What is the best electric guitar, pickups, amps and strings for playing blues slide quitar? and why?

Answer 1

My boyfriend swears by his Fender Strat, light gage strings and a glass slide. As far as amps he has 3, just depends on the size of the venue he is playing in any given nite.

Answer 2

I play with heavier gauge strings (.011s) and I'll set the action on he strings a bit higher off the fingerboard so the frets don't come into play, and I think it gives a fatter tone also.

I find with single coil pickups that they can get a bit "harsh", so I'll roll off the highs a bit using the tone control knob. Also, I'd avoid using the bridge pickup all together.

Humbuckers will give a fatter sound, but can get a bit muddy at times, so it's a trade off either way.

As far as amps go, you can't go wrong with a low wattage tube amp for recording, practice, and small room gigs.

I've used both glass and brass slides. Glass seems a bit "brighter", but I like the heaviness of the brass and can get a lot smoother control.

It's all really up to personal taste. Go to the guitar shop and play around with everything, if the guy at the shop gives you crap then that is not the place want to buy anything from and move on

good luck.

Answer 3

I play slide on a very cheap "Global" brand lap steel that I got for $75, and I tune it to open G. I also use a Cort acoustic that I got for $100 and stuck a cheap pickup in, and that is tuned to open D. I play through either an Ampeg Jet or a Vox Valvetronix AD15VT depending on my mood. Personally, I don't worry too much about the type of strings for the slide guitar, as long as they're heavy gauge.

Now bear in mind, I like really gut-bucket, old school, slide guitar players like R.L. Burnside, Hound Dog Taylor, Elmore James, you know - the hard core blues style that comes from the Delta. So that might not be the slide style you're into. But if you're into that style, that's how you nail it.

To get that sound I feel like it's best to get a cheap guitar with single coil pickups, increase the action and put as heavy a gauge of strings on there as you can stand. The real gut bucket slide players were playing some nasty old guitars like Silvertones, Kays, and a lot of other cheap brands, The amp doesn't have to be expensive but it does need to be easy to get it to distort naturally, so you might want to go with any decent tube amp.

Answer 4

Yeah hd, pretty much what others are saying - there is no set arrangement for playing slide, in fact - using an oddball combination would most likely push you towards some fresh new sonic territory, as opposed to sounding like something else that's already been done. Personally for me , my slide journey has been kinda sparse, meaning i'm not totally devoted to it as much as regular guitar playing but when i do, i play more in the David Lindley vein - lots of singing single notes and trying to emulate a "voice". LOL! I'm not a huge fan of open tuning stuff, or the "Gutbucket" type thing as another answer said. Oh , and i mainly do this with an Ibanez RS440 and an early 80's model Gallien-Krueger 150w solid state amp with 2-12's, using Ernie Ball Super SLinky strings (.009), and varying thicknesses of Jim Dunlop glass slides. FYI -" Varying Thickness" means.. I usually have to buy a slide every week or so, cause of my habit of flinging the slide to the floor after playing a slide solo - hoping it hits a carpeted stage and roll out of my way, BUT almost always ends up hitting the base of the micstand and shattering. LOL!

Answer 5

I used a Les Paul during the 70's, and strings were medium gauge, D'Addario's I think.. I used a glass slide, not metal or chrome. The amp then was a Fender Twin. Now I use an older strat, light medium -strings and a glass slide.. Amp is a sampling amp. I like the Fenders most of the time..

Answer 6

There is no best on what is good for you I like a fender telecaster because of the twang and tone versatility with stock pickups I guess you could go texas specials but I didn't like the sound of them. For me I use SIT strings medium gauge the rock & roll ones. Also I use a glass,copper and brass slide depending on how muddy or clean I want it. The amp I play slide on is a fender blues junior. You can use just about any tube amp for that warm sound.

Answer 7

It's all a matter of personal taste. For example, Johnny Winter uses an Erelewine for regular playing, but only uses an old Gibson Firebird for his slide work .
A lot of players say that your fingers create most of your tone, regardless if you're using a Fender, Mesa, or Marshall amp. Someone could use the same setup that Clapton uses, but it doesn't guarantee they'd sound like him.
It's all about what sounds right to you...just keep searching for your sound.

Answer 8

Hmmm,Not sure on pickups or strings. But I'd go with a Les Paul Standard,Marshall amp,and a Hawaiian steel slide.

Answer 9

As far as guitar, what do your favorite slide guitarists play? Duane Allman played a Gibson Les Paul while Bonnie Raitt plays a Fender Stratocaster.
As far as strings, I think they use a slightly heavier gauge. They also have the strings a little further from the neck than a regular guitar.
They probably have their guitar tuned to "open" tuning. This would be open D, E, G, or A. If you did this you would have to relearn the fingerings for chords.
As for the slide itself, the purists used a glass bottleneck. I use a metal tube myself. Personally I think they have virtually the same sound, so this doesn't really matter that much.

Answer 10

Best Guitar For Slide