Ry Cooder

• Tune to open G (D-G-D-G-B-D) for most slide work — it's the backbone of his Delta and Stones-adjacent sound; switch to open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D) for darker, droning pieces
• Play fingerstyle with bare fingertips and thumb — no pick. Cooder mutes behind the slide with his palm and damps unwanted strings with his picking-hand fingers to kill overtones
• Wear the slide on your ring or little finger and keep it directly over the fret wire, not behind it, for accurate intonation
• Use the bridge pickup for cutting slide leads — the microphonic gold-foil character is key. Roll the tone control to around 7 to tame any harshness
• Set a tweed Fender (Bassman/Champ) volume to 6–7 so it's just breaking up — let amp compression and dynamics do the work, not a distortion pedal
• Ride the guitar volume knob: roll back to 4–5 for clean chordal passages, then up to 8–10 for singing slide lines mid-phrase
• Add gentle amp tremolo (slow rate, ~40% depth) on ballads like 'Paris, Texas' for that haunting, watery pulse
• Keep reverb spring-style and moderate (3–4) — enough for ambience without washing out the percussive fingerstyle attack
• Use heavier strings (.012–.054) with slightly raised action so the slide rides cleanly without fretting out

Ry Cooder is the godfather of expressive bottleneck slide guitar, blending Delta blues, Tex-Mex, Hawaiian and gospel into a vocal, conversational tone. His sound is defined by gnarly, microphonic gold-foil pickups, open tunings, and a touch so dynamic it sounds like a human voice rather than a guitar.

Ry Cooder is one of America's most eclectic guitarists — a slide player, session musician, and musicologist who has documented Hawaiian slack key, Cuban son, Indian classical, Tex-Mex, Delta blues, and gospel in recordings that combine academic curiosity with genuine musical feeling. His Stratocaster in open G tuning with a glass slide is his most recognisable sound.