Wall thickness of a glass bottleneck

[dirk]

Hello,
I'd like to buy a glass bottleneck. Which effect does the wall thickness have to the sound? Does more wall thickness produce more sustain?

Dirk

[Deleted]

My experience is that it is the weight of the slide that's important, so I prefer slides cut from a glass bottle, as they tend to be thick and dense. I find the commercial "Pyrex" slides such as Jim Dunlop just don't do it for me with their thin walls and light weight. Also, they are made from boro-silicate glass "labororatory glass" instead of old fashioned cheap soda-ash glass (or expensive lead crystal glass). For some reason, boro-silicate feels rather dead..technically there's little difference in density and hardness between it and soda-ash glass, but slides made from lab glass always feel light and soft . Maybe it's the way it seems to conduct heat better, they always feel quite warm to the touch, almost like plastic, and maybe that's what puts me off!

It's a personal thing, you just have to try it for yourself..and suit yourself, everyone is different.

[Ian McWee]

Hi Dirk,

John is spot-on regarding boro-silicate (Pyrex) - cheap to produce & purchase, but not a good tone is you're a serious slide player.

Soda-lime bottleneck glass is a great all-rounder, offering good sustain and a nice 'bite' to the tone - hand-blown lead crystal offers a warmer, smoother tone.....more 'mid-range' than the soda-lime bottleneck.

Most good quality authentic bottlenecks have wall thicknesses of 4mm, which is ideal for most slide-players - hand-blown lead crystal can be made to wall-thicknesses of between 3mm - 7mm.

Slide On!

Ian.

[Michael Messer]

Hi Dirk,

The advice and information given to you by Ian & John is spot on, but in my opinion the only way to find the right tools is by trial & error. In my early days of discovering slide guitar, there wasn't a tubular object that didn't get cut up and turned into a slide. Bottles, chair legs, water pipes, gas pipes, copper pipes, etc..... and over time I formed an opinion about what I like and what I don't.

I have used the same two or three slides for 20 years, but still never stop looking and collecting. I have a large collection of slides, a few dozen, and I would find it hard to get rid of any of them.....just in case!

Get a Diamond slide from Ian, a brass and/or steel slide from Jan at Daddyslide, and a few home made ones, and try them all.

Best wishes,

Shine On
Michael.

[mitchfit]

----$00.02...

must admit to never having tried glass slides. my first try was likely just a bronze bushing sold by ernie ball corp [methinks] here across the pond back in the 70's. was strictly for an old martin D-18 that i bought with a very bowed neck, tuned to open D. couldn't find any local luthiers in the seattle washington area that anyone knew could bend the neck back, and had done so to another martin with success in the past. was a 1964 model without an adjustable truss rod. just kept it for slide work as i didn't want to part with it long enough to send it back to martin.

then a mfgr that i can't recall came out with a "leo kottke model" slide. very much like my straight walled bushing, but with a slight radius machined in it to match the string placement, and much heavier wall thickness to keep it from being too thin in the middle. now i could play my D 40C guild with a very low action using slide, and not get the clicking "railroad track" effect of frets due to pushing hard enough to engage all of the strings.

never looked any further into slides after that, but after reading the thoughts posted above, that will likely change to include some glass offerings as well.

any body know of glass slides with the neck radius ploy included in the package?

thanx,
mitchfit

[Ian McWee]

Glass slides with a 'useable' curve are almost impossible to find these days. We bought up dozens of Spanish Wine Vinegar bottles from a well-known supermarket chain (S*******y's) because the curved sides matched the string radii of old 7.5" fingerboard profile necks...they changed the bottle neck shape

Most bottlenecks claiming to offer a curved side usually have the first 1" of neck tapered ~ and then flare-out. If you place this sort of neck onto the strings of a 7.5" radius neck you'll find the middle two strings won't touch glass!!!

Dunlop offered a 'curved-sided' Pyrex slide - but this appeared to match the type mentioned above, tapering - then the wrong flare.

We still keep a lookout for the ideal 'curved-sided' bottleneck slide, but none currently available seem to fit the bill.....

Slide On!

Ian.

[mitchfit]

Ian,

thank you for that information. i will also keep a lookout.

mitchfit

[Deleted]

a suggestion...why not just recut the nut [and possibly the bridge] grooves to provide a flat surface for your slide playing then it doesn't matter what the fingerboard radius is...that's what I did on my old Yamaha SG500 electric...and on the other point I use two of Ian's Ultimates with wall thicknesses of 8mm and 4mm - I swop according to my mood...they both make me sound much better than I really am

[mitchfit]

davidrees,

that would be an option, but modifying some of my slide choices would be near sacrilege.
others have been highly modified with no remorse whatsoever. none to flatten the strings
out for slide work though, then i would need to keep two different slides on hand. doing
so would also sacrifice the excellent action of the guild.

i'm a-scared to go into which is which lest i should entail the wrath of the purists. i will
defend my actions by including those needed mechanical repairs before i bought them.

thank you for your thoughts, however.

mitchfit

[Deleted]

One of my favorite slides for tone is a thick walled shot glass. I have two I bought at antique malls for 50 cents each. Only drawback is that they get heavy after a while. Works better for lap style playing.