bottleneck/slide?

[jerrymartin]

Not that I want to be like Sam Bush or anything http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif, but I'm currently thinking about how satisfying it'd be to play bottleneck blues, and, well - I play mandolin, not guitar, doggone it. Do any of you good folks play bottleneck on mando? Any recommendations on sources of good tunes, learning technique, etc.? Is it easier or more musical to play a four-string (like Sam's resonator) than an 8-string?

Much obliged,
Jerry M.

[dunbarhamlin]

Closest I've come across would be the section on slide bouzouki by Chipper Thompson on the first of the Zoukfest 2001 DVDs (http://www.zoukfest.com/instructional.html) - great stuff

[John Rosett]

try playing with just 4 strings tuned A-D-A-D low to high. i used to have a junky mando that i kept in that tuning. the problem was nobody wanted to hear me play it.
john

[kbarry]

Jerry:

Rich DelGrosso had a slide mandolin article in the Spring 2001 issue of Mandolin Magazine. Not sure if it is still available.

Ken

[smilnJackB]

Jerry! Broaden your horizons. Find a cheap guitar and tune it for slide. You can find free tuning and other instructions for open G or open D slide. A cheap guitar will work fine, really the higher the action the better for slide. Buy a glass slide, cut off some copper or steel pipe or use a long automotive tool socket that will fit over your finger. Good luck and have fun. Jack
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[floyd floar]

Sorry Jerr- I'm sure I'm in the minority on this one, but slide mando just doesn't do it for me. I love slide guitar, dobro, lap, pedal, and all things Hawaiian but I think SmilinJack is right- go the guitar route. JMHO.:(

[Michael Wolf]

Jerry,

take a look at the video clip that Dan Beimborn made from Chipper Thompson, playing the slide mando. He does it very successfully. The thread is somewhere on the board, don't remember the title. Playing slide on tenor guitar works also very well. I use GDGD for this.

Cheers
Michael

[bjc]

Jerry. on occassion I play slide on mando in standard tuning. It's mainly just for effect and I would not play it all the time. But I have found it useful and it freaks people out a little. Now, I should also mention that I got into slide the backwards way...I bought a dobro and struggled for a while, then I applied slide to guitar (which is my main instrument)...and finally sometimes on mando...just go ahead a try it...I don't think I'd look for it to be used all the time, but hey you never know...good luck and as always have a good time

[ira]

if done right, it sounds great. on a thread a while back niles h. suggested using 2 lug nuts for sliding. check the archives.

[smilnJackB]

Jerry,
Your post led me to trying more slide guitar. It's harder than it looks! For me, it is fun in small doses. I can almost make a bluesy version of Nearer My God To Thee work.
Jack