As we know, Bill is the undisputed master of the eBow. One thing that has always puzzled me. Seeing Bill play eBow live, he seems to switch to it with no change of volume, no pot adjustment, no pedal. You can see this (I believe!) in Beyond These Clouds The Sweetest Dream on the Rocketeers DVD (if you don't have this, BUY IT NOW). Yet in my own humble experience with an eBow, there is a MASSIVE increase in gain when you use it and the entire house starts to shake and crumble until you quickly hit the volume pedal! I should add that my eBow is the modern plastic-case version not the stainless steel original which I believe Bill has.
best wishes to all!
Toby
Any idea where I can purchase said dvd?
I slide the e-bow along the string towards or away from the 'hot spot' where the interplay with the pickups is strongest. Moving the e-bow away from the hot spot, whilst keeping it in close contact with the string, reduces the volume and intensity of the sound. Sliding the e-bow towards and over the pickup's hot spot increases the volume and intensity, sometimes bringing out a higher harmonic in the sound.
This movement towards or away from the pickup is done quite subtly as even a small change of position affects the sound. This can be used in a very expressive way.
There's always a certain element of hit and miss about how the e-bow reacts to the pickup, but that's all part of the fun. You get to know how the interplay between pickup and e-bow 'feels' and it eventually becomes part of your internal voicing with the guitar.
Of course, the kind of pickup you're using makes a difference too. Some guitars put up a bit of a struggle and don't react so well. I definitely have guitars that work better in this respect than others.
I am not a guitar player but watching Bills technique with the ebow on this clip is a revelation.... he doesn't move the ebow at all ... then slowly slides between the bridge and neck pickup and twice you see him changing strings without any audible clunk 😳 but apart from the technique what emits is pure skin tingling beauty as l was stood frozen to the spot and tingling head to foot while recording this .... a guy to my right was in tears .... an amazing moment ♥️