Short Slides For Slide Guitar

[Stephen Abruzzo]

Just a quick musing here as to how many of you use or try slides that are under 2" in length???? Pros/cons other than the obvious......"you can't barre all 6 strings with a shorter slide."

I like my slides around 1.75" (45mm) as I don't need to barre all 6 strings and the slide is more maneuverable (sp ?), easier to wield, etc. when I'm playing my roundneck reso.

What say all of you?

[Ben Sims]

Are you talking about slides that fit on your finger for bottleneck-style slide playing, or about bars for lap steel? For bottleneck, I could see a shorter slide being helpful at times; for lap steel, I find a too-short bar hard to hold on to and don't see any advantage for maneuverability. I would go for a lighter bar rather than a shorter one if that was a concern.

[Lynn Oliver]

As far as maneuverability goes, I felt there was an improvement going from a regular 3" bar to a Jerry Byrd 2 3/4" bar.

[Wayne D. Clark]

Ben, I think he is talking about slides that slip over the finger.

Wayne D. Clark

[Stephen Abruzzo]

Sorry.....slides that slip on your finger....for slide guitar......ala Duane Allman, Lowell George and Bonnie Raitt.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I have a couple Dunlop slides ordered I think they are 51mm, right at 2". I have a pretty small hand and I believe the # is 212. Heavy wall, Pyrex. I wear it on the pinky sos I can fret with the other 3. This is as long or longer than I like them, but I can't seem to find their appr. 1" slide that they used to make. I think they do make a metal one though.

I was going to have a glass cutter size one of them down to about 1 1/4" to 1 1/2", but so far I haven't found anyone that will attempt it.

Will Ray used to use one about the size of a ring for one or two strings at a time. I've also seen theses ring type on the online musical supply houses.

[Martin Nicholes]

Here is a interesting video of Will Ray demonstrating his stealth slides.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFmHAmkNdzU