EBow Plus Hand-Held Sustainer for Guitar

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The Electronic Bow for Guitar!

The EBow is a hand-held electronic bow for guitar. This small battery-powered unit replaces the pick in the right hand letting the guitarist mimic strings, horns, and woodwinds with unbelievable sensitivity. The EBow produces a powerful infinite sustain, rich in harmonics for incredible guitar sounds. Unlike plug-in effects, the Energy Bow does its work on the string itself... Direct String Synthesis™. Infinite Sustain is just the beginning.

 

 

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The wide range of tones and textures come from technique not presets. Where it is positioned along the strings, how it is moved, whether it is tilted to one side or up on one end, how quickly it is slapped into place all contribute to the sound. One key variable is its interplay with your pickup. The closer you bring the EBow to a magnetic pickup that is on, the louder and brighter the sound. This only happens very close to the pickup. This is called the playing area. You can vibrate the string anywhere along its length from the nut to the bridge, but the dramatic volume change occurs only very near a pickup that is on. Staying in this small playing area gives you lots of control over the tone and volume dynamics.

The EBow rides on two strings, straddling the one you're playing which is not touched by the EBow. Push the EBow against these support strings and the drive channel comes closer to the string that you're bowing intensifying the drive field for more string vibration. Less pressure or tilting the EBow away from the string decreases this drive.

Don't be afraid of the EBow. Slide it along the strings, tilt it, slap it into place over the pickup and see what happens. Try it over all your pickups to hear the difference in tone. When you hear something you like, try to repeat it. Then master it as a technique.

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What does the "E" stand for?
For the years preceding the EBow's debut in 1976, it was called the "Energy Bow" because it bowed the guitar string with an energy field. Around the shop, we began referring to it as the "E" bow for short. Fewer syllables, less of an effort.

Will the EBow play more than one string at time?
No. But neither does a pick. One of the coolest effects is the EBow arpeggio.

Does the EBow work on bass?
The EBow was designed for guitar string spacing. It gets its necessary alignment by resting on the strings adjacent to the one you're playing. To play the EBow on bass, you must accomplish this critical alignment in challenging ways. You can rest the EBow between the strings and tilt it sideways to get the string you want to play to run down the drive channel. You can use your forefinger and thumb off the edges of the EBow to create "grooves" that catch the adjacent strings. Or, you can just hold the EBow in the proper position through sheer will and determination. Light gauge strings and a touch of distortion can prove useful, especially in the harmonic mode.

Will the EBow work on Acoustic?
If you have a magnetic pickup in the sound hole, the EBow should respond as it would on a solid body electric, though the strings tend to decay more quickly and activate more slowly. Acoustics with bridge transducers, piezo pickups or microphones will be much quieter and, of course, there is no HotSpot, which is necessary for bowing strokes and spiccato. However, you can get a very clean, natural sounding string tone. When moving from string-to-string on an acoustic without a magnetic pickup in the sound hole, you should mute the SupportStrings to reduce the noise of the EBow on the strings.

Model:	EBOW
Manufacturer:	EBOW