HINTS 'n' TIPS

Setting Up

Recently I helped present a slide guitar master class at the Bath International Guitar Festival. The slide guitar seminar was open to all students and only one or two came with their guitars specially rigged up for the occasion. The others struggled throughout the afternoon and were barely able to participate in the session.

My point here is that setting up your guitar correctly is an absolute must for all those serious about playing slide. There are various ways of going about this I suggest you use this quick fix that allows you to revert your guitar back to normal with the minimum of fuss.

We need to raise the action slightly and we can do this by removing the strings and tapping out the nut at the end of the fret board. Place a small shim beneath the nut and replace, the shim should be about .5mill thick at the very most, a strip of an old 35-mill film negative will suffice. This should just help clear the strings of the fret board enough to stop your slide banging on the frets.

Next the bridge needs the same treatment, if you are fortunate enough have an acoustic that has adjusters then raise the saddle slightly, slightly more on the treble side. If you have a traditional style acoustic bridge then remove the saddle (you might need needle nose pliers) You need to put in a shim and replace the saddle in order to raise the action slightly. Make a shim by cutting of a slice from an old credit card, before you replace the saddle just pack a small single layer piece of paper, shim width, underneath the treble side, this also will help raise the top strings slightly more. The majority of your slide work will take place on the upper strings so it makes sense to do this.

Your strings should now sit slightly higher on the treble side, many finger positions used by the player during slide accompaniment take place on the lower strings, if the action is too high here the guitar will sound out of tune if the lower strings are too high.

Selecting String Gauge

As my set up allows the use of normal finger style techniques choosing the correct string gauge is an important factor in the set up equation. For most slide applications I would recommend starting with nothing less than a 13 15 24 34 44 54 medium gauge set. However, we need to modify this slightly, but it only requires the purchase of one extra string-a 17 plain which we then use as the 2nd string Discard the 13 (or trade it for the 17) move the 15 to the 1st position and you are ready to go.

These gauges are only to be used in a D tuning, tune these strings any higher and you might damage the guitar.

Selecting a slide

The weight and material of the slide will play an important part in helping to ensure that the learning process is as painless as possible. I will not sit on the fence here as I bear no allegiance, after playing for so long you must remember that I have had experience of most types of slide. For the last 10 years I have been using a glass product, I find them hygienic, clean sounding and easily replaceable and for me they produce a fatter more musical tone.

If you have seen or heard any of my performances and you wish to emulate a similar learning path to mine then I recommend a glass slide that covers about 4-6 mill more than the width of your fret board. You can still work the top strings just as you would with a smaller slide but the means to slide all 6 strings is still available. For the set up described above you will need a medium weight slide and definitely not the thin walled lightweight variety, they do have their uses but are not suitable for this style of set up. Typical weight should be around 30 - 40 grams.

Which finger?

Without a doubt place your slide on your little finger, this not only leaves the others free for chord accompaniment but also allows for more controlled dampening behind the Strings. Using the tip of the little finger a small amount of pressure can be applied to the inside of the slide. Try holding the slide upside down and you will naturally grip it to stop it falling on the floor.

I have outlined below a quick fix to set up your guitar ready for slide playing. If after trying this set-up you decide you are seriously going to study slide guitar then you will need to look at the advanced set-up guide, this set-up is paramount to a successful education in slide guitar, it is slightly controversial and does not comply with the normal text book teaching, but I highly recommend that try it, just once.

Which Vibrato?

Just like the human voice the tones of your playing style are controlled partly by the vibrato you prefer. Basically there are two types, the more frenzied quicker style as portrayed by Stefan Grossman or the slower "fatter" style as used by Ry Cooder, Kelly Joe Phelps and many Hawaiian pioneers. This is my preffered style and one, which I have used all my life. These then are sound basics for the initial part of understanding jut how many of today"s slide greats achieve their goals. With the guitar set up in the above fashion you are now ready to begin this wide and wonderful journey of slide guitar playing.