Brett Garsed Discussion

[Myke]

A bit of advice needed from anyone in the know..

I'm a pretty bad slide player, truth be told. I remember cracking it out in a rehearsal for the first time about 7 years ago, only to witness the same expression on the face of several semi-pro players... It was of course !! I just like the sound of it really so I've dabbled since then but still cant really get a good tone....

I've been asked to teach it a few times from students and I know the basics which has been enough to get them started but I always seem to have an issue with the action on my guitars. I run a fairly low action but it's not obseen however I often just scrape some of the frets, especially closer to the neck. Am I digging in too hard? I play with 10's and use a glass slide if that helps.. I like to have one set-up for everything so the thought of re-tuning and adjusting height for the odd track fills me with dredd!!

If there's any other advice, it'd be appreciated. I mean, how low/high should the action be, realisticaly? Some great technique pointers on the rock improv DVD btw.

Thanks

Mike

[bretto212]

I read a great interview with Duane Allman and he said it was the same for him when he started playing slide with everyone looking at him like ,"Oh no, he's going to do it again!" so don't worry too much. It takes a bit a of time to find your tone with it but once you get over that you're on your way.
I still hit the frets occasionally, especially on the high E string so it's a bit of a compromise. You're on the right track with the glass slide though. I had to search for a while to get just the right density and weight of Dunlop slide. I wish I could remember the model #...210 or 211 maybe?
I use .011 to .050 strings which really helps beef up the tone while having a fairly low action although my action isn't anywhere near as low as most people think. Just hang in there and persevere with it and it'll happen.

[cho_888]

hey Brett when you play slide, do you stick to standard tunning or play with some open tunnings?

[Big Kev]

Brett always plays slide in standard tuning - in fact that's part of the mystique of Brett's slide playing, and I think also part of the reason that he doesn't sound like Duane Allman et al. Some people even have trouble picking Brett's slide parts! (Caveat: probably non-players).

At the risk of sounding like a used-car salesman, if you want the lowdown on Brett's slide technique and approach, grab the instructional DVD - it's all there.

Kev

[bretto212]

When I was about 13 and on the good advice of my mate Glenn Quill I bought a cheap Les Paul copy and tuned it to open A. Quilly recommended that I do that just to get started as it's much easier to enjoy what you're playing as you can pretty much hit any string. The good news is that it can be the cheapest guitar you can find as it makes no difference how well it's set up. Just chuck heavy strings on it, bump up the action and have fun. After a while you'll develop control of the muting etc and you can start to experiment in standard tuning.
The benefit of standard tuning is that you dont have to re-learn your fretboard and you can just carry a slide with you and play at any time as opposed having to re-tune or carry an extra guitar. Open tunings are amazing to use though and are a whole other discipline in themselves so explore them too.

[cho_888]

I was thinking of getting a lap steel built, just a plank of wood basically. I while back i experimented with some open tunnings and a tone bar slide. It is good fun, however i didnt really put in the effort. This was all done on old acoustics, i havn't played with a slide on my electric before. I imagine you would use the neck pick up?

[the second eye]

I'm not sure if anyone else has seen it but Brett was on the guitar show a while back,
he did a lot of slide guitar stuff, it was very cool he also did some pedal steel slide type licks also!

[bretto212]

I always use the back pickup for slide playing but it's all personal preference. My biggest influence as to how I imagine slide guitar sounding is David Lindley who I first heard on Jackson Browne's albums. He's a lap steel player (not pedal steel) and is so melodic it's just amazing. I was always attracted to non-blues slide players as the blues thing has just been done to death.
Derek Trucks is without a doubt the most amazing slide player I've heard in years. Just absolutely blew me away when I saw/heard his band at MI about a year ago. Only 24 years old too.

[Myke]

Some good advice, thanks.

Actually I sat down at the weekend to have a fiddle and I made some headway with the tone. I never realised (till I watched the instructional DVD) that some muting was required prior to the slide! Silly really but I'm starting to get it.

What seems really tough is the integration of the technique into my 'normal' paying. I tried a few phrases on the remaining fingers while wearing the slide and it was disasterous!! I'm still toying with different fingers to wear it on though..

I also realised, if you want to play slide on your ring finger and have just got married, opt for a slim ring design!!

Or a wider slide....

[seagate]

Been dabbling with the slide thing for a few weeks now, whilst I don't have spare guitar to string up with 11s and adjust the action (my tech would kill me, actually I'm sure he'd be happy to take my money again. )
I found that it works better at my level of "sliding" on a gtr with bigger frets. It still sounds like crap (my playgin that is) but at least the notes are cleaner...

michael

[toxer]

Am I late a bit with a reply?)

5 years ago when I decided to learn to play guitar, the only one available was made in '88 on a furniture factory - in fact the only guitars that were being made in russia for a great number of years. It's action was about 5-6mm (sorry for metric system).

Then 3 years ago I bought my electric with ~1.5mm action. And I would say low action is not a insurmountable hurdle but it calls for more control from a player. reducing the action on your guitar can realy show you all your weakness in your slide technique.