Official Luthiers Forum!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

I'm playing Delta Blues fingerstyle with a slide, (3) finger picks and a thumb pick ala . . Harlem Slim from San Antonio.

Just replaced my ivory nut with a bone nut on my late 60's maybe early 70's round neck Dobro steel-bodied resophonic guitar. The string height is a little on the high side, and a little flat across the strings for slide playing, but I'm thinking I can lower it a bit, but I need some data on a good setup for this style playing.

I've heard may players like the strings to be perfectly flat, not forming to the contour of your fingerboard. This helps when barring multiple strings will sliding. Of course, my fingerboard has a radii.
I've also heard to have the action a little on the high side to accommodate slide playing.

This guitar is getting a complete setup. I've replaced the nut like I said, and I have tightened the truss rod to straighten the neck. (It's getting more and more playable. )

I have a new biscuit (if needed) to place on my new Beard Cone.

Before I set this up, I'd like some comments on the setting up action, nuts, and biscuit for this style of playing. The best I could have would be string heights of all strings at the 1st and 12th (or wherever you measure) frets. This information seems hard to nail down, as is the threshold of a clean sound. I know I'm walking the line between slide guitar setup and finger style setup, but this isn't uncharted territory, right?

Thanks!!

Well, the new cone really pulls out the mid and highs that I didn't have before on the instrument. The bottom end. . . not so pronounced to me, relatively speaking.

My idea is to flatten out the strings on the nut, and then work my way around 'til I find a setup that suits me. This forum has helped me collect my thoughts.