Ebow on a Bass

[Linus27]

Has anyone tried using an Ebow on a bass and if so, is it successful or not really? I play fretless and I'd like to try and create some long drawn out cello type effects live and wondering how effective an Ebow will be on a bass, even if it's just 3 or 4 note changes following the chords.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Linus27

[Dazed]

Look for Michael Manring on YouTube etc. He’s used eBows very effectively. 

[Hellzero]

I do.

 

My first advice will be to buy the original Ebow as it's the only one working with bass.

 

You have to find the right place on the fingerboard or over the neck pickup (for more powerful output and faster response).

 

The note rises slowly to its maximum and then lasts as long as the battery.

 

It's working better on lighter gauge strings as the vibration starts faster.

 

It's a really interesting device.

 

And of course, as just said, check Michael Manring tutorials.

 

But don't forget our @JESUS RICO who is a master with Ebows...

Edited December 6, 2021 by Hellzero
For not fir

[mr4stringz]

Wooten seemed to do OK with his first try recently.

 

https://bassmagazine.com/artists/victor-wooten-makes-some-funk-e-magic-with-his-reverb-mystery-box-watch

[Nail Soup]

This chap has been doing it for  over 30 years

Yep , playing bass with elbow since they formed in 1990.

 

Oh ….. ebow! 

[Linus27]

Thanks guys for the input. really appreciate it.

[NickD]

I mess around with one a lot, it's a ton of fun with a looper.

[Owen]

Yes.

 

For me, no.

 

There is no doubt that it can work but it will mean an adaptation of technique. If you are playing a 34" 4 stringer with .45 strings then it will not immediately turn into a super sustaining organ pedals imitator. But given a change in technique and string gauge it is more than possible to make it function. That is OK, because you need to change elements of technique to get lots of FX pedals to give of their best.  

[Sambrook]

The TC Aeon works well, once you get the angle of attack right. Turn the tone all the way down.

Using a volume pedal helps too ...

[Linus27]

1 hour ago, owen said:

Yes.

 

For me, no.

 

There is no doubt that it can work but it will mean an adaptation of technique. If you are playing a 34" 4 stringer with .45 strings then it will not immediately turn into a super sustaining organ pedals imitator. But given a change in technique and string gauge it is more than possible to make it function. That is OK, because you need to change elements of technique to get lots of FX pedals to give of their best.  

It will be played on a fretless and my gauge is .40. Plus I will be using Reverb and depending on how it sounds, Octave and/or chorus. 

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, Linus27 said:

It will be played on a fretless and my gauge is .40. Plus I will be using Reverb and depending on how it sounds, Octave and/or chorus. 

You have all the necessary tools. Go on.

[BigRedX]

I've used the Ebow lots on the guitar but I have never been able to get it work reliably on the bass.

 

There are three things that you need to consider.

 

Firstly the conventional way of "holding" the Ebow is to rest it on the strings either side of the one being bowed. There are handy grooves in the base of the Ebow to allow this. On nearly all basses the strings are too far apart, sometimes to the point where the Ebow will completely fit between the adjacent strings, and even if it doesn't it will never reliably rest on them. This means that you need to hold the Ebow a lot tighter and position it far more precisely it order to hold it in the correct place so that it bows the string and does not touch it which will stop the bowing. Any unwanted movement will either reduce the volume of the bowing effect or kill it dead.

 

Secondly the energy required to bow the strings on a bass tends to be greater than the device is capable of, especially if you want the Ebow itself to initiate the string vibration. I've only been able to get the Ebow to bow bass strings if I have first started them vibrating by "hammering-on", which limits what you can do and the kinds of attack available to the notes.

 

Finally IME on the guitar the Ebow always works best in conjunction with the neck pickup, where the full range of bowing effects are available and you can easily use the Ebow to directly drive the pickup for more extreme sounds. Most bass guitar "neck" pickups are closer to the bridge as a proportion of the string length than on a guitar which lessens the effectiveness.

 

It's obvious from the videos out there that the Ebow can be made to work with a bass. However IME it takes a lot more practice, so don't expect the instant gratification that nearly all guitarists get when using one! Also most of the ones I have seen on the bass are using it in registers that are available easily and more reliably on the guitar.

[Hellzero]

Thanks for this @BigRedX, but as he is using a fretless bass, the Ebow simply needs to be put over the string slightly angled so the inner part touches the fingerboard.

 

It implies a bit of a new approach, but it's easy to achieve as, indeed, the rails in the Ebow are intended for a guitar, not a bass.

 

To activate the infinite sustain faster, I tap my notes with the left hand (the other one if you're a lefty) and it's working great.

 

That said, I would buy the Michael Manring tutorial video...

 

But check these first :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dazed]

Regarding Michael Manring, and I forgot to include this in my original post, I believe he often uses piccolo strings - lighter gauges interact better with an eBow. 

