DIY Ebow - Is this possible/reasonable?

[Alex C]

:oops: Sorry, I searched the forum and couldn't find much of anything.  

...and I'm an idiot.  :?   I didn't scroll down and look at the archives.  :oops:  

I messed around with an ebow a few years ago, and I found that it also worked on acoustic, but the effect is certainly not as pronounced or loud.   I didn't try it with my soundhole pickup, but I imagine it would be more effective in that case.  

Alex

[bwanasonic]

i have heard it will do it but i havent' been able to make it do it..  i tried fro like an hour at the music store
any tips

Bring the ebow towards upper frets. You get the most *mechanical excitement* around where the 24th fret would be. It takes a fraction to get the string going, but the ebow will keep it going.  Sounds good playing along to the Built To Spill tune I'm listening to.

Kerry M

[Ansil]

hm ok will try it tomorrow then

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

It will work with a coat hanger (a steel wire coathanger, that is).

[Carlos]

Hi everybody?

Why can't you take your guitar pickup as "input coil", put the LM386 in a stompbox and connect it to a handheld output coil with cord?

Has anybody tried that?

Just my two eurocents

Carlos

[R.G.]

Why can't you take your guitar pickup as "input coil", put the LM386 in a stompbox and connect it to a handheld output coil with cord?

You can. The cabling gets really messy, but you can make that work.

The latest incarnation of these things is the idea you flirted with but didn't quite make it to - on a dual pickup guitar, why not make one pickup the input coil, and one the output coil. That in fact works almost.

The "almost" is that the output coil has to have few turns of thick(er) wire to do the job correctly, and that makes it have low output as a pickup. So the arrangement that works is one stock pickup at the bridge as the input, a modified low-turns pickup at the neck as an output device, and a high gain preamp to bring up the neck pickup signal when it's used as an input.

Hmmm? How many turns on the neck pickup? A couple of hundred, #24 or so, I believe as a guess.

[Doug H]

for god or satan's sake buy one, you'll never be sorry. i met mr. heat when he was still making them in his garage. he's a cool dude , i have one from the first run. still have and love it.
   - tom

Anyone have a schematic for a refrigerator? I want to build one. BTW, I like making my own light bulbs too. I'm reading up on how to make my own porcelain forms so I can DIY my own toilet next...

Sorry, couldn't resist... :twisted:  :twisted:

Doug

[ryanscissorhands]

I paid $180 Canadian ($120 US) for my ebow, and for the amount of time that it would take to build one, you could get a McDonald's job and buy three of them.

The only complaint that i have about it is that it can only vibrate one string at a time. If they developed a unit (it would have to be large) that mountd over all six strings, and had 6 pressure-sensitive buttons for driving the strings, that would be wicked. I would use it for slow-attack orchestral simulations.

Yes, it works on acoustic, but not as well. How well t works also depends on the composition of your strings. Certain metals react better to the ebow's field. Play around and find out what works best!

[Doug H]

:oops: Sorry, I searched the forum and couldn't find much of anything.  

...and I'm an idiot.  :?   I didn't scroll down and look at the archives.  :oops:  

Alex

Don't worry about it. If you look through the archives much, you'll notice there are a number of subjects that get recycled from time to time. IMO, I don't think everyone needs to do an archive search every time they want to ask a question. Also, who's to say whatever was discussed in the archive is the last word on the subject anyway?

But this is a good time to make the point that the archives do have a wealth of information, and I would encourage everyone to check them out occasionally. They are a great resource.

Doug

[Rory]

I've only gotten mine to work on acoustic guitar when I had one of those sound hole pickups installed.  Sounds pretty cool though.

I've also heard *cough cough* that vibrating eggs work well also.  You just don't get the nifty string guides.

[Ansil]

for god or satan's sake buy one, you'll never be sorry. i met mr. heat when he was still making them in his garage. he's a cool dude , i have one from the first run. still have and love it.
   - tom

Anyone have a schematic for a refrigerator? I want to build one. BTW, I like making my own light bulbs too. I'm reading up on how to make my own porcelain forms so I can DIY my own toilet next...

Sorry, couldn't resist... :twisted:  :twisted:

Doug

hey doug i got a scheme on teh back of my fridge you want a copy of it??

[tjburton]

Since we are on the ebow topic.. Is there anyone that knows why these things might vary? Did they use a different opamp in the original ones??

I have a couple ebows - I have the original chrome model that has no on-off switch (it turns itself on), and I have one of the black ones. These are very different - the chrome one vibrates the strings very smoothly and it vibrates some positions on the neck easier than the other one.  The black one is a little more aggressive - a very quick swell to a slightly harsh vibration, its harder to control than my other one :cry: . I'm just curious why this migt be? Can I open up the black one and swap opamps??? or is this more likely the difference between the windings on the magnets

My chrome one is in premo condition (and is almost collectable I think) - and I know I'm gonna drop it someday and muck it all up. I'd just like to have another one respond as smoothly as the "old" one.

Thanks for any input.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

No way to swap op amps in an Ebow, it is epoxied. But, I made a "flat battery" emulator (a variable power supply wiht a pot in series) because a customer said the behabvior was very battery dependent, and had a "sweet spot" at least for him.

[ErikMiller]

The only complaint that i have about it is that it can only vibrate one string at a time. If they developed a unit (it would have to be large) that mountd over all six strings, and had 6 pressure-sensitive buttons for driving the strings, that would be wicked. I would use it for slow-attack orchestral simulations.

Have you heard of the Fernandes Sustainer?

Go to http://www.fernandesguitars.com/ and click on Products/Sustainer.

I think the Sustainer mounts under the strings like a pickup.

[KarbonHed]

Have you heard of the Fernandes Sustainer?

Go to http://www.fernandesguitars.com/ and click on Products/Sustainer.

I think the Sustainer mounts under the strings like a pickup.

Also the Sustainiac  http://www.sustainiac.com/ - got one of these and it rocks. Less intense and "focussed", more amplike feedback than an ebow.

Hit a chord and all the ringing strings will sustain for a while until eventually, just like amp feedback, the harmonics releted to the guitar's natural resonances cause one tone too dominate the others.

A little expensive and tricky to fit but worth it.

[drew]

I have used an ebow with an acoustic guitar and a banjo both before. Both sound weird, sort of like using a (real) bow, but without as many harmonics.

Definitely worth the $80...

Also note that you can get sorta the same effect by using a volume pedal to cut the attack of a regular pick, and fade into (and sustain) the note.


drew
www.toothpastefordinner.com

[Marcos - Munky]

You can make a sustainer like the Ansil's idea of build a LM386 amp inside the guitar, split the pickup signal in two ways, one going to the out jack and one going to the amp, then use a piezo or a very small speaker glued in the guitar, then the piezo will pass the sound to the guitar body, and it will sustain. I will try this with a amp, but not built in the guitar and with the piezo glued with adhesive tape. I tried with a little LM386 amp, and it enter in feedback, but I didn't tried to send the feedbacked signal to my amp.