[question about] Playing Guitar with a Violin bow

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gkirksooner

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After deciding that I would try to record my own version of Sigur Ros's Svefn-G-Englar, I first need to find a good bow to play with. I don't know a damn thing about violins and bows though. What kind of bow should I get? Horsehair or fiberglass? What size (4/4, 3/4, etc..) ? And what should I know about how to use one and get a good sound? Like I said, I've never played violin except for a minute at the music store just messing around. Also, I noticed Ebay has a few for around $5-$10. I wanted to just get a cheap one since I won't be using it much, but I wanted to get some more info from this helpful community first. So any advice you can give me will be appreciated. Thanks :)
 
I don't know anything about violins but what I do know about them in terms of guitar playing is that you can use an e-bow to create a very similar effect. Its basically a little magnetic unit that you hold on the strings over the pickup to produce awesome sustaining notes, and even more awesome artificial HARMONIC notes (sounds like sustaining pinch harmonics). Look into it. Very cool.

~darknail
 
It will be easier to do on a guitar with a curved fingerboard, and adjustable height bridge saddles, as it will be easier to bow one string at a time, and you can adjust the strings to make it even easier.
 
I've tried Ebows before, and they just don't sound very good IMO. So if anyone has any info on using an actual bow, help me out.
 
here ya go man

jónsi: playing the guitar with a bow
a novel challenge facing ken thomas is that of getting the desired spatial characteristics from jónsi°s guitar. as birgisson is one of the few guitarists left in music who plays with a bow, thomas has been finding it particularly difficult to capture accurately on tape. "the approach is to get the sound right through the amp, and then to get it as open as possible," he laments. "we°ve tried moving the mics, jónsi has played the guitar differently, we°ve tried moving the strings up and down, we°ve tried everything. it°s quite a delicate job and we still haven°t got it right."

perhaps surprisingly, birgisson hasn°t need to perform many alterations on his guitar to make them more suitable for his style of playing. "i use a Gibson les paul - i find it kind of really nice for the bow," he says. "the bow isn°t hard to learn - you just play it slowly and through a lot of reverb. i use a cello bow, not a violin bow. some people don°t know that you have to use rosin, but it is important to use it; you also have to use cello rosin and not double bass rosin. the feel for the bow just comes, but it takes a long time to develop the touch.

"i use the same tuning and everything, there°s nothing really strange about it. it°s how you play it. with a bow you can get loads and loads of overtones so it°s about how you handle them. it°s like you°re riding a really mad horse and you°re trying to tame it."
 
gkirksooner said:
I've tried Ebows before, and they just don't sound very good IMO. So if anyone has any info on using an actual bow, help me out.
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Then you weren't using it right. I can get some absolutely amazing sounds out of an ebow. Were you using it with single coil pickups?
 
Use a fiberglass bow. Horse hair is too expensive (for nice ones, anyway) and isn't really going to change the sound for the better.

Easy on the rosin - Only enough to get what you're looking for - And make sure to clean your electronics out every other string change or so.
 
To get the sound of Jónsi you have to get a chello bow just like endserenading81 said. Theres is now way to get that sound with an ebow, no matter how you use it.
 
BootCut said:
To get the sound of Jónsi you have to get a chello bow just like endserenading81 said. Theres is now way to get that sound with an ebow, no matter how you use it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info everyone. I've been playing guitar for 18 years, and I know how to use an ebow, but they don't come close to the real thing. I tried using it on single coil pickups on several of my guitars, and even on my 1967 Les Paul Custom which has humbuckers. Ebows are like playing a $40 casio keyboard and expecting it to sound like a Steinway Grand Piano. Anyway, thanks to edserenading81 for the Jonsi quotes. I'll now look into buying a cello bow and some resin.
 
Definitely go with a cheap fiberglass bow. I just got my daughter's double-bass bow re-haired for $40. I think we paid $65 for the bow brand new. I thought I could do it myself, but apparently you have to have a luthier do it-- at least that's what the music store told me.

Also, there are German bows and French bows that you grip differently. This might play a factor in which one is more comfortable for you.
 
Playing with a Bow

gkirksooner said:
I've tried Ebows before, and they just don't sound very good IMO. So if anyone has any info on using an actual bow, help me out.
Click to expand...

Ya might wanna ring up Jimmy Page. I think he's into that bowing the guitar thing. Well, he was anyway ;)
 
I think just about any cheap ass bow should do the trick, and if i remember correctly, i found one in a pawn shop for like $5. I tried this years ago on my Gibson Flying V, with moderate results. You kind of either play the high E or the Low E. Anything else is kind of hitting all the strings from the flat bridge, but chords were kind of cool. It was fun to screw around with, but the novelty wore off pretty quick. It could be cool to throw in a song, but I think it'd get old fast.
 
billy3000 said:
Ya might wanna ring up Jimmy Page. I think he's into that bowing the guitar thing. Well, he was anyway ;)
Click to expand...

Page? What about Nigel Tufnel!
 
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