The real essence of bottleneck is really simple.

Give yourself the best chance by getting a guitar set up. Get an electronic tuner chromatic. In folk blues - there are two main tunings - the E or D major chord, or the modal G - DGDGBD. Although my best piece was written in D minor.

Then you concentrate on getting the note really clear. Don't worry at all about the volume, concentrate on purity. it will be quiet initially . Then when you have a couple of riffs, start working out how to big up the volume. Don't let purists give you advice - use anything, (ANYTHING!) to attain the sound initially - amplification, ludicrously high action - anything.

Really good slide guitarists (like Kevin Brown and Bryn Haworth) can produce great slide sounds on any guitar - any setting. Its to do with feel. But first you need to attain the sound. To know what that feels like.

Best of luck in 2019. Its not easy, but its another voice in which your guitar can sing. And it will help you find the things about which you want to sing

This a piece in G tuning I wrote about my Aunty Nelly, who lived in St. Helens and used to like to get off with the Yank airmen at nearby Burtonwood aerodrome.

https://soundcloud.com/denise_whittle/aunty-nellys-boogie