Hot Shot QuotesShow MoreClose
![frank_zappa2](media/general_pics/frank_zappa2-m.jpg)
The EBow gets the kind of sustain that the guitar normally wouldn't produce. I like the texture of the EBow sound.
Frank Zappa
![paul_stanley2](media/general_pics/paul_stanley2-m.jpg)
"I used the E Bow on quite a few [tracks]. I really found it incredibly useful. I don't know how practical it is for live performing, because you can only utilize it on one string at a time, which really makes it a little difficult. Most of the time on [the album] when there was an E Bow there was really between three and six of them over-dubbed. They were on "Tonight You Belong To Me"; on the melodic line from the front of the heavy section, it's not a keyboard, it's the E Bows"
Paul Stanley / Kiss
![craig_anderton](media/general_pics/craig_anderton-m.jpg)
I also like the sound you get when you turn the tone control for minimum highs. The thing that's appealed to me most about the E-Bow is how nuanced it can be. You can really develop some very refined techniques with it, like pushing very gently down on the string to get some "mechanical distortion."
Craig Anderton
![opeth_4](media/general_pics/opeth_4-m.jpg)
We love the EBow. It's one of those things from the '70s that we never really know how the guitarist got that tone. So we bought one and it's all over the albums.
Opeth
![daniel_ash2](media/general_pics/daniel_ash2-m.jpg)
The EBow is a great bit of gear. I have shares in the company, and they're doing quite well, thank you very much. [Laughs.]
Daniel Ash
![Black_Crowes](media/general_pics/Black_Crowes-m.jpg)
Marc played a Coral Electric Sitar on "Ballad of Urgency" and uses an EBow for the very first time on "Gone", nailing it on the first take. "I know the guitar", growls Marc, "and some little gadget isn't going to be that scary. Your first instinct is always your best."
Black Crowes
![Johny_Rzeznik](media/general_pics/Johny_Rzeznik-m.jpg)
In the studio I use a lot of E-Bow. I used it for things like vocal reinforcement on Superstar Carwash, like "Close Your Eyes" and "On the Lie." I also did a thing where I plugged the guitar into a Leslie and played notes with an E-Bow. Then I went back and did another track and played the second note of a cord. I built cords that way, and punched components of each cord in and out. It sounded a lot like an organ. I love the sound of Leslies, but it's hard to use that shit live.
Johnny Rzeznik / Goo Goo Dolls
![leo_abrahams1](media/general_pics/leo_abrahams1-m.jpg)
I've always experimented with different sounds, but funnily enough I hate eBow! I find it really bland and unexpressive and only use it if it HAS to be an EBow!
Leo Abrahams
![EdisonSuit](media/general_pics/EdisonSuit-m.jpg)
We've used EBow on both electric guitars and fretless bass, and even banjo always with great results.
Edison Suit
![craig_anderton](media/general_pics/craig_anderton-m.jpg)
Probably the most underrated special effect for a guitarist.
Craig Anderton
![henry_kaiser1](media/general_pics/henry_kaiser1-m.jpg)
It's like having a pick of a different color.
Henry Kaiser
![Lenny](media/general_pics/Lenny-m.jpg)
The most expressive guitar synthesizer on the market.
Lenny Walker
![buddy_emmons2](media/general_pics/buddy_emmons2-m.jpg)
An effect I've been trying to get for a long time. It's amazing.
Buddy Emmons
![michael_manring2](media/general_pics/michael_manring2-m.jpg)
I think it really shines on fretless.
Michael Manring
![Dick_Tracy](media/general_pics/Dick_Tracy-m.jpg)
He who controls magnetism, controls the universe.
Dick Tracy
![daniel_ash2](media/general_pics/daniel_ash2-m.jpg)
I played guitar with a violin bow but started using an EBow instead. It was more reliable, more controllable. It can completely change the atmosphere of a track.
Daniel Ash
![psychedelic_furs1](media/general_pics/psychedelic_furs1-m.jpg)
You can space out with the EBow... it sings. You can make it do anything.
John Ashton / The Psychedelic Furs
![bill_nelson2](media/general_pics/bill_nelson2-m.jpg)
What I like most is its sheer expressiveness.
