[Bluesman_s]

Hi everyone, just joined
I have been playing guitar for a year now and have mainly played rock/heavy metal music. I have always thought slide guitar sounded really good in american country music but that is not a style that i am interested in.
So i started learning blues.
I want to learn bottleneck but have no experience with a slide and need advice on what to do.
I have an sx strat copy with a one way[down] whammy bar which i don't use[it detunes the guitar] and a slightly bent forward neck. it cost me $200 australian and i want to use it for slide.
I also have an epiphone sg g400 vintage with really low action which i am using for jazz, rock, metal... and most everything else
With it costing $800 aus, there is a big quality difference but i don't want to raise the action so i'll use the strat copy.
i would apreciate any advice on setup, technique, types of slides, good music to listen to[both blues guitar and bottleneck] and whether i should get a teacher or just learn of the net.

[allthumbs]

hi bluesman. You have alot of choices to make. Do you want to play in open tuning or standard or dropped D, my choice. They all have good points . A rule of thumb is the thicker the strings, the fatter the tone. It is a trade off with the ability to bend. Heavier strings make it easier to keep the slide off the fretts. I would consider 12s on the light side. I am moving up to 16s for the tone which means damn few bends for me. Read through all the posts here for information on setting up your guitar as well as answers for most of your questions. We have a few guys here who I would consider pro or semi pro so you have a deep pool of experience to draw from. Read the intros and direct your questions to them. Kirk has some great slide lessons on his beginners guitar forum. They are for dropped D if your interested. Glad you found our forum.welcome.
allthumbs

[Bluesman_s]

Thanks allthumbs, ill read through the forum and the main site.
I think i'll use drop d tuning cause its got more cords but keeps the scales that i allready know

Bluesman.

[AcousticSlideBlues]

hI Bluesman -
check out this site for advanced slide blues free samples and download
EMusicTab.com
--good luck with your playing

[LightninBoy]

Welcome to the forum Bluesman.

If you plan on using dropped D tuning, then I suggest you get a copy of Kirks book "Plane Talk".
As a professional guitar teacher, I have seen and used a lot of different methods on approaching harmony and theory, and I consider Kirks book to be among the best.

As for your strat; get a set of either .012 > .052 (or) .013 > .056 nickel wounds, block off the whammy bar with either a small block of wood or some folded up paper (at the back, behind the tremelo block) and tighten the spring screws as far as you can to get the bridge sitting flat.
Raise your action a little, and maybe tighten your truss rod a little too.
You may have to widen the slots in the nut also. (Just use a bit of wet and dry sandpaper folded over).
I've posted measurements here and methods as well, you'll just have to find them.

I prefer a bottleneck for a slide, but anything will do, so long as it has a little weight behind it.

As for blues slide, I like pre-war blues a lot; guys like Tampa Red, Blind Willie Johnson, Son House, Charlie Patton, to name a few.
Chicago blues is also great, check out some early Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker, Elmore James.
There is more to this music than you may at first realise.
Good luck.