Slide Guitar

Acoustic Slide Guitars

Although my guitars are currently priced at the cheaper end of the scale, the quality and tone are of the highest standard. The price will go up as they become better known.

This forum compares a number of lap steels including mine

Check out some audio samples

Click on pictures to enlarge

	I am making slide guitars in two scale lengths: Standard guitar scale is 644mm(25 3\8"), and the longer version is 683mm(almost 27"). The difference is mostly to do with what pitch you want to tune to. The fixed bridge guitars have a huge sustain and full bass. The main difference between Blackwood top and Cedar top vesions is that the light weight Cedar has a higher pitch than the heavier Blackwood. This effects the top end in a subtle way that can be heard on the recordings. I currently use Tasmanian Blackwood on my back, sides and head stock.
	The floating bridge version allows higher tension strings (like flatwound dobro strings) or for using 8 strings like the guitar on the right. The sustain of the floating bridge is not as loud as the fixed bridge sustain. This results in giving the notes a "harder" sound. The difference can be heard on my audio page.
	This head design makes the tuners far more accessible than on a standard head. It is also very easy to fit the strings. These high quality Gotoh 16:1 chrome 503 tuners (left) can be upgraded to 18:1 black Gotoh 510s (right) for $60Aus
	The neck inlays are highly visible in peripheral vision which is very important during a performance.The multiple sound hole design allows the guitar to display a full 24 frets. I also find them better for recording than a round soundhole.
	The 50mm/2in removable brass nut fits deep into the neck and is set for a string height of around 12mm. The strings are 8.5mm apart at the nut. The extra width helps when using the slide on individual strings.
	My heads are not "slotted" like square neck dobros that are a nightmare to restring. Rather, the ends of the rollers are exposed, making string replacement easy. Another difference is that my heads are set so that pushing with your thumb tightens the string. (the same direction as a normal guitar head)
	My instruments are hand made in limited numbers which means that there is a waiting period. It also means that with proper care, they will last a lifetime.
	The guitars are sent in a CNB plywood case. It is a normal guitar case with the accessory compartment removed, but it fits very well.

More info and specs

Fret scale length - 644mm or 683mm.....Nut width - 50mm (8str 60mm)
Bridge spacing - 58mm between outer strings

Fingerboard markings

Using large inlays as fingerboard markers is very different to using dots. The large wood inlays are good for seeing where you are with peripheral vision. (without looking directly at the fingerboard) If you were to include all the frets that are marked on a normal guitar (3, 5, 7, 9, etc) the markings become useless because they look the same. After a lot of experimenting, I have found that just using 5, 7, 12 and their octaves is by far the easiest way to find your position. I can do added frets for those who really want them, but I can promise you that after a couple of weeks of using my system, you would understand exactly why I have ended up using it as my standard. You really don't need a marker to show you 3 frets above or below the octave and you can always use stickers while getting used to it.

Bridge and Pickup

The spacing at the bridge is 58mm between outside strings, which is a good fingerpicking size. The pickups I use as my standard are a custom made K&K, which has classical width but is balanced for steel strings. I charge $140aud to supply and fit it. Despite the low price, I find these to be the best undersaddle pickup I have come across, having a true tone and needing no boosting as they have more output than a strat.

I must point out that mixers and most amp inputs are not designed to take ultra high impedance piezo pickups. Most modern FX pedals, or signal processors can handle higher impedances, so using one between the guitar and the mixer is a good way to match the impedance.

Longer scale slide guitars

The word 'scale' refers to string length, not to instrument size. A longer scale guitar allows for a lower range of tunings. In slide guitars this is usually called a "baritone" but as there is no defined string length for such an instrument, the term is not that useful. My long scale is just one fret longer than my standard scale which makes it just under 27 inches.

Strings and tunings

A good set of strings for slide is GHS Phosphor Bronze True Medium. (also available as cryogenic) The extra heavy top and bottom are good for DADF#AD tuning. This set of strings can also be tuned up a tone to EBEC#BE on my standard scale guitar without a problem. (Jeff Lang uses these strings in this tuning) For G bluegrass tuning GBDGBD, I would use this chart to work out the string gauges. I don't recommend the flat wound slide strings used on Dobros.

My long scale guitar will handle the DADF#AD tuning but will also have plenty of power in CGCEGC tuning. That is the main practical difference between the two scale lengths.

The guitars are optimised to a string tension of around 70 to 80kgs. (150lbs) They will handle more tension than that, but increasing the tension a lot more will cause damage. Although my guitars are stronger than others, you can still destroy them with excessive string tension. Here is an excellent string tension calculator and here is a chart for calaculating string gauges.

Dynamic Differences in the Bridge

A fixed bridge guitar has a fast attack because the soundboard is already under tension. (the full tension of the strings is twisting the soundboard) The floating bridge however has the string tension supported by a tailpiece which means that only a small amount of that tension is being applied to the soundboard, and that is only applied as downwards pressure. (not the twisting pressure of the fixed bridge) This means that plucking a string hard or soft on a floating bridge instrument results in a greater variation of loud to soft volume than you would hear on a fixed bridge guitar. This increase in dynamic range tends to requires a bit more control.

Another difference between the two bridge designs is that the floating bridge guitar takes slightly longer for the plucked string to reach full volume. This minutely slower attack coupled with a faster decay gives the note a more percussive sound. If you look at a range of tailpiece (floating bridge) guitars including f-hole jazz guitars, Maccaferris (Django style), and resonator guitars like Dobros, you will notice that they are all mostly used as melody instruments. When they are used for chords, those chords are very percussive and are usually choked with the left hand.

So the floating bridge version has the advantage of individual melody notes being more distinct and having more dynamic response to finger pressure. The fixed bridge however, has the advantage of the notes and the background sustain blending together and making the guitar generally easier to play. If you want the sound to fill a lot of space then the fixed bridge is the right guitar. If you want the individual notes to stand out more then you might want the rounded punch of a floating bridge guitar.