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Playing guitar with a violin bow.


Hand_Of_Omega_91

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Hi,

I was just wondering if anybody has done or tried to play guitar with a violin bow a la Jimmy. I should be performing sometime soon and was seeing if it is a good idea, no doubt tit will butcher my strings, but any advice on this topic would be greatly received!

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It's more likely to butcher the hair on the bow, which, incidentally, can be expensive. To get an acceptable sound from the combination, you will need to develop at least a rudimentary bowing technique.

RB

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i've never used a bow. have used a pick or coin to get a violin sound. jeff lynne used to do that too.

try to experiment around with the edge of a quarter or dime and high gain/ overdrive you might prefer that over a bow.

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It's more likely to butcher the hair on the bow, which, incidentally, can be expensive. To get an acceptable sound from the combination, you will need to develop at least a rudimentary bowing technique.

RB

Yeah, you can see it in TSRTS movie, as Jimmy's bow gets quite wasted after a while (during the said-to-be magick ritual performance with pointing to four directions)

Thanks for the replies, I might get a bow, its worth a try.

I was learning How Many More Times yesterday and when listening to the studio version it sounds as if Page uses a violin bow on it, can anyone confirm this?

Yesh, it is a bow, it's quite clear, almost the same as in studio DaC.

Hm, I wonder how interesting would be bowed bass :) Roger Waters used it in "Lucifer Sam" on PF's first album but I haven't heard anyone else using it.

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A violin/cello has a different contoured bridge/saddle than an electric guitar. The violin/cello has a more accentuated curve allowing the bow to "choose" more easily the different individual strings (and hence play the instrument as a solo instrument).

As the electric guitar has a more flattened shape the outer "E" strings are used more as the "soloing" strings. Due to the flattened shape the other strings are used more in chords. Notice Pages use of as much length of bow for chords (for sustain) and just the end tip for fast repetitive notes.

A guitar with rich sustain will ensure "noises" of the bow are not as intrusive to the sound. Guitar volume around 7-10 (for better sustain). For quieter passages less bow pressure. Don't have the bow's tension up to far and the life of the bow will lengthen.

Good luck!

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