Lighter Tone Bar

Michael James · Post by **Michael James** » 24 May 2016 5:16 am

I have been using a John Pearse (7/8")X(3 1/4") 8.1oz stainless steel tone bar. I really like the bar but it's bit to heavy for my playing style.
I could go with a bit shorter bar but what I really need is for it to be and as light as possible. Any suggestions?

Mark Kocon · Post by **Mark Kocon** » 24 May 2016 5:45 am

Ceramic.

Rick Barnhart · Post by **Rick Barnhart** » 24 May 2016 5:48 am

You might check out Michael Hillman's powder coated bars. I don't have one, but lots of folks on here seem to love em.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ht=hillman

Jouni Karvonen · Post by **Jouni Karvonen** » 24 May 2016 5:51 am

http://www.bulletbars.com/index.html

My 1"Ã˜ 3 1/2" long bullet is hollowed to decrease weight.

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 24 May 2016 6:10 am

I'll be honest man.

I tried the lighter bars and heavy bars.

Ended up going for a Shubb SP1 but I wish it were a bit heavier.

Heavy bars have such a clean crisp tone. If that is what you're after use them. Also intonating your notes during bar slants it has a cleaner sound.

I prefer a slightly more mellow tone but If I had the best of both worlds I would get a Shubb SP1 shape with the same length heft/weight as a bullet bar.

Ian McWee · Post by **Ian McWee** » 24 May 2016 6:36 am

We make hand-blown crystal glass bullet tone-bars ~ weight-wise they come in between steel & ceramic (around 3 ounces) and lengths can be finished to suit any preference.

www.diamondbottlenecks.com/CrystalToneBars.html

Ian. (Diamond Bottlenecks)

Michael Lester · Post by **Michael Lester** » 24 May 2016 6:36 am

Rocky Mountain Slides...worth checking...very happy with mine..

http://www.rockymountainslides.com/chap ... e-bar.html

Jouni Karvonen · Post by **Jouni Karvonen** » 24 May 2016 6:40 am

Ian McWee wrote:We make hand-blown crystal glass bullet tone-bars ~ weight-wise they come in between steel & ceramic (around 3 ounces) and lengths can be finished to suit any preference.

www.diamondbottlenecks.com/CrystalToneBars.html

Ian. (Diamond Bottlenecks)

They made my favorite tricone bar.

Michael James · Post by **Michael James** » 24 May 2016 9:54 am

Wow, Now I have so many options.

Thank you everyone for your helpful suggestions! Now it's time to pull out the credit card and buy a few of these tone bars.

mj

Stephen Abruzzo · Post by **Stephen Abruzzo** » 24 May 2016 10:58 am

In addition to Diamond Bottleneck's crystal bars, which are excellent, there is also Paloma Stone Slides. These are also excellent, light-weight with a great feel in the hand and pretty much you don't worry about heat and humidity when you play with one.

Surprisingly good sustain considering the light weight.

http://stoneslides.com/products

Stephen Cowell · Post by **Stephen Cowell** » 26 May 2016 10:12 pm

Another +1 for Paloma Stone... they're cheap, buy more than one, since they do break if you drop them. I have a buddy that's over 80, he says the bar lets him keep playing, otherwise he'd have to give it up. The lightest bar you can get that actually works.

Lefty · Post by **Lefty** » 3 Jun 2016 4:47 pm

The one I am using for 6 string lap and Dobro is the Shubb with the walnut on it (I don't remember the part no.) It is fairly light and easy to grip.
I still use the old style railroad Dobro slides as well. I like the SP1 slide as well.
Lefty

Jamie Mitchell · Post by **Jamie Mitchell** » 4 Jun 2016 9:43 am

i have 4 or 5 glass (Pyrex?) bars of different shapes/sizes, one of which i use a lot. every gig, at least.
my favorite one broke, sadly.

the ones i've liked best are really small, barely covering all 6 strings.
they're really light, you barely feel them.

they aren't really a substitute for a normal bar, though.
very limited sustain on the lower strings. still plenty of sustain on the skinny ones, however.
anyways, that's what i Ike about them. it makes them great for playing anything remotely funky, or with gain.

i keep wanting to get around to trying on of the lead filled ones, just hasn't happened yet.

in any case, the glass bars are definitely worth checking out, just accept them for what they are.

j

Ian McWee · Post by **Ian McWee** » 4 Jun 2016 11:06 am

Hi All!

We're proud to announce our solid crystal glass bars will be available very soon from Dawn at Jackson Steel Guitars, Nashville TN. (our only stockist in the U.S carrying our crystal glass bars).

Over here at D.B's we've experimented with these lead-filled glass bars ~ unfortunately we found that due to the very thin glass walls of the outer casing (around 2mm - 3mm) there's really no durability as a serious 'working tool' ~ i've seen one topple over onto a table-top & shatter into a hundred pieces ~ way too fragile to offer as a professional piece of kit!

In theory, a lead-filled glass bar will offer the sweetest tone of any bar material ~ but if you do purchase one, be prepared to treat one like eggs!!

Slide On!

Ian (Diamond Bottlenecks).

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 4 Jun 2016 12:27 pm

I use a Dunlop 918. I wouldn't go too light or your tone will suffer.