Hey guys!
I need to imporve my electric slide skills in regualr tuning. I can play a decent dobro slide, but when it comes to regualr tunings and trying slide on my regualr player guitar, it just doesn'thappen. I fret out instantly no matetr how I try my touch. I'm sure my problem is that I learned slid eon a high action dobro years ago and that techinique has molded into my playing.
Any suggestions or hints?
I've tried every damn slid eout there through the years too. Metal, clay, glass, porcelin, etc all sizes and shapes, still the same damn thing happens. I do prefer a regualr old medicine bottle type for my dobro playing.

Probably stated before the only slide I CAN play is a pinkly slide ala Johhny Winter. Takes a while to get used to it but I can still play chords(and conventional leads) then sneak in the slide. Higher action helps but the pinky has less finger strength....Took me a long time to get it but now its just "there"...dampening is very very important, with the pinkly slide I have all the rest of my digits and the palm of my picking hand as well.....

Jackster,

A few things. I have enough guitars (and you do too) to have 1 or 2 that are dedicated slide players. The red 86' LP Standard I got from Toyz is positively the BEST guitar for slide I've owned! It has slightly high action, but very low-profile frets--no fretting out or noise. You may have your action too low or strings might be a bit light--I'd say use at least .10's (Sonny Landreth uses .12's I think!). Warren Haynes should be shot, because he makes standard tuning slide sound so good and look easy. Open tunings are MUCH easier for me, just keep plugging with the std. tuning thing, it's just a big bear to wrestle...

Slide took a LONNNNG time for me to just sound decent. I had to slow down, stop using a pick (I use my 1st and bird finger, the others keep the strings quiet), and find the right slide. I like the tone of a good glass/coricidin bottle, but they are hard for me to control. I've found my sound in a 3/4" aluminum slide made by Bigheart slides--and it's also indestructible, which is a good thing for me.

Another hint. Try fuzz. Fuzz has more overtones/grease,etc. than say a TS type pedal. I've gotten stellar tones from my NeoDrive, Demeter Fuzzulator and Blackbox Inferno fuzz.

Lastly, and don't be pissed for me saying this, but for especially slide, you got to play with your ears--don't look at the neck and don't think about where you're going next--just play.

I think it's just getting used to lighter touch. When I have tried, I just get pissed because of the fretting out stuff and don't mess with it too long. I'll have to sit down and really focus I guess.
I thought baout setting up another one just for slide, but with this band lots of our stuff is impromtu and it just wouldn't happen.

Maybe try one gauge heavier set of strings(?) That'll take care of a little buzzing and fretting. Also, stick to the glass or thin metal - the lighter the slide the better.

If I had to have an instrument specifically set up for slide, I doubt I'd ever play slide live. As it is, I play slide for several tunes live with my main instruments (standard action and string gauge, standard tuning [occasionally dropped or double-dropped D]). I'm really careful with the low and high E strings, and mostly live within the inside four strings. The only thing that has consistently worked for me is a Dunlop glass 212 worn on the pinky. I like having loads of gain and compression available in reserve at the guitar's knobs. I live on the volume and tone knobs, and rarely max it out. I like analog delay straight into a tube amp.

In my bluesband I used to switch guitars, but I got too lazy. Now I'm used to play guitar on my 'normal' guitar (Strat, .010s, medium action) with a light brass slide. I like the added rawness, and its a bit heavier than glass so it helps sustain.

An overdrive/fuzz with inherent compression helps too. I play with a pick most of the time.

Just keep your wrist relaxed and get do some basic excersises, like playing scales with and without sliding to the note. Adding just enough presure to get a good note without hitting the frets.