Ebow - Anyone use 'em?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwq0i6jP7dQ

 

Yeah, for a game called "Stump the TSA agent".

Seriously, If you search there are many threads on EBow. I founded a E-Bow (preferred spelling by the maker) quartet here in NYC.

Check out this track -
http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=6530440&q=hi&newref=1

Several other tracks here as well - http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=652536

-RAH3

 

Used one tonight, I try and use it as often as I can

 

Jeez! I have an older E-Bow and there's no way that it can do that. Actually, I should say that there's no way that I can do that with it. It's just not that fast. Now I'm going to have to check out what the newer versions can do.

 

Can you guys do the arpeggios like Phil Keaggy does with your E-Bows? Mine can't do that even over the hot spot.

 

i can't do any of that stuff with mine. i wonder if the old chrome ones have better response?

 

Exactly what I said in another thread with a link to Keagy's performance.

I've got a black one - had it for years, so I've probably gotten about as good with it as I'm ever gonna get - and there's no way to do that string skipping stuff. It's just not powerful enough. Takes at least a full second to generate enough energy to produce an audible string vibration.

Are you guys using the current grey version?

Looks like those old chrome ones are the bomb - I'd buy a 'reissue', for sure!

 

I remember practicing some arpeggios with mine after I saw that video for the first time...
I got in the ballpark but you could still hear the clunking on the strings when I did it. He's just amazing, that's all.

 

I use one regularly, but can't say that I've developed any real chops with it. I can get the background drone thing going, and the "with or without you" stuff, but that's about it I also have had some success recording with it, playing background harmonies

/Andreas

 

I have the same one that you have and would buy up a "reissue" as well. Experimenting with hotter pickups didn't get me to the note generation speed that he's getting. Maybe there's more involved like tapping harder with my fretting fingers.

 

There are four major iterations of the Ebow.

The first was the chromed model which has no on/off switch (senses string automatically). It is the weakest and slowest of all the versions but is also probably the 'sweetest' sounding as well.

The second version is black with red script. It is MUCH louder and more powerful than the first version but is still fairly 'slow' compared to version three (black with white script).

The newest version has a new 'harmonic' mode with a purple LED. Versions 3 and 4 are the 'fastest.'

 

This is the one I have. It's certainly fast enough to do that arpeggio stuff, and the harmonic mode is really cool.

I use mine once, maybe twice in a set. It's kind of like wah - an awesome effect, but very easily overdone.

 

i use mine, but pretty much only for ambient moments in a worship band...very rarely i do a super sustained solo with it. i wish i could bend with that sucker tho

 

You can, but it takes some practice. As you bend, move the Ebow so that the string you're bending remains in the center of the Ebow's resonance channel. Of course this requires that you move the Ebow away from the "groove" where it normally sits. You have to lift it up slightly so that it can slide freely across the strings. If you do it wrong, it will catch on adjacent strings and make a godawful noise, so practice is important.

Since you're lifing it, it also means that the strength of the resonance effect is less, making the note quieter. You can offset this by moving the Ebow closer to the pickup that's active. Closer to pickup = louder.

The Ebow becomes a much more expressive tool when you learn to move it around like this, in all three axes - up and down along the strings, back and forth across the strings, and higher and lower in relation to the top of the guitar.

 

Thanks for the great info! Now I'm going to have to buy a new one.