[CRG1400]

I am thinking about getting one. Will it work on phosphorus bronze strings, or do they have to be steel? Do they do ok on acoustics?

[XXFENDERXX]

I am thinking about getting one.  Will it work on phosphorus bronze strings, or do they have to be steel? Do they do ok on acoustics?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I too am curious about the EBOW... I am pretty sure they only work on steel strings and only electric because the don't really move the stings. (compared to picking or strumming) a magnetic field and induction cause the strings to move just a fraction thereby inducing sound.... Or so i understand from what ive read...

is this right? does this help??

[CRG1400]

I am positive that they work on acoustics, but you can't do cool stuff like on electrics. The string just has to be magnetic. Isn't bronze magnetic?

[lyra14]

Yes it is, but not as strongly as iron/steel.

Personally, I think E-Bows can sound incredible to create an ambient tone, especially through humbuckers. Jon Buckland, the guitarist from Coldplay, uses one live a fair amount (check out their Live 2003 DVD) to produce some fantastic tones. As well, I can remember the Edge from U2 using one live on the Slane Castle DVD at the intro of "With or Without You" for that high-pitched ambient noise you hear at the beginning. Pretty cool.

Andrew

[deamhain]

I think they are an absolute necessity to guitar playing. I have two, one about halfway along each arm. Great things but losing a bit of flexibility with age.

You really need to get your 'L' key looked at onn your keyboard, it doesn't seem to be working too well.

[dadfad]

I think they are an absolute necessity to guitar playing.  I have two, one about halfway along each arm.  Great things but losing a bit of flexibility with age.

You really need to get your 'L' key looked at onn your keyboard, it doesn't seem to be working too well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

On a more serious (slightly more serious) note. I bought an e-bow about ten or fifteen years ago after seeing bluesman Roy Buchanan use one. It does what it says it does. Kind of neat tricks and things. Me, I see it basically as a neat toy. Fun sometimes, but not much real use. Although there are some artists who use one a lot (and E-bow will enclose a current list of them), in the same way that some artists are slap-tap-harmonic players, etc. The only thing I actually ever USED one for (as opposed to merely playing around with one in my room) was do create a very ethereal pipe-like old-Celtic drone on my acoustic as part of an intro to a Celtic fingerstyle. It will work on both acoustic as well as electric, although slower on acoustic of course because it takes longer for an acoustic top to generate a tone than an electric amp. (Even acoustic wound-strings have steel cores). Mine has been in a box in my closet for the last five years or so. If you have fifty bucks to spare (more like seventy-five nowadays) and you want something to play with that may have some use in your music, get one. If there are better things you can do with seventy-five dollars right now, you may want to hold off a bit.

[mlmcc47]

I love ebows man, they sound great, and people love em. Get yours today!

[Mikky04]

Wots an "ebow"?