[fretmeister]

I used to use a pair of them - as BigRedX said - the little grooves are wrong for bass so I used bluetack to space out the 2 ebows to activate the outer 2 strings only.

 

The E string almost always needed a bit of help starting but the G was fine. Lighter strings were always better.

 

 

[Hellzero]

And here is the complete Michael Manring tutorial video in 7 parts :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hellzero]

The third part is the one about the EBow. 😉

[BigRedX]

22 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Thanks for this @BigRedX, but as he is using a fretless bass, the Ebow simply needs to be put over the string slightly angled so the inner part touches the fingerboard.

 

It implies a bit of a new approach, but it's easy to achieve as, indeed, the rails in the Ebow are intended for a guitar, not a bass.

 

To activate the infinite sustain faster, I tap my notes with the left hand (the other one if you're a lefty) and it's working great.

 

That said, I would buy the Michael Manring tutorial video...

 

I suppose because it's so effortless on the guitar (give any guitar player an Ebow and they'll be getting great sounds out of it within seconds), I've never bothered to invest the time required to make it work on an instrument that has not been designed for. 

 

All those videos you've posted show just how awkward it is to use on the bass - except for the one that has two Ebows joined together which is able to rest on the strings between those being bowed.

 

Hammering on the get the note started does work, but being able to fade notes in and control the volume of the bowing by moving the Ebow along the string closer to the pickup requires more dexterity thanthe videos show (again something that is trivial to do on the guitar)

 

Also IME much of the difference between having frets and not having frets will be lost once you add a bit of distortion and delay to the sound (which you will almost definitely want to do).

 

To the OP. By all means have a go and see how you get on. Then lend your Ebow to your guitarist and see how quickly they are able to achieve the same thing (and a lot more besides) using it with a guitar.

 

[Linus27]

54 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

I suppose because it's so effortless on the guitar (give any guitar player an Ebow and they'll be getting great sounds out of it within seconds), I've never bothered to invest the time required to make it work on an instrument that has not been designed for. 

 

All those videos you've posted show just how awkward it is to use on the bass - except for the one that has two Ebows joined together which is able to rest on the strings between those being bowed.

 

Hammering on the get the note started does work, but being able to fade notes in and control the volume of the bowing by moving the Ebow along the string closer to the pickup requires more dexterity thanthe videos show (again something that is trivial to do on the guitar)

 

Also IME much of the difference between having frets and not having frets will be lost once you add a bit of distortion and delay to the sound (which you will almost definitely want to do).

 

To the OP. By all means have a go and see how you get on. Then lend your Ebow to your guitarist and see how quickly they are able to achieve the same thing (and a lot more besides) using it with a guitar.

 

This is the thing, I really want to try before committing £100 to an Ebow and then finding its a huge ball ache. As for our guitarist, he can't do it, he's playing acoustic guitar, singing, using a harmoniser live to record layers of backing vocals and controlling the strings via a laptop using foot pedals. He's quite busy already lol  

[Hellzero]

Order one by Thomann or the likes and use the 30 days money back guarantee, so if you don't like it or can't use it, simply return it.

 

That's what I've done with the Joyo JGE‑01 Infinite Sustainer and the TC Electronic Aeon as they were not very well suited to bass, or maybe simply put to me, and eventually bought an original EBow.

[BigRedX]

@Linus27 Do you also play guitar? If so even if you can't make the Ebow work with the bass, you'll have hours of fun with it on the guitar.

 

BTW it's a non-starter for acoustic instruments since the Ebow requires the interaction with the magnetic field produced by the pickup the generate the bowing effect.

 

I'd have a good look at the Michael Manring video (#3) and see if you think you can invest the required time and practice to make it work on the bass guitar (I couldn't, but then I also play the guitar where it works brilliantly with almost zero investment in practice time). And as you will see from the video it will help considerably if you have a bass with an extended fingerboard that you can rest the Ebow against whilst still being close enough to the magnetic field of the pickup for it to activate and produce the bowing effect.

[Hellzero]

1 minute ago, BigRedX said:

BTW it's a non-starter for acoustic instruments since the Ebow requires the interaction with the magnetic field produced by the pickup the generate the bowing effect.

Check this to get it working with steel strings (not the usual bronze acoustic strings) and a rosace pickup. 😉 

 

 

[BigRedX]

And he's solved it by adding a magnetic pickup to his acoustic guitar and then fitting strings that are affected by magnets.

[Hellzero]

30 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

And he's solved it by adding a magnetic pickup to his acoustic guitar and then fitting strings that are affected by magnets.

Exactly what I wrote. 😉

[Hellzero]

For those interested, Gear for Music is selling the TC Electronic Aeon for peanuts...

 

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/TC-Electronic-AEON-Infinite-Guitar-Sustainer/2G6K