Slide players

What's your preferred tuning to play slide/bottleneck? Or do you just like to play in 'normal' tuning?
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Comments

  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    G
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  • Aye....I'm considering G tuning. I haven't tried slide before as I either had to alter the action on my one and only acoustic guitar (not gonna happen) or get another acoustic and set up for slide (might happen but unlikely). So I've opted to buy one of those nut raisers and see how it goes.
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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    Just play with a light touch
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  • Action needs to be raised...maybe not as high as the nut raiser does....but some strings touch the frets no matter how lightly I try to play...especially the 2 thinnest strings. 
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26749
    D is good cos I like the low D being the root of the chord, which you lose in G. I've done more in standard thought tbh. More swells & delays sort of thing than bluesy black crowes though.
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7731
    edited July 2016
    Open E for me, most often with the G string raised to A so its like DADGAD. It's not as fat as D but your references for the key you're in are not too dissimilar from standard. Thought to try it after reading that Derek Trucks uses it. Easier to get a good tone with regular string gauges too. 
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    I don't play slide much (only one song in the set of my last band) but, when I do, I generally use standard tuning. On rare occasions I've quickly dropped the high E to D to give a pseudo G tuning  on the top 4 strings.

    It's not a competition.
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11789
    if you're playing slide, normal tuning or a non-raised nut are a massive compromise
    you can play a little on the  3 strings that are  open in a G major chord, but that's limiting

    Beyond that: the tuning depends on the song,  the intervals between the strings vary, and you usually want to include some open strings in the playing

    For rock/blues stuff, G and D are probably the most  commonly effective
    on a shorter scale,  tuning up open G to open A is good
    you can actually get weird capos for high-nut proper lap steels actually

    some less common scales are harder to use
    Gilmour uses E minor, which is much harder to play in , and only works on specific tracks
    http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=69

    C6 is lovely, but can make you sound country

    If  I had only one lap steel, I'd tune it to  open G  (or in reality open A) for In my time of dying


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  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    G for me. I have slide Strat permanently in tuned to it, along with a resonator.
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  • erky32erky32 Frets: 49
    I keep a jhs-vintage sg for slide with 10-46s and good neck relief, will still work as lead guitar, but is great for slide. Open E is good for ElmoreJames style, Open G covers most bluesy tunes, sometimes slide on std tune, but as said, its a tad limited. Best improvement for my slide was buying a JETSLIDE from the states, ..its a wonderful invention!
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  • english_bobenglish_bob Frets: 5128

    Gilmour uses E minor, which is much harder to play in , and only works on specific tracks
    http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=69

    I thought Gilmour played lap steel in standard tuning? Not so good for lead playing, but it does allow you to play major, minor, maj6 and maj7 chords on combinations of the D,G,B and E strings...

    Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.

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  • Thanks for all the info and advice guys and gals (NOT spoken in the style of Jimmy Saville). I'm on the lookout for a really cheap steel string acoustic....so fleabay and charity shops are currently on my radar. It might be the one and only time that I buy a guitar off fleabay and have it posted to me! £30 is my top whack.
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11789

    Gilmour uses E minor, which is much harder to play in , and only works on specific tracks
    http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=69

    I thought Gilmour played lap steel in standard tuning? Not so good for lead playing, but it does allow you to play major, minor, maj6 and maj7 chords on combinations of the D,G,B and E strings...
    sorry, I didn't mean he only uses Em, he's just the only example I can think of who does use it, see the link for lots of detail
    he uses G too:

    Red Jedson tunings
    1977; Open G chord, D G D G B E
    – Shine On You Crazy Diamond 6-9
    1987 – 2006; Open Em chord, E B E G B E
    – One of These Days and High Hopes

    Blonde Jedson and Fender Deluxe tuning
    1974 – 2006; Open G chord, D G D G B E
    – Shine On You Crazy Diamond (early ’74 version), Great Gig in the Sky, Breathe, Wot’s… Uh the Deal

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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11789
    Thanks for all the info and advice guys and gals (NOT spoken in the style of Jimmy Saville). I'm on the lookout for a really cheap steel string acoustic....so fleabay and charity shops are currently on my radar. It might be the one and only time that I buy a guitar off fleabay and have it posted to me! £30 is my top whack.
    the sound will be rattley with a bottleneck,
    and much clearer with thicker strings and  a proper steel
    your choice...
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  • JanekLubanskiJanekLubanski Frets: 166
    edited August 2016

    the sound will be rattley with a bottleneck,
    and much clearer with thicker strings and  a proper steel
    your choice..





    Sorry......I should have clarified that whatever guitar that I get that I will be increasing the relief and ramping up the nut and saddle heights. Like a set up in reverse!
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  • Sometimes getting a bigger slide gets a bigger tone!!! 
    http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/image_zpsf77jgikd.jpeg
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  • Normally I am using 13's in open G 5 string tuning with quite a thick slide, but mainly use glass.
    http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/image_zpssjlkufkt.jpeg

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