Cello, wheres my bass?

[amroach]

Does any one have any experience on getting an Ebow working with a bass guitar i've tried but didn't get any where, any one ever manage to get it work, if so any techniques and shiz? or is it all about set up?

Alex

[paganjack]

i tried one with a friend one time...worked great on guitar but did absolutely nothing on my bass. i thought it might just be because i use flats? but i think the strings are just too big/heavy.

maybe i'm way wrong, but we couldn't get it to work.

[Jared Lash]

If you do a search you'll see that this has been covered quite a few times. The Steve Lawson & Michael Manring forum in particular has a lot of info. And seeing Manring live you can really see what an interesting tool it can be on bass, especially a fretless one.

From everything I've read, it is very much a technique/practice issue, but it also seems to help if you use light gauge strings.

[Akeris]

When I first picked it up it was EXTREMELY difficult to make any use of the thing, then I read the Manring/Lawson forum and realized that you have to practice it as if it were a technique in itself.

You don't just begin to slap (er, and make it sound not like crap), you need to practice. The same thing applies here. I've been messing with it for about a year now and am actually able to sustain notes.

Somthing to keep in mind though, IME, the fatter the strings are the longer they take to start sustaining. Dunno if you care about that.