Bill Nelson
![william_david_brohn1](media/general_pics/william_david_brohn1-m.jpg)
I also find the orchestrations in WICKED (the musical) very impressive. What I find the most intriguing is the guitar technique known as the "E-bow". You hear it in the beginning of "As Long As You're Mine," and interspersed throughout the rest of the show as well, to give for an "eerie" sound. The orchestrator, William David Brohn, also used the "E-bow" for the stage orchestration of MARY POPPINS, since it has a more darker edge to it. (Quote by Josh Freilich)
William David Brohn
![craig_anderton](media/general_pics/craig_anderton-m.jpg)
I've been using one of these little buggers for...hmmm...could it be over 20 years?!? Anyway, when I go to gigs I still double-check to make sure it's in the guitar case, right next to the replacement strings. I use it to make rude sounds as well as do the sustained note thang.
Craig Anderton
![Paul_Vo](media/general_pics/Paul_Vo-m.jpg)
Paul Vo opines on the EBow's simplicity and longevity.
Article QuotesShow MoreClose
![opeth_4](media/general_pics/opeth_4-m.jpg)
Opeth in NYC: Progressive Rock or Jazz Metal? Opeth has a wonderfully smooth guitar sound; on recordings Akerfeldt uses an "ebow" device (a prog-rock guitar effect from the 1970s and now rare). On tour he replicates the sound with various effects settings that do the job live, though it is not a precise replication. He has said he does not take the ebow on tour for fear of losing it!
Opeth
![GuitarWorld](media/general_pics/GuitarWorld-m.jpg)
In praise of the EBow, one of the most under-appreciated yet influential guitar tools of all time Guitar World
![The_Story_of](media/general_pics/The_Story_of-m.jpg)
The story of the EBow in seven tracks. Great descriptions of how the EBow was used on several recordings. "To trace the story of the EBow, we’re looking at seven key tracks where the device has been used, analysing the manner in which it’s used in each track to discover the enduring appeal of achieving infinite sustain."
![david_byrne1](media/general_pics/david_byrne1-m.jpg)
Rhythm of life: Byrne solo still echoes Eno influence. The musician also played more impressive electric guitar than he has in quite some time, churning out some entrancing E-bow drones in "Never Thought" and unleashing a particularly fiery solo in "Houses in Motion," accompanied by his typically stiff-limbed and pseudo-spastic take on Chuck Berry's famous duck walk. Chicago Sun Times
David Byrne
![david_byrne3](media/general_pics/david_byrne3-m.jpg)
Byrne burns down the house. [David] Byrne rotated between his Fender Strat or Telecaster and acoustic guitar, showing himself a more supple (although still avuncularly awkward) dancer and more fearsome soloist (often using the intense buzz of an electromagnetic Ebow in place of a pick) than one might have guessed about the barking, twitching frontman of his youth.
David Byrne
![anathema3](media/general_pics/anathema3-m.jpg)
Like I said before (and will say again before this review is over), cello and e-bowed guitar leads should get married. The complexity in harmonics the e-bow creates makes it a pinnacle of expression. Coupled with the expressive playing of Dave Wesling, the end result is breathtaking. Article by Belgarath
Anathema
"I was born one starry night in the year of punk rock. I believe in the energy of the e-bow, emanating like the cosmic drone that's at the centre of our Universe. I capture the distant sounds of the ether and filter it through my music like a messenger from space." Dominic B. Simpson at pennyblackmusic.co.uk
![blue_oyster_cult3](media/general_pics/blue_oyster_cult3-m.jpg)
Blue Öyster Cult: The History Project: 1985 "I've always thought that (Don't Fear) The Reaper sounds so incredibly much better live than the original studio version. The classic arpeggio riff cuts through far more effectively with Buck's live sound and then there's the superb end instrumental which just builds until the spectacular ending. Live, this track is simply amazing and it certainly does the business tonight. Eric played his BOC symbol shaped guitar on this one and I recall watching with interest as he used an Ebow to hold the long note on the last verse. The song concludes to enormous applause and the band leave the stage."
Blue Oyster Cult
![david-byrne4](media/general_pics/david-byrne4-m.jpg)
Brian Eno and I recently finished our first collaboration in about 30 years. For the most part, Brian did the music and I wrote some tunes, words and sang. It's familiar but completely new as well. We're pretty excited.
