PRS MAN Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I am going to buy a e-Bow but i have heard that is crap anad i have heard it was awsome, i have talked to a band i am friends with and he said it is awsome but i wasjust wanting to see if anyone had bad luck with one thanks _____DISCIPLE_ROCKS_____ PAUL REED SMITH GUITARS 4 EVER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I kinda think that they are crap. The guys who have them and can control them do marvelous things. But it is not that easy to control, not that easy to time when the effect will start, and really, how many times a night can you use it before the audience starts looking at each other and saying, "what... again...???" The sound is very cool. I own one. I'll use it in the studio (VERY rarely...), but I've never taken it out live because it is such a PITA. "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I have one and I love it. I'm not a facile with it as some, but I love keeping a string going while twiddle up and down the neck on it. Lotsa fun! Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d halfnote Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Getting advice is always good but the best way to decide what anything can do for you is to try it with your own hands. Then you'll know whether it inspires you & what's involved in using it. Personally I never found them hard to control (I didn't do much string switching) but I agree w/Bill above that unless used inventively, they're a bit of a one-trick-pony. As to the issue of the attack, that's just the way it is....or was; apparently there've been updated designs since I used one [see below] & they seem to have faster response. A vaguely similar effect but w/more controllable attack could be had once from a device called a Gizmotron but it had a lot of problems of it's own. FWIW, while you seem to know the basic deal about them, here's the company site, which might give you some ideas. http://www.ebow.com/home.php [bTW, what they label as "EBowTube is, in fact, a set of tutorial/demonstration clips. Oddly the site suggests that one can only play one string at a time but I recall there being a 2-string model ] d=halfnote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Fraser Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I am going to buy a e-Bow but i have heard that is crap anad i have heard it was awsome, i have talked to a band i am friends with and he said it is awsome but i wasjust wanting to see if anyone had bad luck with one thanks Crap would mean it was poorly made & didn't do what they said it does. It's well made & it does what it does very well. That said, I only see an application in very experimental music for the eBow. I've been using them for at least 30 years & it's a major part of my gig, but I do really weird electronic textural stuff. For straight ahead rock or pop, I don't see it having much usefulness. It's just too weird. You have to build around the one thing it does & make that the point of a given piece of music. BTW the newer black plastic models with the power switch are much better & get the string started much faster than the original chrome model without the power switch. Scott Fraser Scott Fraser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Fraser Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 A vaguely similar effect but w/more controllable attack could be had once from a device called a Gizmotron but it had a lot of problems of it's own. The Gizmotron is one of the most obscure pieces of gear in the world. Very few were made & they had major mechanical problems & created a lot of hum. But a great idea, which nobody has renewed in the 25 or so years since Creme & Godley invented it. Oddly the site suggests that one can only play one string at a time but I recall there being a 2-string model ] For a very short period there was a 3 string model intended for pedal steel players. I've never seen one, so either it had issues or was a marketing disaster. Probably as rare as the Gizmotron, i.e. maybe a few dozen at most. Scott Fraser Scott Fraser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 The ebow is great, it works very well and it's all a matter of learning to use it, like for everything, and not difficult at all. If you think that long sustained notes are useful in many genres so will be the ebow. It's absolutely great if used with some delay and a volume pedal. I used it with success also with acoustic guitars where it shines in combination with a bottleneck. Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Yeah, get a new one; they're NOT "crap", they're less expensive than most pedals, and you can do some things with 'em. If you use one to do the same things all the time, then of course it would get old fast; but you can use one to great effect once in a while, or get creative and find lots of ways to do different things with one, and be less repetitive. Go to the E-Bow website for lots of examples, they have some wild mp3 sound-clips... Now, if you aren't hung-up about replacing a neck pickup- and spending more money- consider the Sustainiac Stealth Pro Sustainer from Maniac Music; it's sort of like having an E-Bow that can drive all six strings installed in your guitar, so your hands are both freed up. The very best installable magnetic-string-driver out there! Also, I have a Sustainiac "Model C" Acoustic-Feedback Sustainer (made by the same people), which mounts a vibrating transducer on the guitar's headstock, to induce sustaining musical feedback in the guitar through vibrating the neck and strings; and I love it! But I can understand that it's probably a bit geeky and gizmo-y for most folks. Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Iverson Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 E-bows are great for sustained melodies. Check out Chris Proctor's work with one on acoustic guitar. You can use it in normal music if you want to. And yes, you can do all sorts of experimental things with them. And do great flute and cello imitations. (The tape that comes along with the E-bow is unbelievable!) I've used one a few times on stage, mostly just sustaining a note or two without having to crank up the amps! But it's a cool effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d halfnote Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 As some may not have noticed, at the EBow site posted above, there are a number of demo clips of uses of which older models of the device that I'd used seemed incapable. http://www.ebow.com/ebowtube.php http://www.ebow.com/soundclips.php http://www.ebow.com/youtube.php d=halfnote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarPlayerFL Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Wow...this brings back memories of the guy with red hair (with a never ending grin) at NAMM shows playing the Ebow. I think I might pick one up now. This would be perfect for some of the keyboard based dance tunes without guitar that we do. I also like the Ebow brochure which shows fun things to do with an Ebow.....annoy the neighbors. A Jazz/Chord Melody Master-my former instructor www.robertconti.com (FKA GuitarPlayerSoCal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Using an E-Bow, while simultaneously waving ones elbow around over a Theremin, could result in some wondrously weird '50s sci-fi sounding harmonies... !! Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d halfnote Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Caev, one day I'll have to track you down for some playing. You flat out crack me up sometimes! d=halfnote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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