action than I preferred anyway, and then hit an open tuning. Then a metal lipstick case on my left pinkie finger. I could do slide, finger chords or just plain do a barre or partial barre using my index finger.

 

m

[KL]

A lot has to do with how you plan to use a slide.

 

Yeah this is an important point.

 

I play quite a lot of slide but do not have a designated slide guitar as such. I do have a Les Paul Deluxe (minihumbuckers) that I have set up with 11's and I play it normally and with slide too. My other electrics are set up with 10's and I still use them for slide.

 

I think one of the reasons I do not personally need a high action guitar for slide is that I always use a glass slide. I prefer the feel and sound. Glass slides are much lighter in weight so you don't come into contact with the fingerboard as easily as you do with a metal (heavier) slide. I know a lot more people tend to use metal slides, but they just don't work so well for me.

[Rocky4]

Looks like I'll be raising the bridge on the Jr. Thanks for all the help!

[milod]

Yeah, if I were to do a lotta slide again, I'd get a light glass designed for it. The days of being able to "steal" a girlfriend or wife's metal lipstick case that would fit a pinkie finger are long gone, at least from what I see around here. All plastic.

 

I can see where some folks sell a metal "partial slide" that goes on a finger (pinkie, I think), and will hit a cupla strings, but still allows full chord formation.

 

Actually the last 10 years or so even when I've used open tunings, I haven't used any slide...

 

m