Silver Two String Ebow

[Chris Templeton]

Buddy really liked his silver, two string Ebow. Chime in if you had/have one?

[Jack Stanton]

Chris,
Can you think pf any recorded instances where Buddy actually utilized both strings? Mansion On The Hill, Once Upon A Time In The West and Long Way Home (Minors Aloud) are the tunes that come to mind where he recorded with it, and all sound like he was only exciting one string... I know I've seen a video of him with Gatton (Canadian Sunset) and there's the video of him with Phil Baugh and an orchestra again doing Once Upon A Time, and again I'm only hearing one string. I'd love to hear an example of what he would do with two string...

[Chris Templeton]

Yes, those songs were one stringers. Buddy must have latched onto it on the road or in the "lab".
I used ia single string on my song "Hobo Heaven" ( https://christophertempleton.bandcamp.c ... obo-heaven )
I recorded it with Rayond "Nasty" Massey" on drums, and the Wooten Brothers on other instruments.
There's only two chords and the tempo double-times about halfway through and there was no was no way I could solo on lap steel (Rick B10, metal neck), so I pulled out my Ebow.
I believe Raymond still works at Pearl Drum in Nashville.

[b0b]

I had one for many years and used it occasionally. It eventually gave up the ghost. I don't know what happened - it just stopped working.

I heard somewhere that only about 200 of them were made, and that half of those were defective. I really enjoyed mine. Bandleaders didn't care for it much, though. Sounded too much like a theremin for country music.

[Chris Templeton]

Thanks for the info, bOb.

[John McClung]

I still have mine, but it's dead. First the battery wouldn't power it, used an AC power supply, then it totally died. It worked on 2 non-adjacent strings, skipping the middle of 3 strings. Sure wish it still worked, I only used it very occasionally, but sure gave my steel a new voice!

I've had in mind designing and McGyvering a sled that would use 2 current single string Ebows to recreate the effect. Someone out there want to 3D print a prototype of that? I'd buy one, for sure!

[Chris Templeton]

I'm wondering if when, as B0b says, it goes into the Theremin range, does it sound any different and is the accentuated harmonic sany different?

[b0b]

It can produce some complex waveforms as you slide it up and down the strings with your right hand, especially combined with the harmonies of two strings. I enjoyed it. But the components are embedded in some kind of resin. It's unserviceable. Something inside just quit working. I'd happily buy another, but they're very hard to find.

This is the only recording I could find where I used it. We were playing an outdoor show at Santa Rosa's Railroad Square in 2012. The Ebow comes in at about 2:22.

soundhost.net/2019/04/this-train/02-this-train

[Per Berner]

Chris,
Can you think pf any recorded instances where Buddy actually utilized both strings? Mansion On The Hill, Once Upon A Time In The West and Long Way Home (Minors Aloud) are the tunes that come to mind where he recorded with it, and all sound like he was only exciting one string... I know I've seen a video of him with Gatton (Canadian Sunset) and there's the video of him with Phil Baugh and an orchestra again doing Once Upon A Time, and again I'm only hearing one string. I'd love to hear an example of what he would do with two string...

What about Red Steagall's "The rain don't ever stop in Oklahoma"? That's Buddy, and it sounds like a two-string E-bow to me... Great song, anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCEFqxvncAU

[Chris Templeton]

That sounds like it's a two stringer.
It enhances the steel but doesn't sound gimmicky .
I'm curious about how the two notes interact with each other and what it sounds like when they kick into the octave thing like it does with a single one.

[Jack Stanton]

Per,
Thanks!

[Mark van Allen]

I had the same experience as bOb, absolutely loved mine but first the battery wouldn’t drive it and then it just quit. I recorded quite a bit with it in the early ‘80s, but I have no idea where those records are now. Great, evocative effect- you could bring one string or the other in and out by just slightly titling the unit. I remember reading that the first units Greg Heet made were the double steel units, before the single string versions still being made. I have one of the newer gray ones and use it all the time.

[Chris Templeton]

Mark, your tilt method on the double tracker is cool. Never heard of that method.