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I think I have a guitar about ready to be commissioned. But I got a new request today... I thought I would run this by you all first.

This is for a blues player who wants this guitar exclusively for slide -- a woman no less. The tunings will be in open D and open G mostly (but always in an open key.)

The is going to be an ELECTRIC guitar. Probably a variation on a fender design... most likely a modified tele look and feel.

I was thinking with these type of tunings to use carbon fiber along with the truss rod, and I was thinking about running a really flat fingerboard radius 20" or maybe even more ....

I was thinking because this is for a woman (thus smaller hands) it might be nice to make the scale shorter, but I am concerned that the string tension will be too soft for slide if I do that. I will probably keep it at 25.5.

does all of this sound reasonable? I have never been asked about this before.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Pure conjecture from a newbie: I have wondered if guitars set up primarily for slide should have all the nut slot depths cut so that the TOPS of the strings are in the same plane, rather than the bottoms. I know it wouldn't matter much up the neck, but when you approach the nut with the slide, it might.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

if your going with a tele design (great for slide) I would suggest an all
mahogany body. Very woody, and resonant. If it were me I'd either
hollow it out like what I did on Steve Millers guitar, or do a thineline tri-
chamber to increase the acoustic like properties as much as possible and
cut down on weight.

The flatter radius is not nessicary, but you don't want a vintage 7.25
radius...just makes slide a bit harder..., but a compound radius would be
very groovy.

just my opinions...

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Newbe here also, but I play slide in those same open tunings as well as other tunings and I play the blues also.First a few questions about the style of playing come to mind.Is she going to be fretting notes as well as sliding? What gauge strings does she like?(I like 'em heavy).Does she have a light or heavy attack with the slide? I play with the slide on my ring finger cause I can get a better(thicker) sound that way and with the electric (I have a few strats)I like a radius.I like the action between medium (for fretting) and higher (for good slide tone).Does she use glass or metal or other material? What kind of neck? what kind of pick- ups?Carbon seems alittle much for those tunings but can't hurt I guess.anyway I thought I would give you a few more things to ask her from a players prospective.I can't offer any building advice cause I'm on my first Acoustic SS build..
hope this helps a little

Tim

oh and brock if you need some sweet handwound pick-ups let me know
and I can hook ya up...

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I think it's important to find out what she's been playing, and what she does and doesn't like about it. If she's always using open tunings, she may play predominantly in a chordal manner (rather than single-string soloing, for example), so a flatter radius would probably work better--though I don't think I'd go flatter than 16" for someone that's used to playing standard electrics. If she does use a one-string-at-a-time approach she'll probably need a rounder radius--think Bonnie Rait and her Strat (most likely a 9.5" radius, but no flatter than 12"). As Ron mentioned, you'll need to know if she mixes slide and fingers, but mostly for set-up purposes. Remember, lots of women play long-scale guitars quite successfully (Bonnie R., Sue Foley, Debbie Davies, et al), so find out if her hands are really too small. If she's drawn to store-bought Teles, and likes their feel, then they're probably not. I guess the key is to ask the right questions, because, as I'm sure you know, it's amazing how many players know diddley about fundamental things like radius, scale, string spacing and gauge, and more!

A lot of her blues is a elecrified version of country blues / modified Texas blues. This guitar will be a dedicated slide guitar (which it sounds like she almost always uses in open tunings).

Yes, she will be fingering as well as sliding and typically wears the slide on her pinky.

The body and neck will be mahogany and we are deciding between a rosewood or ebony fingerboard. I am trying to convince her to let me cap it with some of that quilted sapele, but she doesn't want a "fancy" gutar.

She didn't specifically ask for a shorter scale guitar, but for something "comfortable to play"... but now that I think about it. If she is used to playing slide on a standard scale guitar changing scale lengths on her could really screw her up (all the notes moved). So I think I will probably stick tight with the 25.5"

I typically use Fralin's but John the VanZandt's you mentioned before have me intrigued.

Thanks again for your thoughts.Brock Poling38657.4072685185

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

A comment about fingerboard radius --

This comes more from my knowledge of bowed instruments more so than slide guitars. The main reason why a bowed instrument has such a strongly arched fingerboard is so single strings can more easily be bowed without hitting neighboring ones. It seems to me that this might be a concern for a slide player too.

I know, for example, that part of a steel guitar player's technique is being able to mute strings with the heel and side of the palm because there is no arch whatsoever with steel guitars. So it seems to me that a slide player may also develop a similar sort of feel, especially if he/she is used to playing slide on instruments that weren't built specifically for its use (e.g., squarnecks, etc.).

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

I can get both the lollars and Van'Zandts for you at a heck of a deal....
The vanZandts are very much the 60's fender tone, and the Lollars are a
cross of old and new. sound like the vintage pick-ups with more edge,
and fullness.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

My 2 cents...I would do a Spalted Ash or Maple drop on a Mahogany body ( without route...depending on the key she plays in and where you route you could open up some real feed back problems routing)Tung oil or Gun oil finish, a Mahog neck with a Madagascar Rosewood fingerboard with 20" radius. Definitely put two carbon rods in for support. I would put some Fralins in( but call and have him wind them hot). The reason for "hot" is that slide, IMO, sounds better with a bit of distortion/compression on it. Makes it sound thick and, well, "hot". Just my biased opinion.

p.s. If not a nice Madagascar Rosewood fretboard ,then DEFINITELY a Beautiful ZIRICOTE one! WOA!!!!!!!!Dave-SKG38657.8287847222

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"