A word on bridge material...

What the post title is referring to is what material you use for the bridge of your guitar. The material used for the bridge is frequently a synthetic for most guitars, but also can also be maple, or ebony, or else bone.

I recently decided to change my material and secured some bone material and secured it to the spider with an industrial-strength resin. If you don't already know, sanding or filing down a dense wood like ebony, or an even denser material like bond is time consuming.

What I will tell you is that the bone definitely kicked up the volume by a notch or two and also helped with the sustain.

Shaping of the bridge is important as well, since you can unintentionally mute the sound or create a harsh buzzing sound if you do it incorrectly.(More on this later)

If you're looking for a brighter sound aim for a denser material.

Choosing a slide

When choosing a slide to play with, there are several considerations:

Which finger do I put the slide on?

Generally, it's either the pinky or ring finger, but there have been some notable exceptions.

What material the slide should be made of?

Slides are available in several materials including brass, chrome, glass & bone.

I lean towards brass for a rougher, more growling sound, and chrome for a smoother, warmer sound. Glass is well-suited to electric guitar, since generally you play with lighter strings and the lighter weight helps the overall feel. People improvise with beer bottles all the time while gigging in bars, as well as one blues player who uses an old-fashioned antacid bottle. I haven't tried bone yet, but I'd love some feedback from anyone who has, so feel free to comment.

Note:

(If your fingers sweat a lot, brass tends to leave a green slimy residue that isn't much of a big deal, except that it's gross as hell...)

How long should the slide be?

This is really dependent on personal preference, but generally it's good to size the slide relative to the length and girth of your slide finger. If the tip of your finger pokes out a little bit, you can feel which string you're on and it facilitates overall sensitivity.