Ebow in the right forum this time :)

[slayer32390]

hey guys sorry about posting this in the wrong forum originally, so anyways whats an ebow and is it useful or a just a piece of crap?

[RacerX]

I thought they were more than $20? I think one of the ladies (Emthrax or guitarsjb) has one.

[dg]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-bow

The '80s band Big Country used the E-bow to get a bagpipe-ish sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXyB5J6M9YM

[Bryan]

Basically, the ebow is a hand held sustainer pickup. Does the exact same thing. Problem is, you gotta hold it in your hand instead of it being installed on your guitar.

I've messed around with one but found it a little too cumbersome for my tastes. Nifty gadget though.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

I love mine, use it all the time. I've been experimenting with using it with a slide lately too, with some cool results.

[Sanctuary]

I want one!

[Newc]

I bought one from Annah (IIRC) a while back and while it's neat, I'd prefer the built-in Sustainer type thing. It's easier to switch strings and mute the ones you don't need if your pick hand is free.

[hippietim]

i used to use an e-bow in my last band. it is a cool device. it is unfortunately awkward to contend with though on stage. i never used it for the whole song so putting it down and picking it up is a pain - i never quite found a good place to put it on a strap or anything like it.

also note that you need a guitar with a neck pickup - you can sort of make them work with a bridge pickup but it's nowhere near what you can do with a neck pickup.

[GodOfRhythm]

I've always wanted an ebow, never bought one though, they're like $130 here, and that's a heck of a lot more I have to or want to spend at the moment.

It's a great little thing to experiment with and to get some extra cool off-the-wall sounds for songs and experimental stuff!

Lots of people used it: Metallica, Opeth, etc etc...

[slayer32390]

haha yeah its $80 i was remembering 20 from an old catalog somewhere. hippietim why wont it work with a bridge pickup?

[hippietim]

haha yeah its $80 i was remembering 20 from an old catalog somewhere. hippietim why wont it work with a bridge pickup?

as i said, it can work on the bridge pickup, just nowhere near as good. there are two problems, one is some sort issue with the magnetic field range and having some string length to work with for the right harmonics/resonance (I'm not sure what the phenomenem is really, i just know what works) and the other is the physical shape of the thing - you have to hold it in a pretty awkward position to get it over a bridge pickup. the instructions tell you pretty much the same thing. they do have some suggestions on how to use the thing on the bridge pickup for some effects.

something about the neck position matters for other stuff as well. every sustainer pickup i've seen is installed in the neck position and the instructions for the fernandes sustainer make a point of telling you it won't work right if you put it elsewhere. also, octavia style pedals don't work anywhere near as well if you don't use the neck pickup. i'm sure there is a correlation here with all of this.