David Byrne
User QuotesShow MoreClose
![interpol1](media/general_pics/interpol1-m.jpg)
Daniel [Kessler of Interpol] uses an E-bow in some songs because in an issue of Blender Magazine a long time ago shortly after Turn on the Bright Lights Interpol was in an article where Daniel bought one. Every issue Blender gives a band $848 to spend however they want and this issue was Interpol and they went to a music store and Daniel begged them to let him buy an E-bow. They also got a drum tuner, massages, and food. (source)
Interpol
![IMG_0635](media/general_pics/IMG_0635-m.jpg)
I've been a huge fan of the Ebow since they came out. I got my first one, the original chrome model in the late 70's. Later I got the black with red logo, and more recently the newer Plus model (unfortunately the Plus is missing in action, but I still have the black one). I use it a lot in the ambient music I perform and record. I thought that when I installed a Sustainiac in one of my guitars a couple years ago, that I wouldn't use the Ebow much anymore, but it has a distinctive sound and I use it as much as ever. karma1
The EBow is perhaps the most useful and strange effect I have ever laid my hands on. First if all, the device works by setting up a small magnetic field which is carefully placed over your metal strings. In almost magical fashion, when the Ebow is placed like this the strings vibrate continuously and rapidly, sounding so smooth that they transform the guitar into sounding like a bowed instrument. If you cannot imagine this please head to your local music shop immediately and try it out. From Gibson Guitar Reviews
Now, I suck. Really. But using the ebow on my clean channel, along with my ge-7 (as a boost) and carbon copy, I sounded like the BEST MUSICIAN IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone else heart the ebow? mylespaul.
The ebow is seriously the best thing to happen to guitars since, well, I dunno, but it's amazing. It's pushed me in so many interesting directions, I get so caught up in it that I've done whole tracks without playing actually plucking or picking a note.... Man, I love my ebow, I hope you enjoy yours! The Fernandes Sustainer is also kind of nice, given that it's built into the guitar itself it's easier to vary your approach, i.e.: have sustained notes as well as picked notes in more rapid succession, but it does lose some of the tactile fun of holding the ebow... Towers Of Silence
Just got bored for a second and took my acoustic outside with my ebow thinking not too much would happen, but how i was wrong, i got such a great, beautiful sound out of it, i was amazed, even though i think it scared my neighbours!
So I decided to get an EBow rather than a conventional violin bow for one song.. yes 1 song...on the song list. Needless to say I am 10000000% COMPLETELY impressed by this amazingly less is more concept to bowing on guitar. Small and lightweight it fits perfectly in my grip both forward and reverse making it easy to guide across and up/down the strings and gives me a few otherwise unwanted sounds that I absolutely love. From slow violin/chello like melodies to faster soloing and of course some Jimmy Page Death Wish soundtrack effects in just 1 day. Ok so I have a pretty healthy learning curve modestly but this EBow literally takes the need for picking away. Ya think I like it? Rob Seaverns
Just wanted to say thanks. I purchased my eBow in 2005. Since then, it’s been submerged in a flood, dropped, left outside, stored in hot humid storage units, and it still works exactly as it did when I bought it. Thanks for making a reliable, long-lasting product in a time when many companies don’t.
And I am going to use it on at least 40% of the songs on the new Bolywool album due March 2009 *nudge nudge*. Seriously, it never ever (nevah evah) gets boring nor tedious trying to master this piece of magnetic craftsmanship. Thoughts by the sea
HOLY CRAP! I JUST TRIED AN EBOW FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!! There´s no end to the creative posibilities with this thing. I will never record another keyboard pad again!!! Layering notes, filtering (moogerfooger style), automating reverb and delay..... HOLY CRAP!!!!! Ralf
SightingsShow MoreClose
![eddie_vedder1](media/general_pics/eddie_vedder1-m.jpg)
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam plays EBow solo on David Letterman's 1000th show. Song was Wishlist [May 1 '98]. EBow at 3:12
Eddie Vedder / Pearl Jam
In 2007, the E-bow was featured very prominently in the soundtrack for Ken Burn's documentary, The War. Doug Wamble performed a haunting slide guitar solo in the piece "Movin' Back", which was a mix of harmonic and primary tone E-bow soloing on an acoustic with a magnetic pickup. Wikipedia
![william_david_brohn1](media/general_pics/william_david_brohn1-m.jpg)
The EBow is used in the musicals Wicked and Mary Poppins orchestrated by William David Brohn. In the Los Angeles production of Wicked, the EBow is played by Paul Viapiano.
William David Brohn
David Rhodes played EBow for Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ. (from Wikipedia)
David Rhodes / Paul McCartney
![steve_ouimette1](media/general_pics/steve_ouimette1-m.jpg)
Steve Ouimette uses EBow arpeggios on video game Guitar Hero 3
Steve Ouimette