PlusEbow Electronic Bow for Guitar

Have mostly used it on a Strat (single-coil, of course).  Have also used it on an Ovation electric-acoustic and a Danelectro 12-string.  The rundown for each... Stratocaster: Easy.  Apparently humbuckers are preferred, but... I don't like humbuckers, so whatever.  But single coils work just fine.  The Ebowed sound is so huge and overpowering.  It makes the guitar sound pretty huge and monstrous.  Since the thing isn't really an effect, it's a way of *playing* the guitar, it's definitely consistent (though it can be a pain maintaining the perfect amount of pressure at first).  Harmonic mode is gorgeous (fun to switch between harmonic and normal from run to run... the transition sounds very *interesting*).  All of the bowing and imitation sound way better (and are much easier) on an electric 6 string! Acoustic: Not as easy.  Unplugged, the sound is obviously very thin.  Needs to be amplified.  But plugged it, it's insane.  Lots and lots of great under(over?)tones.  Not as controlled as a single-coil electric, but definitely earthshaking!  With even moderate volume, it becomes very difficult to prevent feedback.  So, of course, I just incorporate the feedback.  Fun to Ebow one string while mutting all others but one or two, and letting specific strings feedback along with the Ebowed string (which itself feeds back a bit, especially if you stay on the same note).  Also gets a bit of fretboard buzz, and when the strings really start going crazy, a buzz against the Ebow.  Takes some control to make it sound orchestrated and not chaotic... but once you figure it out, it's amazing!  Bowing and such are very difficult though, for reasons stated above (not even power if unplugged, too much if plugged in).  But sounds great just sustaining! 12 String: Again, great for sustaining, a pain for anything else.  Sounds especially amazing in the harmonic mode (abeit kinda piercing).  The Ebow doesn't fit the strings, though, so you really have to be extra careful and exact to get a sound/not have the driven strings hit the Ebow.  There is no just light resting it and casually moving it along... your right hand movement has to be very exact and deliberate.  But once you get it, the sound is amazing.  Especially sounds great to let the high string play and the deaden the low string, then release the low string and let it come in (gets this weird meaty/swooshing analog synth sound), or vice versa of course (to slighty different effect and a bit more difficult to control). But overall sounds great.  The horn sounds aren't too convincing, nor are the woodwinds, imo.  They sound good for what they are, though.  But the string/bowed sounds are very precise (not perfect, but close) and could definitely pass for strings during live performance and whatnot.  The harmonic mode is wonderful, and I can't imagine an Ebow without.  Has such a dreamy but cutting sound, and really exciting to have such controlled AND sustaining harmonics!  Basically, the thing's great.  Can play the strings on something like Lou Reed's "Street Hassle" or create the ambient pink bubble of a band like The Church.  Very versatile for such a simple little device.  Nothing's like it.

Don't know.  I've only had it a few days.  Yeah, it's plastic... but as someone else pointed out, if it were metal it, well, wouldn't work.  That would totally defeat the whole magnetic premise.  Don't forget... the thing *works* by creating a small (but still radiated and unstabilizing) electromagnetic field between it and the pick-up (or whatever guitar electronics) and catching the strings in the cross-fire.  So it being plastic makes the most sense (metal would interfere, wood wouldn't transfer as well). But despite being plastic, it seems pretty strong and well built.

It's not really 10, but I had to help negate the awful "6.5" rating.  There's a learning curve, but it's not *difficult*.  Certainly not moreso than learning guitar or learning how to make a flanger sound manageable.  Use of the thing is actually pretty easy and straight-forward... you turn it on, lightly rest it on the strings, and it makes sound.  It does what it's supposed to do, and does so in a very straight-forward and simple fashion.  Just because the device itseslf is a little counter-intuitive to what we guitarists spend years learning and takes a few mental tricks (and learning) to get the hang of doesn't mean it's "difficult" (just that you'll probably have a difficult time with it at first - but an issue of your skill, not with the Ebow itself).  Once you get the hang of it, it's surely pretty easy and predictable to use.  That said... I just got mine a few days ago, and after playing with it for just a couple hours, I figured out how to get the basic sustaining sound without error, in addition to the "energy slide", changing strings, pedal tone, and a nice tremolo sound.  Got a decent horn simulation (albeit not without lots of screw-ups), too.  After just a couple hours.  So, like learning anything, if you just very conscientiously *focus* you can get it.  Once you know what you're doing, it does what you want it to.  So it's actually quite easy (any difficulty is user error).  Skill level also seems to vary depending on the kind of guitar, but I'll get into that in the next section.

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The thing's great.  There's nothing like it.  I've ranted enough above.  Though I suppose it's a matter of preference.  If you play straight-forward blues-based rock or traditional bluegrass or are a jazz purist or something then you probably won't find much use for it.  But if you have a use for it... again, there's nothing like it.

The first time I saw this thing was in the NIN live concert (Downward s Spiral).  I read up on it and realized that I had never heard or even met anyone who had ever played a guitar wiht something other than a pick(1 exeption, Jimmy Page using a bow).  Infinite sustain?  Thats right, on any note you choose, sitting by your amp with volume on 1 or 30 feet away from the amp.  Its remarkable.  Its not noisy if your playing it right. A slow decay reverb on a clean electric humbucker sound very well, like a cello.

It has never Not-worked when i pick it up but I would never use it in a gig without a backup and backup batteries.

Iv had my ebow for about 8 months now.  I gave it a 6 in this category b/c its a difficult learning proccess to learn to play with this thing BUT, extraordinary sounds can be achieved with it.  If your are a good guitar player you will probably take to it quicker.  How to hold it, where to hold it in relation to the pickups, in relation to the strings, and how closely to the strings are all key.

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You could literally track an entier synphony on your pc with enough time and knowledge using this thing and a few guitars. Well maybe not a whole synphony but with my Tele I can mimic a Violin, Cello, Flute, and lots of other tones that I cant even describe.  On my Taylor 414CE I can get a more realistic flute sound but the amplitude is much lower. Iv been playing guitar for about 5 years now. I would sy my favorite application for this device is duets ( a cello soloing over and acoustic) or quartets (multiple string compositions).If it were lost I would purchase another imediatly. Nothing else compares as far as getting these sounds. It has opened up a door to genres that I had not tapped before.  I love the fact that if well practiced you are in total control wiht the ebow.  I hate that it can only be used on one string at a time (no chords).  It is probally the most revolutionary device ever concieved for the electric guitar.