Judging by the number of emails we’ve received recently, there’s definitely more interest in slide guitar at the moment than I can remember for some time. But what’s the best way to set up a guitar for slide? Good question – and it’s been a while since we’ve shone any light on this topic (as far back as issue 430, to be precise). So, c’mon, let’s slide on down.
I’m going to focus on electric slide guitar in this month’s Mod Squad and start by saying that while there are no set rules for slide guitar setups, there are quite a few things to consider. Most obviously, there are plenty of ways to approach playing slide and to a certain extent that’ll affect how you could set up your guitar to achieve those clean slide sounds.
A lap steel, for example [pics 1 & 2], the first electric guitar, is designed to just play slide on. You don’t fret it – it doesn’t have frets! – and raising both the nut and saddle on a regular guitar achieves the same thing. Conversely, many players
