# The Ebow



## Luke (Jul 31, 2014)

After listening to Pink Floyd's latest album a couple nights ago it reminded me of a tool that's missing in my arsenal: The Ebow. 
It appears way overpriced at about $100 for a piece of plastic you'd kinda expect to find on the shelves of a dollarama store.
But once you go through what appears to be a quick learning curve the benefits are there and addictive. Well worth the $100 afterwards. At least I think it would be for me.

Anybody here use it?


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I was curious about using one with my bass, so I went to a music store to try one out. The salesperson was happy to give me a demonstration, but wouldn't let me try it out myself - so I left it there. 

I'd like to know how other people feel about it too.


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## deadear (Nov 24, 2011)

I have only ever seen it used once in the clubs. A guy used one on a cover of Bowie's song Hero's. Sounded good but not worth the investment in my opinion.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I have one. It's a neat little toy, much like many other effects that are cool but not really very useful.

Is it worth it? Well, I like having it.

To me it's as useful as a pedal that makes a guitar sound like an organ. How much would most players use one in a show?


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

I have one. I've never used it live, but I do find it useful for recording - especially for ambient, background stuff. You can get sounds which are impossible to get with anything else.

For me, it works best on a single coil neck pickup, and you have to turn down your guitar volume.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Oh the sounds are cool for sure, and I agree, neck pick up, mild overdrive, and a little reberb = cool sounds.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

bw66 said:


> I was curious about using one with my bass, so I went to a music store to try one out. The salesperson was happy to give me a demonstration, but wouldn't let me try it out myself - so I left it there.
> 
> I'd like to know how other people feel about it too.


Too bad he didn't ;et you try it out--you really need to try it for yourself to see if it makes sense for you.
A friend of mine bought one once, tried it for a while & then took it back--it wasn't his thing.I 
tired it out as well--it was kind of cool--but didn't fit my style either--but at least if you try it, you should have an inkling if it might be for you.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Got one, use it on occasion, usually on acoustic though it's fun on electric lapsteel. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

I bought one back in the mid eighties and used it for awhile but I haven't used it for several years now. It's something that requires a bit of experimentation to get interesting sounds.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

I have one. It takes quite a bit of practice to get to use it effectively, I find.
so I haven't used mine much. Maybe I need to try it with a single coil.
for me, the Sustainiac pickups are a much more useful device.


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## Luke (Jul 31, 2014)

bw66: That sucks. That's not right. Go back and ask another salesclerk. Watched a couple dozen videos and you can emulate a cello on guitar...how much more with a bass!!!

deadear: "Heroes" is my fav Bowie song. You bet that's part of the sound I'm hunting for.

Milkman: Yes, that's about the size of it.

bagpipe: ambience is possibly another thing I'm looking for, but more like a synth sound (on its own and not as a background). Very different than EHX's Micro Synth Pedal though.

zontar: Exactly!

Mooh: Cool.

Kenmac: Just like everything else. 

Diablo: Sustainiac is one thing. I have the EHX Freeze Sound Retainer Pedal and also the Fender Runaway Feedback Expression Pedal and those are another thing. What I'm mostly looking for is that "screetchiness" of the harmonic overtones and the "glide" (instead of slide) much like David Gilmour with Pink Floyd. From there I'd experiment to see what else I can add to make it stand away from him and make it my own sound.

And yes, it seems way overpriced at $109.00 for a piece of plastic, a magnet and a couple 50cent resistors but if that's the sound I long for then it's well worth it for me. Feel free to keep discussing it and I'll be back with my review after I buy it in a couple weeks.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I own a couple of them. Got one back in the '70s because their demo cassette was so cool. But very hard to do what the expert was doing in a multi-track studio.

1stly, I would say they aren't over-priced. Anyone who would happily pay $100 for a pickup (nothing but a coil of wire around a magnet) should be OK with $110 for a wire-wrapped coil, an oscillator circuit and the fancy plastic housing (and the leather holster, if you got one in the '70s). 

The one I bought recently to replace the old one has a switch to turn on and off, instead of automatically turning on when near a moving string (or sitting on a tube amp, as it turned out....). The switch also allows two modes, one an octave higher than the other. I don't like the octave up sound - not useful to me.

Anyhow, it is an effect that requires alot of practice. Unlike a phaser that you plug inline and immediately sound 'phaserie'. But, with work and practice, I've been able to do reasonable trumpet, oboe/bassoon and other reed type sounds. Plus, I've worked on but never really got the sweep-licking technique with one, but it sounds cool when someone does it right. I prefer it with a neck humbucker over a single coil. It really gains up when right over top the p/u and mellows out as I slide closer to the bridge. I use it with an echo I can modulate the live for a couple songs (This Flight Tonight being the most notable, Love Hurts being another). Manny was obviously a practitioner of the ebow art.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Diablo said:


> I have one. It takes quite a bit of practice to get to use it effectively, I find.
> so I haven't used mine much. Maybe I need to try it with a single coil.
> for me, the Sustainiac pickups are a much more useful device.


