Ah the famous Ebow. I’ve seen quite a few players with this and seen them doing interesting things with it. It’s basically a hand held sustainer. It’s got two modes now as well on this plus model, that allows you to just sustain the harmonic note which is also quite cool. I personally haven’t found a use for the ebow myself yet other than copy somebody else or some other U2 songs I’ve heard. But the usage and concept is quite simple. If one wants to sustain a note for a long period of time, use the Ebow. That’s the main and only purpose of this device. How often would one use it versus another effect, say, distortion? VERY sparingly or rarely obviously.

The sound itself is the original guitar’s signal so there is nothing like true bypass whatever etc to be counted into this review. For beginners you may have trouble getting this thing to work properly it does work easier and better on electric guitar because of the magnets of the pickups, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it on acoustics as I’ve heard and seen it being used on acoustics quite often. Of course it’s a magnetic-type of effect and that’s why it’s way easier to use on electrics. Also if you have distortion on you can get a very nice searing sustaining note, sounds great to boot depending on the context of the song I’d say!

Overall, the Ebow is a very cool tool to get some atmospheric-type sounds and contexts to add texture to your song. If you have one it’s worth using every so often, if you don’t have one, it’s worth trying out and borrowing it from your friend and never giving it back. Give it a try if you get the chance to but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get one either!