Setting Up Your Guitar for Slide

In this slide guitar lesson, I’m going to show you exactly how to set the action for playing  slide guitar if you are a beginner.  It is really not that hard, but this is the first thing you MUST do if you want to get anywhere playing slide guitar. This tutorial is for Gibson Style guitars. Strat type guitars are a little different.

Takeaways

Strings I use – DR Pure Blues 10-46. If you are just starting out then I would recommend using a set of .011s.

Action – 3/16″ above 12th fret E string. This is only a recommendation. It could be higher or lower depending on your skill and how hard you strike the strings.

By having your guitar setup for slide, you will now be able to confidently practice your licks and become much more comfortable playing slide guitar. Without having to worry about your slide fretting out all the time, you will now be able to focus on the licks and songs you want to learn.

When you have improved, you may find that you can lower your action. Depending on the touch you use, the action plays a significant role in whether or not you will be able to learn this unique expressive style of slide guitar.

I currently use D Addario NY XL strings and either 9s or 10s and have pretty low action these days.  To use small strings and low action though may take some time as you need to develop a really light touch when playing slide.

To learn more about playing slide guitar, I have released a complete course on how to play slide in open e tuning. Check out my Open E Tuning Slide Lessons. For learning all the slide basics no matter what tuning you use check out Slide Techniques.