E-Bow - Have you used one, or own one

Musicwolf

Played at a fund raiser today and the guitarist in the band on before us used one on one song (can't remember what the song was).  Sounded ok.

guitars4you

PhilKing said:

guitars4you said:

PhilKing said:

I still have mine form the 70's, with the leather holster that clips to your belt and the chrome finish.  I got it when Dixie was importing them.  It's not something I use a lot, but occasionally it is great for an effect.  It is also good for playing reverse sounding guitar leads.

It was Dixie I was chatting to that started this post

How's he doing?  It's a long time since I last saw him (probably 15years or so).  He used to bring in some amazing stuff.  When I was at JSG, he was a regular visitor and we ordered a lot from him.

I see him maybe 3/4 times a year, mainly at guitar shows - Speak maybe once a month - He is still Dixie - He is my guitar dad I suppose - He's about 80 now - Still buys and sells the odd guitar - I'll tell him you were asking about him when I next speak 

DartmoorHedgehog

BobHillman said:

english_bob said:

Nerine said:

Seen a couple of comments about the volume getting too loud. 

How does that work? Surely it’s governed by the guitar pickups and subsequently the amp?

Yes, but a string driven by an eBow is louder than a picked string, so you get more volume overall. The volume is also dictated by where on the string you place the eBow-  easier to demonstrate than to explain but basically there's a spot near the neck pickup that gets you maximum volume from the eBow. With it placed on that spot and eBow is *significantly* louder than your normal playing.
When I used one in my old band I would turn my guitar volume down to about halfway and be just as loud with the eBow as I was playing normally.

Isn't this actually caused by the signal from the eBow (which causes the string to vibrate) being picked up by the pickup?

That's an interesting thought - I'd never considered that before.  The volume does peak significantly around that point near the neck pickup and I'd always assumed it was something to do with the vibrating nodes of the string.  As far as I understand it the ebow is a feedback loop with a pickup of its own and a driver coil, so it sort of emulates acoustic feedback as if you were standing close to a very loud speaker, but electromagnetically.  It may well be possible that the guitar pickup is directly influenced by the ebow's output when it is near the pickup.  Does anyone know for sure?

MrBump

I love mine, had it for a couple of decades I guess.  Use it for "Heroes" in my current band, great fun.

What I'd love to see - replace the switch (normal/harmonic) to a momentary rocker switch on the side where your fingers go - that way you can switch modes instantly.  Plus you'd never leave it accidentally left on in your guitar case...

bobeffect

MrBump said:

I love mine, had it for a couple of decades I guess.  Use it for "Heroes" in my current band, great fun.

What I'd love to see - replace the switch (normal/harmonic) to a momentary rocker switch on the side where your fingers go - that way you can switch modes instantly.  Plus you'd never leave it accidentally left on in your guitar case...

I have flattened a few 9V batteries like that. Really easy to knock the switch on accidentally and a bit of a pain to disconnect the battery every time.  It does add something to a set list to include a song with some e-bow in it.

DartmoorHedgehog

MrBump said:

I love mine, had it for a couple of decades I guess.  Use it for "Heroes" in my current band, great fun.

What I'd love to see - replace the switch (normal/harmonic) to a momentary rocker switch on the side where your fingers go - that way you can switch modes instantly.  Plus you'd never leave it accidentally left on in your guitar case...

I don't find it hard to flick the mode switch on the fly - perhaps I hold the ebow in a weird way.  I think I grip it with thumb and first two fingers, then use the third finger to move the switch.

I've never forgotten to turn it off but I do keep it in an old camera case I found to be about the right size, to stop it getting bashed around in my kit bag.