Ebow on a bass guitar. Hmm...

whynot? · 10-25-2011, 01:47 PM

I've been thinking. Ebows are amazing on guitar. They make a really nice, sustained noise. I applied a bit of logic and decided that they would make a similar noise on a bass guitar, only lower. then I realised that bass string are heavier than guitar strings, so it might not be able to manipulate them in the same way.

Does anyone have any experience? Have you tried one out?

Thanks

**thesteve** · 10-25-2011, 02:20 PM

I haven't personally tried it, but I feel like the people I've talked to who have tried it have had issues with the string weight.

**Sean.thomson** · 10-25-2011, 02:32 PM

I've tried it once. It works but its a pain in the hows-your-mama to use because of the string spacing.

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whynot? · 10-26-2011, 01:35 AM

What I'm getting from this is that it could work, but with a bit of effort? I presume it would only do one string at a time as well

Also, I just had a look on YouTube, and there are wuite a lot of videos of ebows on bass guitar, but the ebow is always on the highest string, no matter what. Is that because of the weight issues?

Bassman1185 · 10-27-2011, 01:10 PM

From what I understand, the eBow only really works on the higher strings on a bass guitar. It isn't strong enough to really use on the lower strings.

You can get similar effects using a volume pedal with a compressor, delay, reverb, distortion, etc.

whynot? · 10-28-2011, 02:41 AM

What about a sustain pedal?

Bassman1185 · 10-28-2011, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whynot?

What about a sustain pedal?

What do you mean? There is no such thing as a "sustain pedal" that is used on bass or guitar like on a piano, but there are effects that will increase sustain. Compressors can be used that way, and distortions and fuzzes normally add sustain through their own inherent compression.

There is also the Electro-Harmonix Freeze pedal that essentially just takes a super short sample of your guitar signal and sustains it for however long you want it to ring out.

bassfreak423 · 11-02-2011, 04:16 PM

I have an ebow, when I try to use it on the low strings of my bass (if I can get it to work) it takes off and has all sorts of fret buzz, from my personal experience it doesn't really work

whynot? · 11-03-2011, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassfreak423

I have an ebow, when I try to use it on the low strings of my bass (if I can get it to work) it takes off and has all sorts of fret buzz, from my personal experience it doesn't really work

Well that's a no go.

I only wanted the noise, and I'm not fussed enough to spend a lot of money on it.
Thanks for all the advice though everyone.

Will