Best Tuning For Slide Guitar (2024 Update)

Preface, I use this with an acoustic violin fitted with a BTS pickup (dual piezos/string), OR with a Greek steel stringed laouto to immediately change from standard tuning to a 5th lower (Cretan, Southern Aegean tuning). Pros – This is a mentality saver. You can be a fantastic musician, able to transpose well, yet regardless of the instrument you are using, and still get a little tripped up when you need to switch course and play in some oddball key. Voila! Drop! I learned about this pedal from a class A1 violin player from Greece (composer, lyricist and recording artist who has recorded with just about every big name- this person is no joke, message me for his name if interested). This person can transpose to any weird key you throw at him, why use it? His response? "Because when I'm on stage and I need to switch quickly to an odd key, I can simply hit the button and not have to think about it". So I gave it a try, and have been using it for 2 years now… it's a life saver. I'm just a fiddler, but this saves me from stressing out and I can play free and it sounds GREAT. It tracks so well I can't tell if there is any latency at all. Cons- With my current setup, I find that I need to either play in front of a monitor or near a speaker or use IEM's, as when playing through the pedal with an acoustic instrument, obviously you are going to hear the natural AND the modified sounds and you ARE going to think it sounds like garbage, then attempt to junk it. DONT DO IT! Unless your pedal is defective, your sound from the speakers is clean. This pedal is meant to be used with mainly electric instruments. During sound check, as loud as you can be, you'll still hear the acoustic sound of your instrument, yet once you are playing with the full band (depending on what your band consists of), it will eventually drown out the sound, and you'll be able to focus on your modified tone, but this is not consistent. Just be aware. If you can, I suggest using some sort of IEM system, wired or wireless, or a monitor. My next step is getting an electric violin body to use this tool even more effectively, but moreso in order to truly utilize my pickup. In a nutshell: Do it!pazarinyc

Sound: Unbelievable how well this pedal track's notes and cords with no noticable latency, IMO it sounds better than tuning down. Features: It's a tank ! Sturdy , Solid , Heavy for it's size , no instructions needed , plug and play Ease of Use: This is simple , Standard tuned guitar , twist the knob to earth shaking low's. Quality: As mentioned , it's a tank , solid construction. Value: I hesitated on this purchase because of the price for a one trick pedal , Worth every penny ! Manufacturer Support: I have several DigiTech products , I still have the old RP-1 and it function's like new , I have no doubt this pedal will give me many year's of service. The Wow Factor: I prefer to play my guitars in standard tune , it's always been a hassle to get the right string tension when drop tuning , this pedal just ended that problem for me Overall: Just unboxed this pedal, been playing it for 2hrs , bar none the best pedal I've ever played ! Keeping the guitar in standard tune and dropping it to two whole steps , the notes and cords track perfectly ! No more floppy strings and no more switching guitars, the pedal is a must have for anyone who plays multiple drop tunings. This pedal is a tank solid heavy construction.Dennis

If you are interested in 2 dozen pictures of the author playing at various Canadian festivals, then buy this book. If you are not in the author's immediate family, then you might want to shop around a bit. Many pages are just photo-albums with no instruction at all. With as many tunings as are explored in the book, more actual technique is needed instead of the 19 non-instructional pictures.Blue Richard

This is a pretty good intro to open tunings, but there are a couple dozen pictures of the author jamming, and the type and tabs are huge. The slide info is a bit sparse as well.Mike Smith-rDmh-

This little gadget is fantastic and well worth the money. It's super easy to install and setup and does exactly what it says. Just a quick push or pull of the D-Tuna and you instantly jump from E standard to Drop D and back again in an instant. No fiddling with lock nuts or tuners again, or just having 2 seperate guitars setup in each tuning, so cool. I've been using it for over 4 months now and it still functions perfectly and I've used it quite a bit. I installed it while doing a string change and everything went nice and smooth just following the supplied instructions. If you have a top mount/decked Floyd Rose this is a must have if you use E standard & Drop D regularly.David B

