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I think I understand it now. It's not a one-way thing, supplying energy to the string. The E-Bow itself has a simple pickup with feedback into the driving circuit. So whatever it picks up, it feeds that frequency into the driving circuit, which makes the string vibrate more strongly. There has to be some amount of string vibration to start it off, and I guess that moving your fretting hand, bumping the guitar against your body, or energy from the driving circuit at the "wrong" frequency is enough to set it off. Apparently the harmonic mode works by simply reversing the phase of the signal, which cancels out the fundamental, so you hear more of the overtone. Clever.
It's fantastic on bass too. You can get lovely long cello-like drones.
Re; the slightly harsh, unpleasant direct sound, I love the way Peter Buck used one loads around Automatic For the People where he embraced that droning, harsh tone.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
I had one when I was a student but sold it when I needed money for rent. Must buy another some day!
As has been mentioned, there's a bit of a learning curve - it's a whole new instrument. Careful with the treble and volume, it can get a bit feisty. I like to ride a volume pedal when using an e-bow, both to keep on top of the volume but also to control the note envelope. Some ambient delay and reverb helps as well.
I mainly go to the e-bow when I want to NOT sound like a guitar (I have no keyboards) like in last years 'Soundscape' challenge.
The EBow and Sustainer are like chalk and cheese, the Sustainer is on all the time whereas the Ebow can be used dynamically to coax the note. I always put mine in any guitar case that I take out, great fun and a good use for knackered PP3's
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.