EBow EBow Plus Reviews

E-Bow

I love the E-bow, I have been using this for over two years now and it is still great fun. If you like making your guitar sound like a cello or a violin than this is the effect for you! I love throwing on some reverb and sometimes delay and fuzz to get some really wild crazy tones like in the ending of Bixby Canyon Bridge by Death Cab For Cutie. Or just use it cleanly to get some nice clean harmonic sustaining tones like U2's with or without you. Overall the E-Bow is a great effect which is well worth its money!

You can get some crazy sounds out of this device. I mainly use it for huge droning tones mixed with an octave pedal. Or if you play it higher up the fretboard with the tone knob rolled down you get this really smooth flute sound. It takes a fair bit of getting used to...the main challenge is finding the ''sweet spot'. My only criticism is the way the power is switched on is quite awkward... It's easy to leave it switched on when You're not using it. The best way to use it is with low output humbuckers in the next position as it sounds quite harsh and grainy with higher output pickups and quite tinny with single coils.

Will never part with it.

I think this should be consider an instrument in itself. Why? Because there's a learning curve to getting to know how to properly use it. Fortunately it comes with a really comprehensive tutorial. Once you learn how to use it you can do much more than the post-rock swells it's so well known for. You can emulate flute and cello sounds for example. The only thing I would like it to do more is conserve battery life better. And maybe bigger on/off switch.

ebow

Not a bad bit of kit, a bit tricky to use at first until you get the technique right,a nice little tool to have in your box

Very interesting...

+ It does what it says, it truly sounds like an guitar played with a bow.

+ makes songs really dramatic, awesome and on gives a great blast in finishing chorus of the song!

+ When you learn how, it's easy to use it.

- Cheap design, the button that switches from harmonic off and normal is quite easy to break, i would want it to be more durable for that price.

- You have to learn and understand how to use this device, but they give understandable instruction, READ IT! :)

Anyways, i love having it!

Great on electric guitar

I bought this with the intention of using it on a banjo - that wasn't very successful. It didn't do much on my mandolin or acoustic either. It was brilliant on my electric, which, unfortunately, is not why I wanted it. However, I could recommend it to electric players. Mandolinists will just have to improve their tremolo :)

There's a learning curve, but it's so much fun!

I've had the E-Bow for a few months now and while it doesn't get use everyday, whenever I do pick it up I'm always left feeling inspired.

It's fantastic for ambient sounds but there is a learning curve to using the E-Bow that you will need to overcome. At first it will take some getting use to when finding the exact position the E-Bow needs to sit. The grooves on the underneath help the E-Bow rest on two strings, but this won't help you on the low/high E string. It can also be tricky to switch between strings and immediately get the string vibrating, leaving silent gaps in your music.

Once you get over the hump though it's a great product that adds diversity to your playing.

Must have for electrical guitarists

Great tool for creating new sounds. It's really inspiring and easy to master its principles, so it is not frustrating at all.

Every electrical guitarist should have one, no mattter if you're a guitar straight into amp guy or a tap dancer ambiance soundscape type of musician.

It is made from cheap plastic, so I would be throwing this around...

Great tool

This is a great tool for any guitarist. After seeing one be used for the first time I bought it straight away and now use it quite a bit. The only problem i have with the e-bow is the massive volume jump while using it so to get around this i have a compressor only for use when using the e-bow and that solved my problem.

Good product

The e-bow is well made and fairly sturdy although the battery compartment is very small and does not always close properly. In relation to its sound and function it performs well with two modes offering standard and harmonic string vibration. It takes some practice to use but it is simple to operate. One downside which I encountered with this product is that the guitar is much louder when using the e bow compared to standard playing which means that it is quite difficult to switch between both styles of playing within one song unless you take a moment to adjust your amp settings. Overall I am happy with the product and have used it extensively in a studio setting but I have not tested on the road.

A fun little thing that give a new dimension to your playing

The EBow is an interesting piece of tech for guitarist.

