Re: dtorn/E-Bow

[Tim Nelson <tcn62@ici.net>]

Hi Leo,

The two biggest difficulties you'll run into using an E-Bow on bass are 1)
the string spacing guides are more appropriate for guitar and make it
difficult to accurately zero in on a string, and 2) the greater mass of the
strings on a bass, especially the E & A (or even lower if you've got one o'
them critters with the extra strings like Jeff Berlin WASN'T using at NAMM;
see archive for funny anecdote...) means that it takes the E-Bow longer to
get them vibrating, hence the attack may be too slow to be musically
useful. But, as Keenan Lawler pointed out last night, it CAN be done, and
is particularly effective (and loop-friendly) for creating a droning pedal
point bass part.

As I remarked to Keenan off-list, I wonder how much luck E-Bow would have
if they issued a larger, more powerful BASS E-Bow with the appropriate
string spacing... Maybe if enough of us tried to convince 'em the demand
would be sufficient for it to be worth it to them... (Or, more likely,
they've already considered it and concluded, as Keenan has, that their
existing model works well enough on a bass, and that we just need to
practice more to get good at using it! Blatant conjecture, but not a
far-fetched scenario!)

Clifford Novey's posting last night contained an URL which lets you hear
several great examples of E-Bow playing <http://www.ebow.com/24hr.htm> and,
as he pointed out, is worth a listen even for those of us who already own
E-Bows. 

Tim