EBow

[Noirie.]

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Redpill me on Ebows.

Kinda want one if can make those sounds with one. What's a good secondhand price for one?

[benecol]

I REALLY wanted to like mine, but it insisted on playing an octave note on every string I ever played it on (on several guitars).

TC Electronic have started doing their own version called the Aeon, might give one a go.

[dezb1]

Also wanted to like it but got bored pretty quickly

[Noirie.]

Was hoping they'd be a shittier £20 copy or something.

[Nick]

Get a cheap guitar with a sustainer pickup

[gaybear]

Was hoping they'd be a shittier £20 copy or something.

I know what you mean.
However, a bow is probably the most efficient and better sounding option.

[lorez]

Also wanted to like it but got bored pretty quickly

[ultratwin]

It has its place, be it out in front as in the OP, or for more textural effects.

I for one am not very fond of mine, but use it in place of synth work when a glissando can be a more tasteful alternative. Tucked one in from around 3:00 on while covering a SF59 tune a few months back:

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Along the lines of what Nick mentioned, a cheap Burny LP or Fernandes with built-in factory sustainer could easily be a better investment (or a colossal waste) if you like the concept and need it on tap, in place of a normal neck pickup. James Iha's dreamy To Who Knows Where has a sustainer guitar played all over the chorus and instrumental sections.

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[NickS]

Tucked one in from around 3:00 on while covering a SF59 tune a few months back:

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Nice work.

[Bacchus]

Really wanted mine to change the way I play, but I don't use it enough to get properly good on it.

I year back I set myself a challenge of only using an ebow and my fretless guitar. I soon gave up and stuck with cheesy pentatonic blues instead.

[ultratwin]

Nice work.

Thanks a bunch, NickS. Truth be told, my vox sounded so bad in the verses that I decided to Bill Shatner them out at the last moment, and then just wing it by overproducing the rest of the arrangement... which sure enough led to the EBow as well. Original track and album that the original is from is quite a mellow Tom Petty-like affair among much more noisy SF59 tracks in the catalog, and so doing something altogether more cinematic and lush was a load of fun.

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[Concretebadger]

I quite like mine, but don't use it as often as I thought I would. There are three issues I have with it: the string vibration and resulting volume is higher than what you get from picking normally, it does the "octave up" thing that Benecol mentioned (the newer ones have a "standard" and "octave up" mode on the power switch, which confuses matters further) on lower strings, and it's less effective on the high E.

I've not heard about he TC Aeon though, so I'll check it out after my next payday and report back. It's slightly cheaper for one thing. Going on what I just googled, it doesn't look as if it would sit as snugly in the hand as an Ebow does, and the reviews I've read say that it doesn't work too well on the high E. Which is similar to my own experiences with an Ebow, so I guess that it's a quirk of the technology. Thinner strings have less mass for the magnetic induction magick to work on, maybe?

The Aeon also makes me wonder what copyright is on electromagnetic string drivers, and whether the Ebow patent is on the shape of the thing rather than the underlying tech or the "hand-held" application. That would explain the shape of the Aeon and the fact that Fernandes have been fitting "sustainer" pickups for years. Anyone know?

[paul_]

Have heard bad stuff about the TC Aeon. Apparently that “dead spot� thing that eBows can do on the high E happens everywhere all the time, its overall a bit underpowered compared to an eBow and not as ergonomic in use.

[dezb1]

Looks like I'm going to get bored again bought one of these for a bargain price - and thought I'd give it another shot as I'll get my money back if I flip it... eeeeeooooooooowwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeee

[Noirie.]

Dibs for when you flip it.

[Fakir Mustache]

Tell us what you hate about it.

[dezb1]

Tell us what you hate about it.

Its curly whineyness... and batteries I hate batteries, I also hate the fact that it wasn't used on 'Heroes' but pretends to sound like it did... that it's the Heet sound ebow everyone knows heat has an 'a' in it not two ee's... and plus what? What's the plus all about?

[Fakir Mustache]

Tell us what you hate about it.

Its curly whineyness... and batteries I hate batteries, I also hate the fact that it wasn't used on 'Heroes' but pretends to sound like it did... that it's the Heet sound ebow everyone knows heat has an 'a' in it not two ee's... and plus what? What's the plus all about?

They made the string pull a bit stronger than the earlier ones.

[Fakir Mustache]

I put a good battery in mine, works really well now. I think the string pull is strong enough, even though it's not a plus version.

Mine doesn't have a harmonic mode switch, but supposedly you can make that sound if you press a certain way. The cassette it came with explains all these ways to imitate other instruments, haven't listened to it recently but it wasn't easy to figure out how to do it from their explanations.

Also some people might be interested in this video I found while looking for something else:
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[dezb1]

Watched that video the other night, looks like the ebow is still the best option