Its great to have if you dont have an arsenal of guitars to switch between tunings. Pull the trigger, a couple of twists on the fine tuners and youre good! I dont know how well it works on other locking tremolos? But it fits and works great on my Floyd Rose knock-off. I do plan to buy another for when I decide to build my next guitar with a locking system. Enjoy!mekavemann_5

This product is of Eddie van halen. It's very popular among guitar players since it's eddie who invented it. I put it on my Sterling AX3 music man axis copy and I have to say it works perfectly. I get drop d tuning by pulling the thing out of the bridge and it goes right back to E when you push it back in. So it's really convenient for switching from drop d playing to regular E tuning. I think it also makes the guitar sound much better since the bridge I put in it is a cheap Floyd rose imitation. The guitar sounds much better now. But I also changed the pickup wiring so that could be the cause of much improvement in tone.ibanezwielder

Better than any locking tuner, you just have to measure the string to the second peg above the one you're using, cut it and put it in. When you get to the unwound ones, clip a little shorter (can't tell you how to measure, I figured it out by trial and error. I would estimate 3 wraps by sort of wrapping it loosely, then cut). Perfect match to the vintage F tuners made on the great strats of yore, you can age them to match by fuming the finish with muriatic acid. Place the tuners on an upside down bowl in a piece of tuperware with an inch or so of acid. Seal the lid. Place in a bath of hot water, and the acid will heat and evaporate. After 10 – 15 minutes check the level of chrome removal. You can always do more, but you can't easy put chrome back on. Rinse with cold water when you're done. RAWK ON!!!!ki_jaybones

I build custom Strat/Tele's so this may not apply to all but…. Like others said this peg uses press-fit front bushing style similar to low cost Squire Strat. For standard diecast pegs I drill 10 mm diameter holes on peg head. I use aftermarket necks with 8 mm diameter hole (I remember it is same as low cost Squire). What I do on 8 mm holes for this peg is I drill 4 mm deep 23/64 (9.1 mm??) diameter counterbore holes to accommodate the bushings. I strongly recommend using drill press not hand drill for this. Also for a better support of peg shaft, I made Teflon sleeves to fill the peghead holes of 8 – 10 mm with silicone grease. One minor issue I have is peghead of some aftermarket Tele neck is a little undersized so I need to file the end peg (High E) a bit to fit.Basement Blues

I was adding a 2nd tuner to my gear. This is a good tuner, but it defaults back to 440 Hz with every power down. I tune to 415, half step down and leave it there. My D'Addario tuner maintains whatever Hz adjustment was made prior to power down. I made the bad assumption that others of a quality brand would support this too. Plan to return to get this feature with another productDR

I bought a Snark tuner YEARS ago. I thought this one must be better (it's been years). Frankly it isn't (it's been years). It's OK. I don't mind it. I prefer my old one. That said, I bought two of these and will use use them all the time. When you're told that a product has been improved and the supposed improvements are are not only not perceptible but the product seems to be inferior then … what? YAY gold button! The gold button makes me SOOOO happy! I lurves me some gold button! Meh. Who needs a gold button?Rory

This tuner appears to be a decent quality item. The most important thin, of course is it works! Follow the colour indicator to the correct colour and your guitar is in tune. A neat touch is because of the ball joints, the tuner can be mounted on the back side of the headstock, out of view of an audience but still fully visible to the user. The other point is. It's simple. Turn it on, tune up, turn it off. Great little unit. Slightly more expensive but in my opinion, worth it.alsanjak

These are a great value. It has a very easy to read display that's large, so Yamaha has that over advantage over the pitchclip by korg. I feel that the korg pitchclip works better for lower tunings, in my opinion. If you don't go that low, this is the way to go! Great for my acoustic!glasmich

Great for all my instruments, plus can change to 432 if I want! Sometimes you have to turn it on and off again and cycle through the instruments to reset it but thats fine once you figure it out.eted111

This tuner is compact, affordable, accurate and easy to operate. I can't think of any other features you could possibly want in a tuner. The Yamaha GCT1 is compatible with guitar, bass, violin, ukulele key C and ukulele key D. It uses one CR2032 3 volt lithium battery which is included with the tuner. What's not to like?cadillac-cowboy

