A few months ago, I discovered Dylan Adams (YouTube channel) in a Rhett Shull video. This prompted me to put a slide back on my pinky. While I was at it, I recorded a video to document my progress, with two different slides.
Here's what it looks like on video after just a few hours' work, so bear with me as my intonation is far from perfect (but I'm working on it!).
One solo, two slides
The two slides I play in this video were kindly offered to me by the French builders:
- One in wood (boxwood) by Lionel from La Voix de son Mètre (Facebook page)
- One in marble by Kris from Marblenecks (Facebook page).
The chord chart is from Don't Know Why, that fabulous Norah Jones song I discovered in a recent Hugo Martin live show (in French).
The guitar is in standard tuning.
The hardware settings are exactly the same between the two types of slide.
Gear used
- Guitar: ES 339 Pro Epiphone
- Pedals: Blues Driver BD-2 Boss, Echo Baby Lovepedal, Strymon Flint
- Ampl: F-Type Kelt
- Sound: OX Box Universal Audio
- Console: stereo Hall Reverb
Conclusion
Slide-playing is great fun, even if it's also very demanding, because you have to be precise to get the intonation right. There's still a long way to go to reach the stratospheric level of Théo Cormier, but it's a lot of fun.
As for the slide material, I was a little skeptical when Lionel offered me one of his Boxwood slides in Issoudun to try out. As it turns out, the sound is very close in both cases. You get a very nice sustain with wood, contrary to what I might have imagined.
In fact, between wood and marble, it's more a question of playing feel. The Marblenecks slide is much heavier, so you have to adapt your playing. The same goes for the wooden slide from La Voix de Son Mètre, which feels very light.
Well, back to work to improve my sliding chops!
Pierre Journel.
