How to Set Up an Electric Guitar for Slide (Without Ruining It for Everything Else)

To play slide on an electric without clacking or choked notes, you usually don't need a special guitar. You need a little more string height, a little more string tension, and a lighter touch than you'd guess. Done right, the guitar stays perfectly playable for normal fretted work.

Why slide needs a different setup at all

With a slide, the string should never touch a fret. But the slide still pushes down a little, and if the action is low, the strings are light, or the slide is heavy, that small deflection is enough for the string to kiss a fret. That's the clack.

The second problem: your fretboard is curved and your slide isn't. The middle strings sit highest, so a straight slide lands on the D and G first, and getting solid contact on both E strings means pressing the middle strings toward the frets.

Every step below deals with one of those two problems.

Step 1: Pick your tuning and strings first

Do this before you touch a screwdriver. Tension is what keeps a string from deflecting under the slide, and it depends on both.

• Open E (E-B-E-G#-B-E) tunes three strings up: the A and D strings go up a whole step and the G goes up a half step. Raising a string a whole step increases its tension by roughly 26%, which is a real change for the neck.
• Open D and open G tune strings down, so tension drops and the strings get floppier under the slide.

That's why open E players can often get away with lower action. Derek Trucks has said as much: he plays mainly in open E on an SG with relatively low action, and credits the tension of tuning up for making that possible. His strings are a hybrid set, .011 to .046.

For gauges, a sensible starting point is 10s on a 25.5" Fender scale and 11s on a 24.75" Gibson scale, since the shorter scale has less tension at the same pitch. If you're on 9s and playing in open G or D, going up a gauge will do more for your slide tone than any other change on this list. For more on what a gauge change does to the rest of the setup, see our piece on changing string gauge.

Step 2: Re-check neck relief after retuning

Tune to your slide tuning, let it settle, and check relief again. Open E on heavier strings pulls the neck forward; lowered tunings let it straighten. You just want your normal relief at the new tension.

Step 3: Raise the action, but only as much as you need

This is where the "dual-duty or dedicated?" decision matters.

Dual-duty (slide on a few songs, fretted the rest of the night)

Premier Guitar's Les Paul slide setup is a good benchmark: 4/64" (about 1.6 mm) at the 12th fret on both E strings, with normal relief and 10–49 strings. On a lot of Les Pauls that just means raising the treble side a hair. You can still bend and play chords comfortably, and a light-touch slide player can play clean on it. Guitar World lands in the same neighborhood and suggests newer slide players start a little higher until their touch lightens up.

Dedicated slide guitar

If a guitar lives in open G or open D for slide, you can go higher. The Guitar World author runs about 2 mm to 2.5 mm on his dedicated open G guitar. Fretted playing gets stiff at that height, but on a slide-only guitar that doesn't matter.

Step 4: Flatten the string arc a little (if your bridge allows it)

This is the fix for the second problem in the diagram. Premier Guitar recommends flattening the string radius at the bridge so the strings sit closer to a straight line under the slide. How you do it depends on the bridge:

• Strat and Tele-style bridges: lower the middle saddles slightly relative to the outer ones, in small steps, checking for fretted buzz on the D and G.
• Tune-o-matic and ABR-1 bridges: the arc is cut into the saddles. Most dual-duty players live with it. On a collectible Gibson, I'd swap in a second bridge rather than recut the original saddles.
• Wraparound bridges: the two studs set height and not much else, so you rely on height and tension. They still make great slide guitars.

Radius matters here too. A 12" radius, like most Gibsons, puts much less arc under the slide than a vintage-style 7.25" Fender. If you're setting up a vintage-radius Strat for slide, expect this step to matter more. Our fretboard radius guide covers the numbers.

Step 5: Leave the nut alone on a dual-duty guitar

A slightly taller nut is fine on a dedicated slide guitar. On a guitar you also fret, a high nut makes the first few frets stiff and pulls chords sharp, so leave it be. And never cut nut slots deeper on a guitar you want to use for slide; that's the one change you can't easily undo.

Step 6: Match the slide to the setup

A heavy brass or steel slide deflects strings more than a thin glass one; Premier Guitar's point is that a lightweight, straight-walled glass slide lets you get away with lighter strings and lower action. Trucks has said he started on metal and moved to glass because it's "a little sweeter, not as sharp and grating on the ear" on electric. He and Duane Allman are the famous players of the Coricidin-bottle-style glass slide. Many players hear metal as brighter and louder; that's a taste call, not a right answer.

Fit matters as much as material. A loose slide makes you squeeze, and squeezing is pressure, and pressure is clack. Ring finger versus pinky is a real debate; use whichever lets you keep the slide parallel to the frets with the least grip.

My take: tweak the guitar you have before you buy a slide guitar

The internet likes to say you need a dedicated slide guitar with high action. In my experience, most clack is fixed by touch and tension first, height second: lighter slide pressure, then a heavier gauge or open E, then a small action raise. Only go high if you're still fighting it.

A dedicated guitar makes sense live. If half your set is slide in open G, retuning between songs is a pain and every retune shifts the relief. A second guitar that stays in its tuning is the right call there, and a Junior-style guitar or a Tele makes an honest, affordable slide platform.

A real example from the bench: the Brian Ray '62 SG Junior in stock now came through with a 12" radius, Dunlop 6100 jumbo frets, and a low, effortless setup with spot-on intonation. That's a fretting setup. For slide I'd raise the ABR-1 thumbwheels a touch and go up a string gauge. The 2010 Les Paul Traditional we have in was set up with medium action, already close to dual-duty territory. Neither needs to be modified to play slide.

If you're shopping for a guitar to set up for slide, browse our guitars in stock; our listings describe the action and intonation we found, so you know your starting point.

FAQ

Can you play slide on a guitar with low action?

Yes, especially with a light touch, a glass slide, and a tuned-up tuning like open E. Derek Trucks plays slide on relatively low action. Low action just gives you less margin for heavy-handed pressure.

Does raising the action for slide hurt the tone?

Not in any way I'd worry about. The bigger change is that notes stop choking against the frets.

Should I use heavier strings for slide?

If you're on 9s, usually yes. More tension means less deflection under the slide. 10s on Fender scale and 11s on Gibson scale are common starting points.