Slide Guitar

[woodelf]

For anyone beginning to play slide/bottleneck guitar, which is the best tuning in which to start?...not standard I would imagine. Ta Muchly.

[woodelf]

Yeah Richard, Ta....it was great!

[Sachs]

Hiya wood! :0)
sounds like you've found something you really enjoy & can get lost in, a new channel for the soul!

[woodelf]

Oooo, steady on Sachs, a bit too deep there, it was a chance in a lifetime and even though I keep thinking 'who knows...?' it may never happen again...but who knows...smile. x

[Marijn]

Are you the answerbanker who is an artist? If you are, can you give me a link to your website again, please.

[woodelf]

Hi notafish, well I'm the ABer who is a blind artist, so if you mean me then my site is:-

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/theartsight

I hope you like what you see.

[Marijn]

Yes, I liked them. I've seen them before. I just wanted to show them to my son, he liked them too. Thanks.

[woodelf]

A great pleasure Tree....well, if you're notafish then you could be anything and as you can see from my paintings I love trees...so you're a tree; at least for this answer anyway...smile - I only hope I do the trees justice?

[woodelf]

...and here's me going on about saving me pennies to buy a new guitar...but how? There's a local music shop here and it's got loads of guitars, but I don't expect them to let me try out each and every one, so how do I go about choosing a good guitar; and what is a good guitar? I guess I'll stick with acoustic and I suppose the sound is the most important part, but if you've only ever played one kind and want to advance...then how?...any ideas out there in AB land?

[Marijn]

Hi Woodelf. I did particularly like the trees in your pictures. smile

[Marijn]

Hello, Woodelf. This is Notafish's son.

If you could tell me some of your favourite artists/records/songs with the kind of guitar sound you're after, I can point you in the right direction and narrow down your options.

[woodelf]

Okay, Son of Notafish! I guess my main areas of music are folk and folk/blues/rock, but I'm mainly a strummer with a bit of fingerpicking. People like Tim Buckley, Bridget St. John, Nick Drake, Incredible String Band, early John Martyn, Bert Jansch, Martin Simpson, Lol Robinson, John Fahey, Andy McKee, Tom McRae, Elbow, John Gilmour Smith, some Dylan, Mississippi John Hurt and probably others I can't think of at the moment. I do like a good sound on the open D string though and as I've said earlier somewhere, I'm wanting to learn more alternate tunings and possibly slide guitar. I have an acoustic Eko six stringer at the moment and though I've been chastised about deriding this guitar - and it's a good one to learn on - I feel I need a better guitar, especially after this weekend's gig. I hope that's enough info for you?

[Marijn]

'Son of Notafish' here. If you're wanting to get into slide guitar and get those classic sounds, I think you should try a resonator guitar (the large, metal-bodied acoustics) as they have the perfect tone for slide blues and such. Ozark are a good brand to check out but there are plenty of others. Give one a go at your local guitar emporium and see if the tone and feel suits you. I reckon you'll like the sound; it'll be quite different from your Eko.

If you start a new question thread, I'm sure you'll get more replies and suggestions. Good luck!

[Marijn]

While I'm at it, here's a clip of some mean slide blues on a resonator guitar courtesy of youtube. Click below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccF5SQcGxdM

[woodelf]

Thanks 'Son of' for your tips and info,but I think I'd better hone whatever rhythm and picking skills I've got first before I get into slide, which seems to need a whole lot more technique than I have at the moment...to spare anyway....but Thanks Again.