E-Bow: is there a clean -sounding one?

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Does anyone make a variant of the E-Bow that does NOT have the string-distortion sound on it? Just something to keep the string vibrating but at it's clean tone?

Cliff Kane · From: the late great golden state

I don't know of anything else like an Ebow. I find that the Ebow doesn't work as well on PSG as on standard guitar because the pickup is so close to the changer. On standard guitar the Ebow sounds better, I think, because you can get a gentler attack with the neck pickup, at least better than I can get with it on pedal steel. By rolling off the tone and using a gentle attack the ebow will sound more like a flute or a horn than a cello or violin or distorted guitar. I find that the closer the ebow is to the pickup, and the less tone is rollled off, the more percussive, gritty, and distorted it sounds. On the demo cassette tape that comes with the E-bow, the guy playing it (don't recall his name, but he is awesome) gets some really soft and gentle tones with it.

[This message was edited by Cliff Kane on 29 June 2006 at 08:57 PM.]

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

Jim; I used to use the E~Bow quite a bit some yrs. ago and you'll find there seems to be “Hot~Spots” as you slide the device up or down the neck. The farther down the neck you go (away from the P/U), each spot is a little more mellow! The vibrations are also stronger, moving away from the P/U. The only thing you have to do is remember which fret the little Red~Light hits when you find your preference in tone!

------------------
“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

you might be getting a buzz from the Ebow being too close to the string. If the Ebow is either too close to the neck or pushed down too far it will buzz mightily! But I have loved mine for years for all the sounds it gives me.

Gavin Dunn · From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Hey Jim,

I use the Ebow on steel alot, there are hot spots....generally I play it around the 17th fret, and am constantly lifting it slightly to get a smooth tone. Try rocking it toward yourself with the closest string still on the string guide.

Another essential is to save up all of your near dead 9 volts from pedals, I find it makes for a weaker signal...preventing the string from buzzing to the point of hitting the Ebow itself.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

I heard this description once a few years ago.

There IS no distortion in an eBow sound. It's just pure string vibration - but the long sustain gives it a "bowed" feel that *sounds* like a sustaining, distorted note. If you look at the waveform, though, it's about as pure a sine wave as you can get. There's no attack and no decay (until you pull it away) - just a constant, unwavering vibration.

Meaning - you can't get a *cleaner* sounding eBow! All you can do is ADD distortion to dirty the sound up.

If you think it sounds distorted, then either you're using it as previously posted (too close to the pickup) or it's just not for you.

Keith Hilton · From: 248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721

I have been interested in building a string vibrator. I suppose it is just a magnetic field that is broken then closed in a set time. Has anyone build a string vibrator? The reason I was interested in building one is for a tuner. I have a tuner I built that reads out frequency on a LCD screen in numbers, but it is not accurate. The frequency can vary accoring to how hard the sing was picked, and how fast it decays. If I had a string vibrator, the micro controller guitar tuner I have built would read an accurate consistance reading. Jim, my wife's brother has went to work for me. His name is David Shapiro.

[This message was edited by Keith Hilton on 02 July 2006 at 08:44 PM.]

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

Check out the Fernandes guitars sustainer. It is like a pickup, sits in a HB space on the guitar and when you turn it on it vibrates all the strings.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Jim, I don't think the message was meant for me either.

The other Jim

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

I find that the E-Bow is a bit weak on steel compared to electric guitar. Probably because the steel guitar strings are so tight. Really the concept of the E-Bow is very simple. It's just a pickup, an amplifier, and then a magnetic transducer. So it's essentially a feedback generator. Whatever gets picked up on one end gets amplified and sent to what's essentially a pickup in reverse which induces the signal back into the string. It doesn't matter what the frequency is, it simply causes a feedback loop. Maybe the folks at E-Bow could strengthen the amplifier for us. Or maybe they could be really cool and re-issue the old two-string steel guitar model E-Bow. Anyone got one of those rare gems?

Brad

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

Yeah Brad I have been after one of those for a long time- I have found a few, but none working and they epoxy potted the guts so you can't fix 'em. If you ever discover a way around that I could have a couple of them fairly easily.
As to the strength of them with PSG, I find that the older black ones have a stronger signal. If you use the newer Ebow plus it has 2 settings and the signal strength is weaker on one of them.

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