User Guide

Player’s Guide
page 8
Pickups and the EBow
A passive humbucker gives you the largest playing area
and helps tame the extra treble of the EBow. A humbucker
also provides two HotSpots for different tones. A single coil
pickup has a slightly smaller playing area and a thinner
tone. It may require rolling off some highs. The same can
be true of active pickups which also might sound better with
their volumes lowered to about half.
With two or more pickups on, the tone changes and the vol-
ume of the EBow sound is reduced, bringing it closer to that
of your picking volume. Also, you can play over one pickup
and then the other for two different sounds. For the least
noise when crossing strings, play over the HotSpot with just
one pickup on.
Using the EBow on Acoustic
If you have a magnetic pickup in the sound hole, the EBow
should respond as it would on a solid body electric, though
the strings tend to decay more quickly and activate more
slowly. Acoustics with bridge transducers, piezo pickups
or microphones will be much quieter and, of course, there
is no HotSpot, which is necessary for bowing strokes and
spiccato. However, you can get a very clean, natural sound-
ing, string tone. When moving from string-to-string on an
acoustic without a magnetic pickup in the sound hole, you
should mute the SupportStrings to reduce the noise of the
EBow on the strings.
Using the EBow on Bass
The EBow was designed for guitar string spacing. It gets
its necessary alignment by resting on the strings adjacent
to the one you’re playing. To play the EBow on bass, you
must accomplish this critical alignment in challenging ways.
You can use your thumb and forenger off the edges of the
EBow to simulate wider spaced GuideGrooves that rest
on the adjacent strings. You can also tilt the EBow keep-
ing just one adjacent string engaged for alignment. Let the
engaged string slide up the side of the EBow to bring the
DriveChannel closer to the driven string. You can rest one
edge of the tilted EBow on the fretboard between the strings
and rock the DriveChannel into position over the string you
are playing. Or, you can just hold the EBow in the proper
position through sheer will and determination. Light gauge
strings and a touch of distortion can prove useful, especially
in the harmonic mode.
Where to put the EBow when not playing
Solutions to this range from pockets to velcro. A bit of
velcro on the EBow and on your guitar or strap or mic stand
should hold the EBow securely when not in use. Another
solution is to mount a pouch or small table on the mic stand.
Since you can do fast runs with percussive attacks and
arpeggiate chords with the EBow, you might consider using
the EBow for the entire song.
Past EBow models
The EBow was conceived in the late ‘60s and introduced in
1976. The rst model was chrome plated plastic and turned
on and off automatically. The second model was black with
a red logo. It had increased drive and an on/off switch. The
third model was black with a white logo. It had an improved
sensitivity for faster string activation. This fourth model is
called the PlusEBow. It features the new harmonic mode
and a cool blue LED.
Frequently Asked Questions