The Steel Guitar Forum

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?

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.

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.

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

Wayne D. Clark

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

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.

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

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