I've had it for 6+ months now and I'm still really bad at using this, though I haven't practiced as much as I should.

It's not the most comfy thing to use, and changing strings is one of the hardest parts of using an EBow.

If you get it working perfectly and you learn to play it... You're going to have a lot of fun, but if you have trouble with it then you might not want to fool around with it too much or maybe that is just me.

It is sometimes hard to get a sound out of it, since you need to fool around with the strings and the mics on your guitar. It's weird and I'm still a bit confused what the best positions are for each of my mic settings on my guitars.

Anyways the EBow has three modes Off, On (normal) and On (harmonics). I normally just use the normal notes setting as I don't like to fool around with harmonics too much and it is much easier to get a sound out of the normal setting than the harmonics setting.

If you'd like to try a new way of approaching your music stick then this is an interesting way of doing that, but I recommend it just for fun. I've tried to use it seriously in songs, but I'm just not skilled enough with it, maybe in the future, but for now it's for fun.

Seriously if you want to use it for serious stuff, you'll have to take some time to learn it.

Ebow

The Ebow is a really interesting and fun effect for your guitar.

It can be really tricky to get the right technique in the beginning but when opperated correctly the Ebow can produce some really cool sustain effects.

Mine came with some lessons on a mini CD to get you started.

It feels very plastic and toylike but mine has been the victim of touring and quite a beating and still works like a charm.

I've had mine since 2012 and I've changed the battery once.

Great Effect

Although this is something I wouldn't use all the time, it is a very useful effect. I had been hankering after one of these for a while and finally gave it a go. Quick learning curve means you'll be quickly making some great sustained sounds!

its a gadget... but kinda cool!

we have all heard an ebow on some song we like, and that's why I bought it. It takes a bit of getting used to but sounds amazing when you get the hang of it. Though you probably will only ever take it out the odd time, I think its a must have.

Ive even used it on my acoustic which has a magnetic pickup built into the neck (you need a magnet/pickup under the strings for this to work).

Useful, but takes some practice.

I bought this specifically for bass which it isn't designed for, however, it works well with a bit of practice and some patience. I'm loving it with my fretless and some overdrive too; yet to incorporate it into any band numbers but it's a lot of fun to play with so far.

Fantastic!

So much fun can be had with this and a fret less bass. A little tricky to hold it at first but when you learn to it because very easy and so much fun!

Works good with thin strings...

...but it's not powerful enough for standard bass strings IMHO.

If you want fast attack you'll need to pluck the string and then use the ebow for sustain. I'm sure it works nicely for piccolo strings and guitar but they should make a bass version with a bigger magnet.

Super nice

Super nice tool. I didn't know that they work also on acoustic instruments. Works on several acoustic instruments that I have at home, basically it works anywhere there's steel/metallic strings. Doesn't work on ukulele, for example, but works very nice on acoustic guitars. Has a switch that sustains notes or harmonics, giving you a wider range of options to experiment. Good product, and if guitar is your main instrument, I guess one day or another every guitarist has to have one. My only criticism? It's made of cheap plastic, and at this price I would have expected something better. Other than that? It's a classic.

Take a bow, E-Bow.

Brilliant little device, endless fun making weird and wonderful sounds. A little tricky to get the hang of but worth it!

Needs practice, does the task but looks fragile

This is unique. The only way to achieve similar results without it is with a Sustainer equiped in your guitar.

It needs a lot of practice to get the desired results.

You have to be very careful with the string height and the vibration amplitude because it may rattle against the ebow if too close or not work if too far.

It is difficult to use it at higher frets. in this situation, you need to find the right placement (most of the cases, around the midpoint between the fret and the bridge) and eventualy press it down to get it closer to the string.

It is very sensible to pickups. when placed over the pickup that you are using, it gets VERY loud.

When used at the first and sixth strings, it has no support at one of the sides, so ir requires you to be even more precise.

When you manage to master the ebow, you can do very cool stuff.

Although it works very well, it is extremely fragile. you have to be very careful or you will break it.