So to assist you on your search, here's a 'tone chart' I've compiled - with grateful help from dozens of slide aficionado's over the past 20-plus years;

Glass slides - These give the guitarist a smooth, round tone to your playing. Firstly, 'Pyrex' commercial glass slides are inexpensive, available in a huge array of differing sizes and styles from most high street music shops - and they do the job quite well! The downside to these type of slides is in the quality of the material used in their manufacture - 'Pyrex' is boro-silicate; a cheap, easily workable alternative to pure glass - it's therefore softer than pure glass and scratches after a short period of playing time.

Genuine wine-bottlenecks are slightly more expensive and can usually only be obtained from specialist outlets - but the search is definitely worthwhile! Real bottleneck slides give a thicker, mellow tone with a smoother, more sophisticated sustain than the commercial 'Pyrex' alternatives; and the general opinion is that the actual colour of the bottle glass can also affect your slide tone. Green glass bottlenecks are considered to have the best 'glass quality' - you can also find blue, brown or clear bottlenecks available; for example, blue glass gives a 'harder', less mellow tone than green glass - this is probably due to blue bottle glass not generally recognised as a re-cycled product….they look nice though!!

'Coricidin' pill bottle slides certainly worked wonders for Duane Allman's scorching electric slide work - and help Warren Haynes of the current Allman Brothers Band and the amazing Sonny Landreth achieve their fluid electric slide tones to this day, but for mere mortals these type of slide lack the 'density & mass' formulation vital to get a smooth slide tone - certainly when applied to acoustic or resonator instruments.

The plethora of commercially available metal slides can be positively mind-blowing! Again, all of these slides can be purchased at both high street and specialist outlets, but remember, the 'density & mass' formulation applies also when choosing a metal slide. From 1/2lb brass 'behemoths' to paper-thin steel tubes - all can be easily sourced…the choice is yours!
Phosphor-bronze, plain bronze, and heavy stainless steel seem to be the favoured choice of 'metal only' slide players - with brass, copper and aluminium all following close behind. Bronze type slides give a nice 'bell-like' tone (and being bronze - they certainly should!) with stainless steel providing a 'harder' edge to your tone. Metal slides will always sound less smooth and rounded tonally than glass slides ….it's all about that 'density & mass' formulation again!

Porcelain slides offer the player a sweet, smooth tone - albeit quieter than glass or metal but, similar to the 'Pyrex' slides, tend to wear out quicker than the aforementioned; - still, they're quite inexpensive and easily available for experimentation.

The subject of 'which slide' can be discussed at length for hours, with the pro's & con's of weights, lengths, internal diameters and materials etc. bringing in many differing opinions. As i stated at the start of this article, there are no 'etched in stone' rules to which slide….but in my own, purely personal opinion - and armed with many years of 'slide research' - if you get yourself a good, genuine green glass wine bottleneck & a nice, heavy bronze, brass or stainless steel metal slide….you'll find yourself close to slide 'nirvana'!

Good luck with your search - and 'Happy Slidin'!

Ian McWee;
Bottleneck / Slide Consultant.

To purchase the best selling Redhouse Diamond Bottleneck Slide from musicstreet.co.uk for only £11.49 click here

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