| Tweet |
Slide guitar is one of the most popular guitar playing techniques and a staple of both rock, country and blues. Here are our top 5 choices of slides available online for both budding amateurs and seasoned guitarists alike.
1) Dunlop’s No. 215 Glass Slide
|
Dunlop’s 215 glass slide is a solid, well-made choice, which won’t chip or grind even with heavy use. This is a great long slide that’s perfect for playing chords in open tuning. While the Pyrex build creates a warm, smooth sound. |
2) Boston’s 20mm x70mm Chrome Finished Bottleneck
|
For a crisper, brighter tone, you’re going to want to choose a metal slide. Boston’s 20mm x70mm Chrome Finished Bottleneck gives a bluesy, metallic edge to your playing. And to sweeten the deal, each one comes with a free beginner’s guide eBook. |
|
If comfort and control are your goal, then there’s Shubb’s Tone Bar Slide. This steel slide is the best of both worlds with a rounded end and a contoured body, while the bullet tip design makes it perfect for playing the blues. |
|
Planet Wave’s brass slides are finished with a flawless chrome plated shine, which makes them one of the smoothest and easiest-to-play slides out there. Perfect for both electrics and acoustics, this slide creates a clear, bright tone with perfect sustain. |
5) Alice’s Steel Bottleneck Slide
|
Last but by no means least; we have the best budget choice with Alice’s Steel Bottleneck Slide. This is a solid and well-made slide and an essential bit of kit for every guitarist. For under £5, you’ve no excuse not to have this stashed away in your guitar case. |
Guitar slides are commonly used on steel guitars, resonator guitars, lap steel guitars, and conventional electric guitars. The technique of playing slide guitar was first made popular in African American blues by Slyvester Weaver in 1923 who used the slide on two recordings ‘Guitar Blues’ and ‘Guitar Rag’.
The first ‘electric blues’ song to use the slide was arguably Elmore James, who played a riff using the slide in his song ‘Dust My Broom’. Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, and Roy Rogers were also very influential in developing this style in the early days.
While the sliding technique originated from the cut off neck of a glass bottle, bottleneck slides still tend to have the same tubular shape and a length of 1” to 3”. There are a variety of glass slides available, from the borosilicate glass slides, which are often the cheapest type of guitar slide, up to the soda-lime glass slides, which are heavier and producer a better tone.
Lead glass slides are also a popular choice amongst professional guitarists. It’s also known that colouring the glass alters the timbre – adding iron oxide turns glass green, which creates a louder and sharper tone, compared to cobalt oxide, which colours the slide blue and produces an even louder tone.
Slides can also be made of brass, steel, copper, and many other materials. Which guitar slides do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below!
Music marketing deals Music law deals Touring & gigging deals Recording deals Music publishing deals Music distribution deals
