Is it an e-bow or a wailing bobcat

Robert Todd · Post by **Robert Todd** » 27 Sep 2001 12:49 pm

I recently purchased an e-bow and can't seem to make it sound like anything but a wailing cat. Anyone have any suggestions as to how to use that dang thing.

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 27 Sep 2001 2:11 pm

Listen to Buddy Emmons doing "Mansion On the Hill" on the "Live 1977 at ISGC" record.

I doesn't get much better than that.

The CD is currently available.

------------------
<img align=left src="http://www.pedalsteel.tv/img/joey.jpg" >
-j0e-
www.pedalsteel.tv

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 27 Sep 2001 4:12 pm

I've been messing with E-Bow again since watching Chuck Campbell in St.Louis.

I'm still learning myself, but try to keep it away from the pickup untill the very end of the sustain.

The tone gets much mellower as you slide up the neck (towards the bar and away from the pickup).

I've been learning my single string scales (mostly string 5, "B", in conjunction with the A pedal and B to Bb lever), and I move the E-Bow all over the place as I'm sustaining trying to find where the best tones are.

-pb

bob drawbaugh · Post by **bob drawbaugh** » 27 Sep 2001 4:53 pm

Move the ebow away from the pickup and for a mello sound reduce the treble on your amp some.

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 27 Sep 2001 10:03 pm

How an E-bow works is it rapidly reverses the magnetic field back and forth and that's what 'wiggles' the string. How a pickup works is the magnetic field around the pickup is disturbed by the vibrating string, which is also made of magnetic materials, soooooo if you put a thing that's sending out a rapidly reversing magnetic field near the thing that has a magnetic field that's waiting to be disturbed.....

Bill Rowlett · Post by **Bill Rowlett** » 28 Sep 2001 7:56 am

You can play some pretty neat sounds by putting your TV remote over your pickup and pressing the buttons. Any microprocesor will make neat sounds this way but its harder to use the microwave or laptop

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 28 Sep 2001 10:39 am

You can play some pretty neat sounds by putting your TV remote over your pickup and pressing the buttons.

I'm sorry I wasn't in the bar watching TV with the regular crew when you took a solo with the remote.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 30 Sep 2001 4:48 pm

I know what the "E-Bow" is, and how it works. What I don't know is how strong the AC magnetic field is that it radiates. I would definitely keep it away from the guitar's pickup!

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 30 Sep 2001 10:23 pm

I'm moving this to the Electronics forum.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 1 Oct 2001 2:01 am

I had an E-Bow years ago. It was one of those things we buy and then throw in a drawer. I finally sold it to a bass player that wanted to try one with a bass (it didn't work the way he thought it would).

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 1 Oct 2001 8:48 am

Sometime in the last two years Guitar Player Magazine ran an article that was a complete guide to using an E-Bow.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 2 Oct 2001 7:27 pm

The last E-bow I purchased came with a cassette tape that instructed you on the various uses.

jerry wallace · Post by **jerry wallace** » 3 Oct 2001 2:09 pm

I agree with Donny,the way you purposely demagnetize any item including a magnet, is to pass a strong AC {reversing poliarty} field around it..

This method was used in WWll to demagnetize ships so they wouldnt set off magnetic mines..

------------------
Jerry Wallace-2001 Zum: D-10,8+6, "98 Zum: D-10,8+8,Nashville 1000,Session 500 ,Session 400 head only amp,Tubefex,ProfexII, Artesia, New Mexico
http://communities.msn.com/jerrywallacemusic

Ernie Renn · Post by **Ernie Renn** » 4 Oct 2001 7:06 am

Buddy used an E-Bow on one of my brother's tunes in the studio, (probably because I did on the demo,) so I get to use one almost every night. To get the same timbre that Buddy did, I have to set it fairly close to the pickup.

I have used one for years, including the two position one they made for steel guitars. I have never had a problem with it affecting the pick-ups.

------------------
My best,
Ernie

The Official Buddy Emmons Website
www.buddyemmons.com[This message was edited by Ernie Renn on 04 October 2001 at 08:07 AM.]

Michael Brebes · Post by **Michael Brebes** » 11 Oct 2001 6:57 am

If I remember correctly, the manufacturer recommends that you have your tone control way down because the ebow accentuates the upper harmonics. The strongest sound you can get out of the ebow is with it over the pickup, because it causes maximum travel of the string there. That is supposed to be another effect of the ebow, how close or far away you are from the pickup. Hope that helps.