ebow + acoustic w/under-saddle pickup ...?

[davidandree]

anyone here use this combination? just curious if you get a decent signal from the ebow through an under-saddle pickup...

i am considering picking up an under-saddle pickup (the fishman matrix infinity specifically) for use on one of my acoustics as i find magnetic pickups just sound too magnetic/electric to my ears for some applications, but im curious whether they play well with an ebow or not...

i now use an acoustic with an active humbucker in it and it works well, but as many of you know the sound is almost always aggressive/distorted when using an ebow with magnetic pickups. i love the sound you get off of an acoustic with an ebow without any pickups - more pure tones than when you use a magnetic pickup. i am hoping this is more the result you get with an undersaddle pickup, as live applications with the amplification necessary for condensers to pick up the sound of an ebow with an acoustic are difficult without heaps of feedback.

[peter wyeth]

There's a musician on my local folk music circuit that uses an Ebow and he offered various tips for obtaining a good signal. His first one was to use a sound hole pick up! Apparently, the magnets help stimulate the strings and cause more vibration. He like you thogh wasn't a big fan of the sound of that type of pick up. His solution was to use a recharageable battery that had a higher output. My understanding of this is very vague but it was something ilke a 10v output from a 9v battery. Did no harm to the unit and it certainly worked. He also suggested a compressor pedal to get things going in when using it amplified.

Hope this helps.

[davidandree]

He like you thogh wasn't a big fan of the sound of that type of pick up. His solution was to use a recharageable battery that had a higher output. My understanding of this is very vague but it was something ilke a 10v output from a 9v battery. Did no harm to the unit and it certainly worked. He also suggested a compressor pedal to get things going in when using it amplified.

so i take it your friend was using an under-saddle pickup then?

thanks for posting the tips! it's appreciated - i'll have to look into the battery idea - i never thought of using a higher voltage battery, but i could see how that would help

the other thing that helps take the edge off of using magnetic pickups with an ebow is simple low pass filtering, just enough to dial out the really harsh/distorted higher frequencies.

[peter wyeth]

No, he was using the guitar totally acoustic - when he played with a PA they mic'd him up.

It's expensive but if you wanted to keep the acoustic tone you could try one of the Fishman Aura pedals - http://www.fishman.com/products/details.asp?id=92 - I think I'm about to shell out on one as the piezo really does my head in.

[mfischer]

i've been messing around with a friend's ebow and a simple lap harp.  i am not much of an ebow on electric guitar fan but i am loving it on acoustic instruments.
http://unrecnow.com/dust/2374

[davidandree]

It's expensive but if you wanted to keep the acoustic tone you could try one of the Fishman Aura pedals - http://www.fishman.com/products/details.asp?id=92 - I think I'm about to shell out on one as the piezo really does my head in.

not a bad idea - i suppose i should try one myself to find out for sure, but i remember researching those a while back and reviews were mixed - but many saying the imaging was not what they were hoping for / not a convincing acoustic tone

no substitute to a well mic'd acoustic

[davidandree]

i've been messing around with a friend's ebow and a simple lap harp.  i am not much of an ebow on electric guitar fan but i am loving it on acoustic instruments.
http://unrecnow.com/dust/2374

wonderful piece, thanks for sharing/posting this. i enjoy the fumbling/handling noises in contrast to the carefully layered drones

[rginns]

David where can you get your hands on one of these Lap Harp's and how much do they tend to cost? .. Lovely piece by the way

[taylordeupree]

ha...man... ebow + lap harp.. exactly my setup for the gig in tokyo next month. 2 lap harps, 2 ebows + kyma.

picked mine up on ebay.

[puggo]

[rginns]

Now I'm relatively new to this idea so are there any specific brands of lap harp or any particular ones that I should look at or are they all pretty much the same?..

[chorus7]

Has anyone ever tried to use a Clavinet with an Ebow? I was thinking you could play the keys while using the Ebow with the other hand?...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavinet

Joe

[davidandree]

David where can you get your hands on one of these Lap Harp's and how much do they tend to cost? .. Lovely piece by the way

thanks, but the piece posted in this thread was by marc -- although, i do have some works using lapharp as well http://www.davidandree.com/blog/?tag=lapharp

i have a "music maker" lap harp (picture here http://www.davidandree.com/blog/?p=181 )
its the bulgarian one puggo and mfischer have. i think "first act" makes a comparable one. i'd second taylor in scouring ebay for one - i think i got mine for like $10.

looks like we all have lapharps and ebows... too bad we all can't get together and have a lap harp jam session...

[davidandree]

Has anyone ever tried to use a Clavinet with an Ebow? I was thinking you could play the keys while using the Ebow with the other hand?...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavinet

Joe

i don't see why not

i know stephan mathieu uses ebows on his octave virginal http://www.bitsteam.de/wp/?page_id=28