Do you need high action for slide guitar?
If you’re serious about playing slide, you need to raise your guitar’s action so that the strings don’t hit the frets. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a very high action to get a good sound – a medium action can often be high enough.
How high should my string action be?
In order to measure the height of your guitar’s strings, you should have either a ruler, a feeler gauge, or a specialized string action gauge. For acoustic guitars, our recommendation bumps up to 7/64th of an inch (2.78mm) on the bass side and 5/64th of an inch (1.98mm) on the treble side.
How should a slide fit on your finger?
Fit. The slide should fit your finger snugly enough to keep from falling on your toe when you relax your hand at your side, fingers straight down. This will keep your hand muscles from having to hold the slide in place on your finger, freeing them to play guitar, which after all is the point.
Which finger is best for slide guitar?
Essentially, wearing it on your 2nd finger (middle finger) will provide great control over the slide, and wearing it on your 4th finger (pinky) will mean you can reach a long way up the neck (especially with an acoustic or non-cutaway guitar) and have many spare fingers behind the slide for interspersing normal playing …
Can you play slide with low action?
But a big but here, playing slide requires a good feel and technique, guitar with low action can still be a decent slide guitar with right “feel” (do not over exert pressure on the slide when centered over fret.)
Are heavier strings better for slide guitar?
To play slide guitar, the strings should be a little bigger than what you would use to play standard guitar. You can still play other guitar styles, but it will be significantly harder. If you’ve played slide guitar some and want to be able to switch back and forth, then I think . 010’s is the way to go.
How can I set my guitar to slide?
And if you dedicate a guitar to slide, then you can set it up to work with whatever tuning you want. Increase the string height, customize the string set gauges, change the string radius at the bridge (probably to decrease the radius – flatter is easier to make chords for slides).
How tall should the strings be on an electric guitar?
Because of all these factors, electric guitar action can be set far lower than that on acoustic guitars, typically anywhere from .15″ to .05″ lower, on average. In order to measure the height of your guitar’s strings, you should have either a ruler, a feeler gauge, or a specialized string action gauge.
Why are the strings higher on a slide guitar?
This means the middle strings are higher off the guitar body than the outside strings (although not higher off the frets because the fretboard is radiused). Because a slide generally has a straight edge, some argue that setting your strings so they’re in a straight line is best for slide playing.
Do you need a nut for a slide guitar?
The most obvious thing that most slide guitars will need is an increase in action. If the strings are too close to the frets, you’ll probably get clunking and general nastiness when you play. However, rather than just increase the action by raising the bridge (or shimming the saddle on an acoustic) it’s probably more important to consider the nut.