Which SLIDE sounds BEST?

Tuesday Blues #246 (TB246):

In this video, we'll compare the tones of 4 different types of slides.
We'll play the same lick with a glass slide, stainless steel, ceramic and brass.

Which one is your favorite?

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LET'S CONNECT!

[ottolicht]

1:08 Glass slide
1:26 Stainless steel slide
1:43 Ceramic slide
2:02 Brass slide

[brentcantrell]

Drink a beer... break the bottle at the neck. If it’s not the right size or close to it. Drink another one. When desired size is reach. 120- 200 grit sand paper clean the edges. Drink another beer to celebrate your accomplishment. Corona extra works great. Not sure if the clear glass has something to do with it or not. But it works so much better than brown glass bottles.

[donpattonjr]

The steel slide was definitely my favorite sound...slightly more bluesy sound !

[simonsmith]

Glass, brass, or ass, nobody slides for free... :D

[Daverotherham]

I liked the tone of the ceramic best, the only type I haven’t used myself, ironically. I think you are right about weight mattering though. Light slides are a country blues sound, but rock slide is best with heavyweights. My go-to is a very hefty brass one, and before that was a steel spark plug socket wrench

[theburnman]

The glass sounded like delta blues so that’s my choice

[sonic-excess]

1:09 Glass
1:26 Steel
1:43 Ceramic
2:01 Brass

[andrewcox]

Wow! thank you for this! I simply fell in love with the tone and colour of the ceramic slide! I grew up playing metal and glss, but ceramic is my new direction.

[hotuish]

I have always been a brass slide guy. Electric, acoustic, steel… always brass. It feels like the brass connects fully with the steel strings.
I was impressed with the sound of the ceramic slide! I was surprised!!!

[wesleyfahlstrom]

My preference is the glass because the tones are crisp and clear. The ceramic is very similar to glass, but has a little darker sound. The steel and brass slides seem to have a twangy and even tinny sound to them. Sometimes the metal ones you can even hear the string vibrating.

[kevinmorrice]

to me, steel is a sharp sound, ceramic is a smoother sound, glass is clean and untainted, and brass adds that tube amp style warmth

[Blue_rd]

Thanks John.
Personally I preferred your ceramic and brass. They have warmer tones and much better sustain. I have a Moonshine ceramic and a Rich Robinson brass which I really like for those reasons. The brass one is tapered inside so it fits on a middle finger or pinky, depending on which way up you wear it, and it’s really comfortable to use.
There is a Moonshine with a smaller diameter than their standard, for a pinky, but the slide is the same size as the standard, which is pretty huge.
I think it depends on the guitar too, on a normal acoustic my heavy glass one sounds pretty good, on my resonator the brass slide always wins.
Cheers!

[captscratchybeard]

Never used a slide before and this helped a lot on which one I should try first.

[LVeMuiK]

I have a brass, a glass, and a mud slide. The mud slide is my favourite.

[carpo]

Wow I can't believe the difference between the brass and ceramic Slide, the brass is so much softer. I really like the Ceramics.
I don't know how hard you played, or if the microphone had a different level, but the ceramic definitely sounded cleaner.
Honestly I didn't expect to hear much difference but I definitely
, I've played around with slides for 25 years but I am only just now getting down to understand it. And I really like a slide that's about an inch and a half....been using an old vape tank glass globe works great. I like having my fingers free to play chords. All of them

[donald-parker]

The weight/density makes a huge difference. You could play 4 different glass slides (or brass, or steel, or ceramic) and they all sound different. I prefer a heavier slide because you get clearer notes and better sustain. But if you drop a glass slide or ceramic slide they can break. And a brass slide is not magnetic. I put a couple of disk magnets on the top and bottom of my guitar strap and use that to hold a steel slide.

[johnreidroberts]

When I first started learning slide I bought a cheap thin glass slide and it didn’t give off the best sound. However I accidentally dropped it and bought a new one made out of a whine bottle and boy those thicker glass walls make a huge difference in the feel and tone of my guitar. I play acoustic slide by the way.
Also the Magnesium slide sounds very close to glass but I prefer the actual heavier weight and feel of the glass.

[olgreybear]

I preferred the brass in this example. I’ve had a similar progression through different slides and my current favourite is a ceramic and also a cut glass crystal slide hand blown in the UK by Diamond Bottleneck Slide Co.

[soupbonep]

I liked the glass and stainless steel the best. I've only had stainless and ceramic and love them both. I've used beer bottles in a pinch in dark bars when I lost my slide, but didn't want to make a habit of it! But on your resonator, it's the glass and stainless. I love the way you play slide too. I've seen many demos on youtube and everyone overplays. With slide, the key is to let the note sing and that sounds sweeter and soulful.

[SunyCartoons]

I have a glass, a brass and a stainless steel and I love all of them. I think the glass is my favorite because it's smooth and warm sounding. My steel one has a sharper tone though it fits the right weight for my finger. The brass is heavy but it's got a nice brashy tone to it.
I'd like to get a ceramic just to complete my collection and have more of a variety.