This is what I was hoping to see here: someone who had used both an E-Bow and a Sustainiac, and was hopefully in a position to compare the two in terms of usability.


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## james on bass (Feb 4, 2006)

As I understand, they are not very usable on bass. I do like them on guitar, though I've never used one myself, and really, am not a guitarist.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

mhammer said:


> This is what I was hoping to see here: someone who had used both an E-Bow and a Sustainiac, and was hopefully in a position to compare the two in terms of usability.


well, for me, the sustainiac gives 1) endless sustain...just do a vibrato to get it going and it will keep sounding out 
2) "controlled" feedback type sounds.
the ebow, in my limited use of it, can do the endless sustain as well, and is a slightly different way to do volume swell type sounds, which IMO could be done in other ways ie volume knob or pedal. Im not familiar with the "screechiness" that was mentioned earlier...as I never thought of that as its intended purpose. I suppose its about the same as when Steve Stevens puts a toy ray gun on his strings, or EVH used a cordless drill on his.
One of the limiting factors of the ebow IMO is that it really only does 1 string at a time.
Its neat, but a novelty mostly, to me. I can do more tasteful things with the sustainiac, easier. mostly because my picking hand doesn't have to learn something new other than to play less.


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## overdriven1 (May 6, 2007)

I have one, I use it when I remember I have it, with slide, wah, all the effects in my nova system. I got it because I was digging what Ross Childress was doing in Collective Soul, I have not become fluent in the use of this thing, but I like it, can't do much with it yet but I'm working on it.


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## corailz (May 1, 2008)

I have one since about three or four years and i like having it in my guitar's case. I mainly use it with reverb, delay and a volume pedal for ambient stuff. It does a nice job with a slide too. It's a really fun tool to have to add some nice swells and violin sounds, but i'm using it less since there's a cello in some of the bands i'm playing with!


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## MoashGuuitar (Dec 14, 2014)

I own one. not a fan.
its a bit hard to control but mostly, when it does work it sounds so much like a sinth to me that its like;
"this would be so much easier to play on a keyboard". any one else feel that way?


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## Luke (Jul 31, 2014)

High/Deaf said:


> I own a couple of them. Got one back in the '70s because their demo cassette was so cool. But very hard to do what the expert was doing in a multi-track studio.
> 
> 1stly, I would say they aren't over-priced. Anyone who would happily pay $100 for a pickup (nothing but a coil of wire around a magnet) should be OK with $110 for a wire-wrapped coil, an oscillator circuit and the fancy plastic housing (and the leather holster, if you got one in the '70s).
> 
> ...


I'm back! And Merry X-Mas all!

Got the EBow...not quite halfway on the learning curve yet but I love it!

True, The Price is Right. It's actually called the EBow Plus now as it now comes with a mini 3" MP3 /CD.

A Synth sound? Yeah, a bit but it does have a sound of its own that let's say the EHX Micro Synth does not do.

Didn't know Manny Charlton used the EBow on ..."(This Flight Tonight being the most notable, Love Hurts being another). Manny was obviously a practitioner of the ebow art." When those tunes came out thought it was a controlled Marshall amp feedback + studio trick. It all makes sense now. I searched for a list of popular tunes and his weren't on it. Some I'm quite surprised to find on it.


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## Luke (Jul 31, 2014)

MoashGuuitar said:


> I own one. not a fan.
> its a bit hard to control but mostly, when it does work it sounds so much like a sinth to me that its like;
> "this would be so much easier to play on a keyboard". any one else feel that way?


The intro CD starts off with "Welcome to direct-string synthesis"

I prefer working with the 3rd string as I get a fuller sound or frequency, then 4th. That means I still have along way to go to "perfect" this lil' gadget.

No regrets though. I will never complain having a new tool on my belt or in my bag of tricks.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Luke said:


> I'm back! And Merry X-Mas all!
> 
> Got the EBow...not quite halfway on the learning curve yet but I love it!
> 
> ...


I've never read or heard that Manny used one. I just assume he did because it was the only way I could cop those tones. At least without killing people in the 1st three rows.

