iv been learning blues and now im venturing out into the world of slide... what tunings to you prefer or suggest. (please give an example like, standard: EADGBe.)

thx guys.

-kc

So far I have only experimented with Standard Tuning and 1/2 Step Down.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Open E is my prefered slide tuning, E B E G# B E (like you're holding an E-chord in standard tuning

Open G, D G D G B D is pretty common as well, but I haven't explored it as much as the open e

Just to say a little something about the tunings,
Open E is great when using light or medium gauge strings, as three trings are tuned up it creates a lot of tension, making it easier to do slide work without hitting the fretboard with the slide. At the moment i have a mix of 11s and 10s on a epi lp special that i use for slide, within a few days it'll be strung with only a set of 11s (strings behave very differently on lps and strats and I'm yet to find a good setup for slide on a strat)

It's often recommended that you either go up in string gauge from your normal prefs or set the action a bit higher than you're used to

well now that i look at it, it makes perfect sense and it was almost a silly question, but thank you.

and i dont really plan on raising my action, so i'll probably go with a heavier string. right now im playing on elixir polyweb 9s, so i definately have room to go up.

thanks guys!

Be very carefyl when tuning up to open E and A when using heavier strings, if you tune to open D and put a capo on the second fret it'll be the same as the open e

While you "can" play slide in standard tuning for sure, some tunings make it easier to have more good-sounding options when play more than two strings at a time.

For example, with minor blues in E, a common lick would be to bend up to a B and sound out that D with it. Can't do that with a slide in normal tuning. For that reason, some guys that are playing specifically minor blues will tune to...

D-A-D-G-B-D (among many other tunings). You can hit that lick on the high strings, play various things on the middle strings (which are tuned normally), and ring out those bottom strings together, sliding fifth "chords" all around for a thicker sound. If you want it in a different key, just capo it.

Acoustic fingerstyle players will use different tuning for the same reasons - to have more good-sounding options when using open strings and other stuff. But that part gets tricky when you write something in a different tuning AND capo it, then go back years later and try to figure out how the hell you did that

D A D F# A D. sound real classy

Drop D, Double Drop D, Open A, Open E.

Just got into slide myself. :]

DADGAD

I agree open E is dope!

mean slide good slide, HELL YEAH!