Rock Slide Story
The Rock Slide® is more than a product, it’s a family affair, it’s freedom to slide with ease and sound more musical. Danny Songhurst has owned it since 2011, prior to that his Aunt Kris held the reins, and the whole thing began with Danny’s late uncle Mark Morse. Mark was a wicked guitarist who could lay down a pretty acoustic song or nail a Van Halen solo. He also owned a couple guitar stores including Mark’s Guitar Shop which is still open in Spokane, WA. Frustrated with various bottles and pipes that were available in the 80’s and 90’s, Mark started playing around with shims, tape and foam. He forever changed the slide world by inventing what is known as The Rock Slide.
Mark was Danny’s favorite uncle and the person who helped get him into guitar at the age of 14. There’s a sense of pride and passion beaming off Danny when you contact him for help with a slide choice, he really does care about your experience and has your back. Employees at The Rock Slide include his wife and two kids who help when the aren’t cramming for a math test or studying violin. Honorary mention to his mom Laura Case who volunteers a couple times a week, and is the number #1 Counting Crows fan in the world.
The Rock Slide now has over 50 guitar slide models and sold over 500,000 units worldwide. Each slide is perfectly crafted and rigorously inspected so you can be confident when you open that Rock Slide package, you’re opening the best.
Rock Slide Difference
Problem 1:
Slides tend to go two ways, they feel like a cast in the way they restrict your finger, or they have too much wiggle room forcing you to cramp your fingers all night to keep the slide from falling off.
Problem 2:
It’s either thin & comfortable, but has no tone – or – it is a bulky slide that sounds good, but is cumbersome.
Problem 3:
No matter what slide you buy, it wobbles. Sure, it’s snug at the 2nd knuckle, but loose across the rest of the finger.
Solution?
Don’t cut, carve the perfect slide! We made a slide that tapers inside to maintain a snug feel all the way down your finger. The added benefit is thicker walls for extra weight and sustain. A cutaway at the second knuckle helps maintain finger bendability and prevents pinching. Lastly, the flat finger rest is more stable than resting on a round surface.
Rock Slide Sound – NOT JUST A PIECE OF PIPE
Polished Brass & Nickel Plated Brass Rock Slides have huge sustain. Why so much sustain? Because the heart of The Rock Slide is the solid brass rod that is CNC carved to fit your finger. This particular brass formula is very heavy which is the best for tone and sustain. The walls are thick and get thicker towards the end of the slide because of the internal taper design. We intentionally added a tone ring at the fingertip end which adds mass and helps secure your finger. Like a Hawaiian tone bar cuts through the mix with more weight and mass, so does The Rock Slide.
Aged Brass Rock Slides are all done by hand so no two look alike. There is no sanding, dinging, or scuffing involved so the surface is smooth, not scratchy. It’s a satin finish vs. the high gloss polished finish. It sounds the same as the polished version and the patina will wear off with use.
Moulded Glass Rock Slides also have very thick walls because of the internal taper, in fact, the walls at the opening are 4mm and 6-8mm thick at the fingertip end. That’s about twice the thickness of a typical heavy wall glass slide at the end. A baseball bat has a sweet spot for hitting a home run, The Rock Slide® has a sweet spot too. While it is thick enough everywhere to light up the strings, the extra thick end almost acts as a gain knob which helps bring out the low notes, and makes for killer lead playing.
Ceramic Rock Slides
Ceramic Rock Slides have an ultra hard/smooth finish similar to glass but produce more sustain and low end since they outweigh the glass, and even our brass slides. They are much more durable than glass being made out of high heat industrial ceramic rather than coffee mug/studio clay. Hi-tech injection moulding allows us to create the same tapered interior and other Rock Slide features you’ve come to love.