Ebow

The EBow, short for Electronic Bow, is a hand-held magnetic sustainer designed for electric guitar and bass. It attaches to the guitar neck near the strings and, when activated, generates a magnetic field that interacts with the vibrating string. The device contains a feedback circuit that senses the string’s motion and drives the field to sustain the note, allowing continuous sound without re-picking.

With the EBow engaged, a guitarist can produce long, evolving tones or pad-like textures by varying position, dynamics, and string selection. The effect relies on steel or nickel strings and electric pickups to be audible; it does not work with nylon strings and is primarily used with solid-body electric guitars.

Introduced in the late 1990s by the company EBow, the device has remained a niche effect but has seen several iterations offering different controls and ergonomics. Users typically hold the unit over a string or two on the fretboard and activate it with a switch or trigger; tone is shaped by playing technique and the guitar’s electronics.

The EBow is particularly valued in ambient, experimental, and live performance contexts where sustained or evolving textures are desired without continuous picking. It is one of several commercial sustain devices used by guitarists to extend notes beyond normal plucking or picking limitations.