EBow (no letter though, maybe a card...)

darthed1981

Hi All,

My wife was just asking what I wanted for my birthday, cheaper than a guitar, and as it takes my mind off the water damage hole in the roof behind me thought I'd ask you chaps if an EBow might be a fun suggestion?

If so, which one that can be had for reasonable money? 

HAL9000

Apart from Bowie's Heroes, I can't think of a single song where it is essential (or even useful).

richardhomer

HAL9000 said:

Apart from Bowie's Heroes, I can't think of a single song where it is essential (or even useful).

In a way, I’m with - or without - you.

Fishboy7

https://g.co/kgs/9YyZpz

fatherchewielewie

Good fun if you're into shoegaze, ambient, looping etc. I use mine with long delays, verbs, modulation, pitch shifting, etc. It can get a bit mad....

stickyfiddle

ebows are generally an indie thing. Radiohead, The National, Coldplay etc. 

If you're a classic rocker then don't bother

darthed1981

stickyfiddle said:

ebows are generally an indie thing. Radiohead, The National, Coldplay etc. 

If you're a classic rocker then don't bother

I'm an indie kid, so I'll consider this a pro...

Snags

It can be good fun, takes some getting used to. FFS make sure you turn the guitar volume way, way, way, way, way, way, WAY down when you first have a crack as they really, really push the signal.

Mind, I don't think I've used mine since a friend's wedding about 10 years ago, when they wanted it for the intro to Be Thou My Vision for some reason.

Also, not just for indie kids. Oldie Goths All About Eve used them from time to time.

not_the_dj

Neck pick up, tone right down. Add delay, modulation even tremolo and learn a scale on one string.....then off you go. 

E-bows are awesome. 

yorkio

HAL9000 said:

Apart from Bowie's Heroes, I can't think of a single song where it is essential (or even useful).

I’m pretty sure that Fripp didn’t use an ebow on Heroes, just hammer-ons and pull-offs - and a ferociously loud amp.

stickyfiddle

darthed1981 said:

stickyfiddle said:

ebows are generally an indie thing. Radiohead, The National, Coldplay etc. 

If you're a classic rocker then don't bother

I'm an indie kid, so I'll consider this a pro...

Well then...

Obviously Ed now mostly uses his sig Strat.






This is interesting, as Edge used his infinite guitar on the first leg of this tour (search With or Without You Washington 1992) but switched to Les Paul + eBow after Zooropa.



And if you want cool kids:





Works on bass too...

Kittyfrisk

I too thought "I really could do with an eBow' . Turns out, there wasn't much. I love the sonic possibilities for fooling around, but they are a bit of a bugger to use 'properly' finding sweet spots, not colliding with strings etc. But happy birthday whatever you get 

darthed1981

Kittyfrisk said:

 But happy birthday whatever you get 

Aww thanks

Philtre

Socks.

not_the_dj

Robert Plant’s cover of Morning Dew has some nice e-bow action. 

https://youtu.be/uQR5m-pglUw

The coolest band in the work (Marillion) have plenty of e-bow moments in their back catalogue 

https://youtu.be/SnbfDZDo7mA

Kittyfrisk

Philtre said:

Socks.

Yes! String wraps & moisture absorbent for ceiling holes. Genius!!

not_the_dj

Almost forgot, my award winning Fretboard Forum “drone” challenge from a few years ago. 

https://youtu.be/tbCJLFy6TeI

Kittyfrisk

Kittyfrisk said:

Philtre said:

Socks.

Yes! String wraps & moisture absorbent for ceiling holes. Genius!!

@not_the_dj Sure I can hear Vini Reilly in there 

springhead

Smiths - That Joke isn’t funny uses one, I think. 

We play House of Love, I Don’t Know Why I Love You and it comes in handy on the end of that. 

Fripp didn’t use one for Heroes. Just very loud amp and floor marked with where each note would feed back. Not really a viable option for covering it down the Dog and Duck. 

They’re fun to play around with. Takes a while to learn where over the string you need to be for quick triggering. Swapping between strings takes some practice too. 

pintspiller

Sounds like the Ebow would be a waste of money, unless you like the posted mentioned above.

Would she stretch to a guitar instead?

dindude

I know it was one of the first suggestions and the clues literary in the title but worth embedding as it’s one of the coolest songs and deserves more than a skip past. And what a great video too.

https://youtu.be/5cnIQHJ169s