Wolfram Michael Messer Signature Slide on eBay

[lonelyjelly]

No affiliation, just keep my eye out for cool slides ~ this is a fancy one!

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wolfram-Guitar-Slide-/165000886627?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

[Stevie]

I've kept a secret desire for an MS Wolfram so obviously I'm going to watch this one out too Lew, but head has to control heart I'm afraid, and moreover- I can't ever remember seeing MM play and actually use his own one in performance? The Tribotone gets a work out and old faithful too, but not the Wolfram as far as I can recall.

I think this has been explored before, but are they powdered / scintered tungsten or machined from stock? Suspecting the former, I observe that you can buy a beautifully finished tungsten wedding band that I can confirm never scratches shipped from China for maybe a fiver if you search and get lucky. They're perhaps 7mm long so nine of them end to end would be £70 max. Let's be generous and award ingenuity and say £140 for a slide. Nice mark up I'd say? But £330? Yikes. It's great if you have the insight to spot that niche.

Unless they're ground/bored/machined out that is- I'd like to see a YouTube clip of that process.

e&oe ...

[lonelyjelly]

Hey Stevie, you'd have to ask Michael but I'm pretty sure these are bored from the rod and take a jolly long time to finish. I'd be interested if it weren't way too big for me. But you're quite right - I too have only ever seen Michael use his old faithful 'bottleneck' slide live.

Best,
Lew

[hokumjim]

Hi Lew, As an old engineer, I think that this is a sintered tube that has been diamond polished. The only thing that will bore out sold Tungsten will be diamond tooling. Almost all of the available tungsten is sintered. It is totally pointless as anything that is harder than the PBronze on the strings will not wear out, the string will. I make PBronze slides to order, also 316 S Steel, they last forever and don't scratch up at all.

[lonelyjelly]

Hey man

Any info I have about these Wolfram slides has come from their website and conversation with the likes of Ian McWee, Michael etc.
wolframslides.com/slides_carbide.php

Now then, tell me more about your slide making services! Maybe a pm if you're worried about breaking advertising rules 👍😎

Cheers
Lew

[Michael Messer]

I do use it, but I am a creature of habit and like "old faithful". When you saw me a few weeks ago I was using a German silver DaddySlide, which I like a lot.

This is the Wolfram...


I am no engineer and cannot discuss this in any more detail. I do know that most TC wedding rings are made from a much cheaper quality TC and that they are easier to produce than the Wolframs were. The Wolfram is not cut from a tube or bored from a rod, they were made in moulds and then diamond polished. It is not sintered. Nothing I have ever used is as smooth or as strong. The finish is so smooth that sometimes it actually lacks a little friction and drag. It is like using a slide on oiled strings. The tone of tungsten carbide is unique, as is the tone from every material.

I no longer have any business connection with Wolfram and I would be making nothing out of this sale, but I can tell you that very few were made and there will never be any more. It is what it is.

Shine On
Michael.

[lonelyjelly]

Thanks Michael, this is interesting stuff in terms of it being constructed as a mould. As you know from previous chats I am strangely fascinated by all this! Ha

I think it's ID is too big for me to justify any serious interest but I would love to try it. I should probably borrow yours 😉😉🤣🙈🥳!!

Cheers
Lew

[tigercubt20]

i have a martin simpson signature tungsten carbide slide, also its ss cheaper partner. its probably the heaviest tube you can get, its my main slide. i am used to its weight, i pack my 3 slides with draught excluder, it sticks to most slides but doesnt want to stick to the tungsten slide and falls out, but it works for me, i just poke it back in. dont understand why people fuss about getting a slide that fits perfectly, when a roll of draught exluder and tiny scissors solves instantly. my main slide is the tungsten, followed by my old magnesium bronze slide made from an old ships prop, i rescued from a wreck dive. the ss slide is just a backup. i have made a utube video using the tungsten slide on a instrumental, it was made for a facecrack group, i would post it on here, but i would need an in detail explanation how to, it took me a lot of effort to actualy get it onto utube and facecrack.

[lonelyjelly]

Aug 5, 2021 13:40:38 GMT tigercubt20 said:

i have a martin simpson signature tungsten carbide slide, also its ss cheaper partner. its probably the heaviest tube you can get, its my main slide. i am used to its weight, i pack my 3 slides with draught excluder, it sticks to most slides but doesnt want to stick to the tungsten slide and falls out, but it works for me, i just poke it back in. dont understand why people fuss about getting a slide that fits perfectly, when a roll of draught exluder and tiny scissors solves instantly. my main slide is the tungsten, followed by my old magnesium bronze slide made from an old ships prop, i rescued from a wreck dive. the ss slide is just a backup. i have made a utube video using the tungsten slide on a instrumental, it was made for a facecrack group, i would post it on here, but i would need an in detail explanation how to, it took me a lot of effort to actualy get it onto utube and facecrack.

If you copy and paste the web address it should be easy enough :-) I'd be interested to hear it

[lacerta]

I want to see the one from a shipwreck!

[tigercubt20]

Aug 5, 2021 20:59:44 GMT lacerta said:

I want to see the one from a shipwreck!

i think i have managed to post my first vid, if you go to it, and click on my name tag, you should be able to view my second vid, using my fab mm blues 28, and my old prop slide, i never polish this slide, it seems to excite the strings in an interesting way. playing the slide guitar after a hard day is my form of meditation, it levels my head, and eases my mind.

[bonzo]

Did anyone here get it?
Had a bid myself, figured not that many around. 🤔😊👍🎸

Best wishes to you all, John

[Michael Messer]

Aug 12, 2021 10:45:15 GMT bonzo said:

Did anyone here get it?
Had a bid myself, figured not that many around. 🤔😊👍🎸

Best wishes to you all, John

I don't know exactly how many, but we are looking at a small number that were made.

Shine On
Michael

[snakehips]

Hi there !

£122 !!!!
OMG ! Far too heavy for me, and anyway, I love the look, variety, weight & feel of Diamond Bottleneck’s german glass slides - so wasn’t gonna punt that sort of money on something I’m fairly sure I’ll find far too heavy & long.
Would perhaps have had my interest pique’d if it was circa 52mm long, but probably still not

[lexluthier]

Yep, it(they) is hopefully winging it’s way to me and I have to say, I am absolutely delighted!
I’m having one of those strange periods of coincidence and synchronicity at the moment. A few weeks back I was on the verge of putting a post in ‘Tin can alley’ asking if anyone had one for sale or to at the least put the thought in some forum members mind who may have decided it’s not quite for them.

I already have the full fat Martin Simpson version, it was the only slide I owned until Michael kindly sent me a gratis Diamond bottleneck with my fantastic MM Blues in June. The Wolfram is an utterly wonderful piece of kit changed my playing life completely.

The only drawback I had with it was on lighter strung acoustics and electrics because as we know, it’s very heavy! So I have had the thought for some 4 or 5 years now that the MM model would be great, as well as the MS model, not instead of.
Michaels comments now explains quite why they were recently unavailable on the Wolfram website to order(thought it was a COVID thing) I was getting tired of waiting so hence the thought of reaching out to forum members.

So imagine my delight when Mr LonelyJelly posted! Big thanks to you dude, I hadn’t spotted it at that point.
And John, just so you know, my max bid was £250, I was resolute dude!

I paid £122 for the 2 just for reference(a stainless steel MS signature model was thrown into the deal). It’s not for everyone shelling out so much I know and understand, but in my world, I just got a bargain! If I lost mine today, I’d be re-ordering tomorrow without a second thought. They are fantastic.

’nuff said, Chris