Any one tried the E-bow on bass?

jmorbita · #1 09-30-2006, 03:31 PM

hi, i did a (quick) search and couldn't find anything related...
I recently tried in a music store an e-bow effect on a bass guitar. I like what the effect does on the guitar sound and thought i might try it on bass... but i couldn't get it to work. As far as i know the ebow sends some electric signal or magnetism and that's what makes the string vibrate... i suppose maybe bass strings are too heavy, i have no idea... the thing is it didn't work. I asked the guy on the store but he didn't know. tried it on a guitar and worked, but didn't on a bass. Any thoughts?? is there a special bass e-bow??
thanks!

bassbrad · #2 09-30-2006, 04:05 PM

An Ebow will work on electric bass but it is really particular. You have to have the field just right and find the sweet spot on the string and pickups. It really works best on lighter string sets the fresher the better and a new battery in the Ebow helps too. When I use mine I also tap the strings with the left hand to get the string vibrating and the Ebow will pick it up and sustain. .

bassteban · #3 09-30-2006, 04:22 PM

If it worked on a g****r, it should work on a bass. They are tricky; the bottom of the ebow itself(the side you place near the strings)is designed to fit the closer spacing of a g****r(I won't evevn spell that word

), so you have to kind of press it intp place, which for me meant shoving the other strings out of the way somewhat. Ask or search in Michael Manring's forum; he uses them on bass.

SBassman · #4 09-30-2006, 04:25 PM

It's not going be great after 10 minutes, but if you put the time in, it's supposed to work with a bass, too.

[Haven't tried myself on bass, but on g****r, it works with some practice.]

Jimbo · #5 09-30-2006, 04:27 PM

e-bows have been discussed a lot here on TB in the past. there are a couple of guys (myself included) that use one--all to varying degrees of success. practicing with it is paramount, it's not as easy to use on bass as it it guitar. i've found that the approach on bass is different than on guitar. i do different things with the different instruments. getting some good practice time with one in your hands is the best wya to learn how you can use it

Swimming Bird · #6 09-30-2006, 07:44 PM

Personally, I think Ebows sound better on bass than on its twangier cousin. Because it normally (without assistance) takes a long time to get the string moving it can have a much prettier slow attack. You can of course speed this up by hammering on the note you want or (and I greatly prefer this) doing some vibrato.

The trouble you had may be pickup related -- you NEED to have the neck pickup on. Also, I only use active basses, I have no idea if there is a difference on passive ones.

If you keep trying and are still having trouble, check out the discussions on Michael Manring's forum page.

jmorbita · #7 10-01-2006, 10:24 AM

Thanks everyone for the advice!!!
i will check michael marning's forum.

Ron Now · #8 10-01-2006, 12:22 PM

If you just turn the ebow around with a single pickup bass it works fine. Just turn the ebow facing whichever pickup is working and thats what it will draw it's power from.

saxnbass · #9 10-01-2006, 01:34 PM

Here is what I've found. I can use it fine on a guitar, but I couldn't get it to work on a bass properly. I doubt they are going to make a bass version because it uses an electro-magnet to vibrate the strings, and to make one for bass, it would have to be pretty big.

Fuzzbass · #10 10-01-2006, 02:35 PM

I've tried an ebow on my bass. I got some really cool sounds out of it!! Well... as I recall, it was the G and D strings, maybe even A. I don't remember if I tried B or E.

I can't imagine string-skipping with an ebow, but for legato passages that can be played on one string it's one spiffy device IMO.

Tbirdbassist · #11 10-01-2006, 03:58 PM

Tber Brian R. Tyler has some songs in which he used an Ebow. I'll shoot him a PM to this thread.

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #12 10-01-2006, 04:33 PM

E-bow is wonderful on bass, although as stated, it's a real bitch to try to string skip with one.

Here's a couple sound samples I've made:
Sample 2
Sample 1
lalalala

The last clip has the really distorted sound you can get from an E-bow when you play it close to the pickups.

sikamikanico · #13 10-02-2006, 04:38 AM

that sounds nice... is it all fretless?

but playing live, that's gotta be hard... you need a second bassist to play something you solo over

or a keyboardist...

ehque · #14 10-02-2006, 05:29 AM

or a looper, or you could (possibly) tap bass notes with your left hand.

Bruce Lindfield · #15 10-02-2006, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmorbita

hi, i did a (quick) search and couldn't find anything related...
I recently tried in a music store an e-bow effect on a bass guitar. I like what the effect does on the guitar sound and thought i might try it on bass... but i couldn't get it to work. As far as i know the ebow sends some electric signal or magnetism and that's what makes the string vibrate... i suppose maybe bass strings are too heavy, i have no idea... the thing is it didn't work. I asked the guy on the store but he didn't know. tried it on a guitar and worked, but didn't on a bass. Any thoughts?? is there a special bass e-bow??
thanks!

Steve Lawson who has his own forum here, has used eBow on his bass extensively and there were lots of threads about this - I would suggest looking in his "Ask The Pros" section.

Try this search :
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/search...archid=2816081

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #16 10-02-2006, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sikamikanico

that sounds nice... is it all fretless?

but playing live, that's gotta be hard... you need a second bassist to play something you solo over

or a keyboardist...

Yup, all fretless. I find the E-bow is of much better use with a fretless because
A. It really can make a fretless sound like a bowed instrument and works beautifully with fretless swells and vibrato
and
B. Because it's easier to play on a fretless (you can anchor your hand on the fingerboard and not have to worry about the E-bow hitting the frets and making a buzzing sound.

I use my E-bow on top of loops I make. There's also a Manring piece called "Adhan" where he plays solo with no loops, but uses two E-bows simultaneously. A really gorgeous piece.

tplyons · #17 10-02-2006, 09:42 AM

I'm gonna move this one to technique. Unfortunately there's more to using an eBow than stepping on it

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #18 10-02-2006, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tplyons

I'm gonna move this one to technique. Unfortunately there's more to using an eBow than stepping on it

That is the end result that a lot of people come to after trying to use it after 5 minutes though

jmorbita · #19 10-04-2006, 09:37 AM

This has been very educational. thanks.