Players... How do you get a clean sound when just hitting top or middle string and sliding the bottom? Everytime I try to add an open string before or after I slide, I get that darned string buzz! It happens on fretless and fretted guitars. It's hard to get a cool delta blues sound when string buzz is giving me the blues!!! It almost sounds like the sound you'd get when a string isn't tight and it seems to "rattle" a bit. Suggestions?
I thank you, and so do the people hearing me practice!
Rick
Replies
Dampening the string with your finger or killing the bee before you start recording...
(Sorry dont kill bees we need them!!)
Isn't this why we need a truss rod?
the easiest way to fix the problem is to stop using a slide. its what i did, but it sounds to me like you want to play slide, so yeah get a heavier slide, play with it in your lap, and as always practice practice and then when you think youve had enough practice, practice some more. and remember you will always have a little bit of noise
Maybe I mis-stated the issue... The slide over my bottom "thinnest" string is okay and clean, but when I pick at the top string open (fattest) that's when I get the rattle buzz... Am I supposed to have my slide on all 3 strings when doing slow type john mcnair stuff?
Ah. If you want a clean slide chord, then yes. Sounds like your slide is not pressing down fully on your thickest top string, because it is angled up just slightly. Flatten it out to more horizontal across the fretboard, see if that helps. Demonstrate this to yourself by using the Kid's suggestion, and play it lap style, so you can see / hear how it's supposed to sound. Then flip it round fingerstyle, and try it again.
I've found that timing is everything. If you have hit an open note and then want a rattle free slide note, then you have to damp the string just exactly before you hit it with the slide. I find that I can't consciously make that happen without making a big gap in the sound. You have to sort of imagine the result and let your fingers work it out. It also helps if you slide up to the intended note rather than try to hit it straight on. This way your slide is approaching the note in two dimensions (moving toward the string and up to the intended note position or fret) simultaneously. That sort of eases in the rattle. If your index finger is following the slide, then you get the damping almost automatically.
Hope that helps.
Lots of ways to tackle this one, methinks. I have the same problem at times. I've attempted to fix it in the following ways:
1) Listening closely to the old blues men. Some of 'em were clean, some of 'em were clangy. Sometimes, that rough clang is the sound you want, so incorporate it as part of your style, sorta like the cat that falls off the top of the fence while stalking a bird: "Hey, I MEANT to do that!" Conversely, a lot of the clean slide players did all their incredible stuff on one string only, the highest pitched one. Then try fingerpicking the other open strings. Easiest way to do that is to angle your slide finger upwards, so that the slide only contacts that one string. It takes practice, which leads us to #2...
2) Work slow. Really slow. Get your slide tone as accurate as possible. It seems painful at first, because we all wanna rip like Duane Allman, but even he didn't know how to play slide when he first started. Once you can accurately slide from note to note on a three note run, try throwing in an open or fingered, non-slide note. Pretend you are building a brick wall.
3) Try more than one slide type. The standard beer bottle neck is slightly curved, which can facilitate the angled-up technique mentioned in #1 above. There are a variety of slide rings / ring bars on the market that seek to deal with this issue, as well. One of the ways I found works for me, was a $1.37 3/4" x 1/2" copper crossover fitting from Home Depot. It fits perfectly on my pinky, and the 3/4" portion sits closest to the 2 highest strings on my 4-string, while the 1/2" portion, nearest the nail on my pinky, has enough clearance for the two heavier strings to ring true and free. Because it is lighter and fits more snugly, I don't have to worry about it moving around like a straight sided bottleneck, steel , copper, or other slide type. The dual diameters also lend themselves more easily to the angle-up technique.
4) Finally, as Shane sez, you gotta practice dampening one or more strings with your index finger behind the slide. I'm still working on this one. A variant of this is to finger notes behind the slide, but that's a pretty advanced technique.
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