I was adding a 2nd tuner to my gear. This is a good tuner, but it defaults back to 440 Hz with every power down. I tune to 415, half step down and leave it there. My D'Addario tuner maintains whatever Hz adjustment was made prior to power down. I made the bad assumption that others of a quality brand would support this too. Plan to return to get this feature with another productDR

I bought a Snark tuner YEARS ago. I thought this one must be better (it's been years). Frankly it isn't (it's been years). It's OK. I don't mind it. I prefer my old one. That said, I bought two of these and will use use them all the time. When you're told that a product has been improved and the supposed improvements are are not only not perceptible but the product seems to be inferior then … what? YAY gold button! The gold button makes me SOOOO happy! I lurves me some gold button! Meh. Who needs a gold button?Rory

This tuner appears to be a decent quality item. The most important thin, of course is it works! Follow the colour indicator to the correct colour and your guitar is in tune. A neat touch is because of the ball joints, the tuner can be mounted on the back side of the headstock, out of view of an audience but still fully visible to the user. The other point is. It's simple. Turn it on, tune up, turn it off. Great little unit. Slightly more expensive but in my opinion, worth it.alsanjak

I was adding a 2nd tuner to my gear. This is a good tuner, but it defaults back to 440 Hz with every power down. I tune to 415, half step down and leave it there. My D'Addario tuner maintains whatever Hz adjustment was made prior to power down. I made the bad assumption that others of a quality brand would support this too. Plan to return to get this feature with another productDR

I bought a Snark tuner YEARS ago. I thought this one must be better (it's been years). Frankly it isn't (it's been years). It's OK. I don't mind it. I prefer my old one. That said, I bought two of these and will use use them all the time. When you're told that a product has been improved and the supposed improvements are are not only not perceptible but the product seems to be inferior then … what? YAY gold button! The gold button makes me SOOOO happy! I lurves me some gold button! Meh. Who needs a gold button?Rory

This tuner appears to be a decent quality item. The most important thin, of course is it works! Follow the colour indicator to the correct colour and your guitar is in tune. A neat touch is because of the ball joints, the tuner can be mounted on the back side of the headstock, out of view of an audience but still fully visible to the user. The other point is. It's simple. Turn it on, tune up, turn it off. Great little unit. Slightly more expensive but in my opinion, worth it.alsanjak

I was adding a 2nd tuner to my gear. This is a good tuner, but it defaults back to 440 Hz with every power down. I tune to 415, half step down and leave it there. My D'Addario tuner maintains whatever Hz adjustment was made prior to power down. I made the bad assumption that others of a quality brand would support this too. Plan to return to get this feature with another productDR

I bought a Snark tuner YEARS ago. I thought this one must be better (it's been years). Frankly it isn't (it's been years). It's OK. I don't mind it. I prefer my old one. That said, I bought two of these and will use use them all the time. When you're told that a product has been improved and the supposed improvements are are not only not perceptible but the product seems to be inferior then … what? YAY gold button! The gold button makes me SOOOO happy! I lurves me some gold button! Meh. Who needs a gold button?Rory

This tuner appears to be a decent quality item. The most important thin, of course is it works! Follow the colour indicator to the correct colour and your guitar is in tune. A neat touch is because of the ball joints, the tuner can be mounted on the back side of the headstock, out of view of an audience but still fully visible to the user. The other point is. It's simple. Turn it on, tune up, turn it off. Great little unit. Slightly more expensive but in my opinion, worth it.alsanjak

Great upgrade for Gibson guitars. Buttons are a much better color than the green ones Gibson have used for years. Direct drop fit.Brian

I replaced the stock tuners on my Epi Casino Coupe, and the new Kluson's look and sound great. Stay in tune exceptionally.Jon B

I was adding a 2nd tuner to my gear. This is a good tuner, but it defaults back to 440 Hz with every power down. I tune to 415, half step down and leave it there. My D'Addario tuner maintains whatever Hz adjustment was made prior to power down. I made the bad assumption that others of a quality brand would support this too. Plan to return to get this feature with another productDR

