E-BOW

youngwasp · Got Rhythm Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 71

Anyone have experience of using an E-Bow? I was thinking of getting one and have downloaded the few mp3 samples that are about, but they don't really give you much idea of what the unit device is capable of.

Suggestions, comments???

lee_UK · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 2:31 pm Post subject:

I have an Ebow, well its on loan at the moment, its a hand held electromagnet which when held close to a single string causes it to vibrate, and gives a very long sustained tone, kind of like a violin effect, the one i have takes a 9v battery, and is a quite versatile tool, i find the closer you move the ebow to your selected pickup the louder and more intense the tone, whether they are worth the money is another question, but they are well worth a look.
check out the website:
http://www.ebow.com/ebow/

youngwasp · Got Rhythm Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 71

Thanks for responding, but I guess my question was a trifle too esoteric.

The basic concept I understand, I have done quite a bit of research and understand the how and why it functions. I was more interested in its versatility, its capabilities and range?
As an example, I have an electric sitar that produces sounds like a sitar - this is very much like chocolate sauce on everything, great to start with but you get sick of it in a very short time.
So what I am asking is, does the E-Bow offer much scope for experimentation or variation or is it a case of use it for an hour and its just more of the same old vibrating string sound to a greater or lesser degree?

lee_UK · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 10:14 pm Post subject:

Well the note just drones, like a constant violin bowed note, i use it for a song with a 16 bar interlude and by the end of the 16th it's kind of getting a bit too much, imagine a droning feedback sound on a single string, then you can take that string and play it up and down the neck and thats it, you can control the volume by moving the ebow away from the pickup, you slide it backwards away from it or forwards, i think if you played it for an hour you would need hospital treatment afterwards, with maybe 6 months psychiatric rehibilitation.[/list]

glw · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:21 am Post subject:

lee_UK wrote:

i think if you played it for an hour you would need hospital treatment afterwards, with maybe 6 months psychiatric rehibilitation.[/list]

Hey, I've been playing EBow guitar for about 20 years! (Not non-stop, obviously).

A couple of years ago I looked into the whole Fernandes Sustainer thing, and got myself a Revolver Pro guitar. However, the sound is very different from an EBow and you need to apply lots of distortion in order to hear the sustainer, as opposed to an EBow which works best when used on the very cleanest sound settings.

EBow AND Sustainer at the same time is quite interesting though.

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