slide guitar and nut height

Posted by Ian Dickson on October 7, 2015 at 5:22pm

Hello.

I just built a film canister guitar (3 string, open G) and would like to play slide with some fretting. Being new to slide, I've come across a question I can't find the answer to: If I lower the grooves in the nut so that I can fret accurate notes (without "bending" the string) won't that cause the slide to rattle against the frets? Is there a balance in string height that lets you do both well? How does one find that balance?

I used an 8-32 threaded rod for the nut and it was still so high that the frets all played way out of tune even when I adjusted the bridge to allow the 12th fret to play true. I'm a little confused by the whole process. Attached is a picture of the guitar, but I'm going to change the bridge out for something else.

IMG_7574.JPG

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Replies

  • Ian Dickson October 7, 2015 at 8:05pm

    Thanks for the replies. I'm looking forward to the support here on this forum...

  • Paul Craig October 7, 2015 at 7:31pm

    I have found that if the strings are 3/32nds" above the first fret, I can play slide and fret it without pulling out of tune. You'll have to play around with it til you find what works for you.

  • Seasick Mick October 7, 2015 at 5:39pm

    Playing slide and finger fretting on a fretted neck is a compromise.Some players don't mind the slide hitting the frets occasionally (check out Ry Cooder ).ChickenBoneJohn sets the string height at the nut at 2mm and the height at the 12th fret at 3 or 4 mm.He has a Youtube video detailing this entitled 'Cigar Box Guitar-setting the action at the nut'...Nice build,btw

  • Richey Kay October 7, 2015 at 5:26pm
    You should be fine to lower the strings a little. It might be slightly trickier to play slide with lower action but there's absolutely no reason you can't. Have a read through this:

    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/m/blogpost?id=2592684%3ABlogPost%3A21...
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