I bought a Snark tuner YEARS ago. I thought this one must be better (it's been years). Frankly it isn't (it's been years). It's OK. I don't mind it. I prefer my old one. That said, I bought two of these and will use use them all the time. When you're told that a product has been improved and the supposed improvements are are not only not perceptible but the product seems to be inferior then … what? YAY gold button! The gold button makes me SOOOO happy! I lurves me some gold button! Meh. Who needs a gold button?Rory

This tuner appears to be a decent quality item. The most important thin, of course is it works! Follow the colour indicator to the correct colour and your guitar is in tune. A neat touch is because of the ball joints, the tuner can be mounted on the back side of the headstock, out of view of an audience but still fully visible to the user. The other point is. It's simple. Turn it on, tune up, turn it off. Great little unit. Slightly more expensive but in my opinion, worth it.alsanjak

This slide allows you to play and chord the fretboard pretty much the way you normally would; however, you can quickly flip it right back into slide mode. I never used a slide because trying to figure out where to put one while you were playing other parts of the song was always a problem, not to mention trying to quickly get it back on for the next slide part. This solves the problem. The Jetslide is worn like a ring and when you don't need it in a particular part of a song, you merely flip it back and it is behind your fingers. When you need it again, reach up with your pinkie finger and pull it back into place. Very quick and easy change. I ordered the brass one but didn't want to wait since it was on backorder. The stainless steel version I ended up with is great and it is well made. Hopefully, when they get back to full production, they will start producing their glass ones again, which are really a glass sleeve (multiple colors available) that is siliconed over a regular Jetslide..Mark W.

I've always been a rhythm guitarist, but have tried adding slide over the years. With my smaller hands and fingers, it was always a challenge. With the Jetslide, I was able to get a ring size that fit me perfectly. After using this a week or so, I feel like I'm finally after all these years getting the hang of slide soloing. The brass bar really makes the strings sing on acoustic and electric. This thing has some heft and is well made. It will probably outlast me. Recommended.Steve S.

I own several other types of slides, full sized and "adjustables" . As far as sound, nothing beats a regular tubular slide worn on the pinky. The relative flatness of the contact area is unbeatable. That said…. This slide is amazing! Wearing it on the ring finger, and after a very short try period in which to use it you just turn it a little with the pinky, this slide lets you get excellent sounds, although is has a smaller radius. The clincher is that after you use it as a slide, a very small movement gets it really out of the way, so that you can REALLY use ALL your fingers to to regular fretwork. Although the "bar" is solid, due to the way it is supported on the base of the ring finger, the weight is very manageable and it is easy to get used to it. After I bought my first one, I had to have a spare to keep on my other working guitar pack! It's that good!Iggy

I was adding a 2nd tuner to my gear. This is a good tuner, but it defaults back to 440 Hz with every power down. I tune to 415, half step down and leave it there. My D'Addario tuner maintains whatever Hz adjustment was made prior to power down. I made the bad assumption that others of a quality brand would support this too. Plan to return to get this feature with another productDR

I bought a Snark tuner YEARS ago. I thought this one must be better (it's been years). Frankly it isn't (it's been years). It's OK. I don't mind it. I prefer my old one. That said, I bought two of these and will use use them all the time. When you're told that a product has been improved and the supposed improvements are are not only not perceptible but the product seems to be inferior then … what? YAY gold button! The gold button makes me SOOOO happy! I lurves me some gold button! Meh. Who needs a gold button?Rory

This tuner appears to be a decent quality item. The most important thin, of course is it works! Follow the colour indicator to the correct colour and your guitar is in tune. A neat touch is because of the ball joints, the tuner can be mounted on the back side of the headstock, out of view of an audience but still fully visible to the user. The other point is. It's simple. Turn it on, tune up, turn it off. Great little unit. Slightly more expensive but in my opinion, worth it.alsanjak

good for the price, but not perfect. while you chose your instrument guitar bass etc. it is too easy make a mistake pushing the wrong button, when you chose guitar and maybe pushing the wrong thing, your A string become easlly A flat.. you do'nt want this in a gig when you are worried for so many things already!usdave77