Some of the things I've played with but never used live are the sweeping technique, where you don't actually land the unit on the two adjacent strings but sweep it just about the strings, like an arpeggio. Gotta be right over a humbucker to get that to work at all, but never did get proficient at it. Also, single reed / double reed sounds came fairly easily, but I found if I 'stabbed' the effect toward the string (fast, hard attack) rather than slowly landing on it, I could get a reasonable trumpet sound.

There's lots of sounds in there - it just takes work to get them out. Sure, you could do alot of that with a synth, but why, when there is a so much harder way to do it?


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## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

I have one. I barely ever use it. I find volume swells more convenient and usable most of the time (although a different effect). I did actually use my ebow while recording, but actually on bass guitar. I also think sustainer pickups would be more useful because they allow you to do more than one string at a time.


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## Luke (Jul 31, 2014)

High/Deaf said:


> I've never read or heard that Manny used one. I just assume he did because it was the only way I could cop those tones. At least without killing people in the 1st three rows.
> 
> Some of the things I've played with but never used live are the sweeping technique, where you don't actually land the unit on the two adjacent strings but sweep it just about the strings, like an arpeggio. Gotta be right over a humbucker to get that to work at all, but never did get proficient at it. Also, single reed / double reed sounds came fairly easily, but I found if I 'stabbed' the effect toward the string (fast, hard attack) rather than slowly landing on it, I could get a reasonable trumpet sound.
> 
> There's lots of sounds in there - it just takes work to get them out. Sure, you could do alot of that with a synth, but why, when there is a so much harder way to do it?


Now that I own an EBow and re-listened attentively to This Flight Tonight and Love Hurts...he uses controlled feedback. It's absolutely not an EBow according to my ears. On many of his old videos he has a slide in his left hand finger. All other guitarists that replaced him also use controlled feedback with/without slide.

I did a lil' search Re: Manny Charlton's use of the EBow on This Flight Tonight & Love Hurts. There is a common misconception about it. Also, the question does come up alot. Here's the most plausible answer that I found that he has supposedly posted on his site:

--------------------------------------

Sorry buddy never used an Ebow tho in the right hands they can sound great ( Big Country ) On Love hurts its slide and feedback and a cranked to the max Marshall on Star its regular Les Paul /Marshall sustain Thanx for your kind words of support


Manny

---------------------------------------

Yes, I'm aware you can emulate woodwind instruments with the EBow. I'm more interested in playing with its' sustain, bow effect and especially developing the spiccato technique for now.


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## Vox71 (Mar 25, 2008)

I use mine mainly for atmospheric stuff for my recordings. 

I hate to push my music on people, but it seems topical for this purpose. Here is an example of ebow used in a guitar solo thingy. Obviously, you don't have to listen to the whole song. You can forward to the solo

https://soundcloud.com/vox71/gone



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

I'm interested-
It'd be cool on the lap slide and a bunch of other things I'd like to try-
I actually went to buy one last year.
I had it out, examined it, played around with it on a guitar.
I just couldn't bring myself to spend 100 bucks on it.
I got thinking that I just wouldn't use it much.
Seems silly really- I've got lots of things that cost more that I dont use much lol.
Now I want one again but I'm poor now.
I'd be interested in trading for one-
If anyone is into that, pm me!


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I used to have one but sold it to someone on the forum. When I saw some youtube videos of it being demonstrated I just had to have one. Once I got it I played around with it quite a bit for about a week then threw it in my desk drawer where it sat quite a while till I sold it. I brought it to a couple of gigs and tried to find somewhere to fit it in but it just didn't happen. Turned out not to be that useful for me. I probably should have kept it to fool around with every now and then when I'm bored.
Kind of like this AC30 amp plug I have. I saw someone on the BST asking for one and almost thought about offering mine up thats been sitting in my desk drawer for about 2 years. But I decided to keep it.


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## Luke (Jul 31, 2014)

Ever wonder how Steve Hackett on "Carpet Crawlers" or Jimmy Page on "In The Evening" attains that sound?

Well, I've discovered something else regarding the effect of sustain... and that is the GIZMOTRON. 

The Gizmo is more difficult to use and same goes to attain a decent level of proficiency than the Ebow.

Worth a search online if you're a guitarist - at least you'll learn about something "new" if you already don't or ever heard of this.

The company went bankrupt in the 70s so the they are rare to find today on i.e. ebay.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Luke said:


> Ever wonder how Steve Hackett on "Carpet Crawlers" or Jimmy Page on "In The Evening" attains that sound?
> 
> Well, I've discovered something else regarding the effect of sustain... and that is the GIZMOTRON.
> 
> ...


It looks easier to use than the ebow. Its anchored right to the guitar. From the samples that I've seen on youtube it doesn't sound as good as the ebow though. But you can do multiple strings at a time where as the ebow is only one string at a time.


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