Slides

[MistaMusicMan]

Slides? is that what there called? oh well. the thingys that are glass and you use mostly in blues ya. Well anyways i was wonderin if anyone could recomend one. I know this aint got allot to do with acoustics but you use em with it.

[Slipstream]

Different people like different kinds of slides. Myself, I prefer the heavy glass ones that are made from bottle necks. You can buy 'em in guitar stores, or make one from a wine bottle. Hard to cut the glass though. Then the edges have to be sanded. Much easier to just buy one.

Some people like the metal ones. The heavier ones are more popular because of their tone and feel. I got one thats a real bottle neck that I like a lot, and a thin glass one that said Gibson on the package. I don't care for that one too much. Too light, and sounds weak.

[Eclectifish]

I prefer the tone of the glass, or better yet the acrylic. The metal ones will give you a little more sustain (particularly the brass ones) but they also sound more 'metallic' (go figure, huh) and generally it's tougher to mute the strings so there's more extraneous noise.

That said, when I was gigging I used to use metal slides. I don't know how many good glass slides I lost because they'd vibrate off the top of the amp and break.

[t_shirtsnjeans]

When I first heard about using slides on guitar I ran to the nearest playground. But the sound I expected just wasn' there :D

The 'sliding' sounds you hear are made from none other but actual slides, believe IT OR NOTTTTTTT!!!(pretend there's an echoooooo)
Anyway I go to antique shops and try to find old medicine bottles for slides. So far I've found two in all the shops I've visited, and they are awesome for slides. But yeah, the music shops have pyrex glass slides that come in many sizes and thicknesses, and YES the do work well on acoustics. The thicker the better, they don't absorb the sound as much (or mute it) as do the thinner slides. Steel guitar players use a chunk of steel usually chromed so the vibration is strictly from the strings and not the slide itself.

If you listen to ooooolld blues players, I MEAN from original blues players, they use sockets, piston wristpins, beer bottles, anything to slide on the strings. That's where a person who wants to get back to the roots of it needs to go.

I accidentally used a mic stand to play slide on my bass once and it was cool, but innappropriate for the Church I was playing in :o Didn't fit the song we were doing, but the banjo player was poking me in the face with the headstock and sharp strings from his banjo (absolutely true! we had a banjo for praise and worship service! he didn't last long though :D ).

[MistaMusicMan]

Thanks guys for the help

[SG_74]

...piston wristpins...

A gudgeon pin???? How the hell do you get one of those on yer finger???? (or is it because i'm used to handling ones from 125's/250's???)