STUART ADAMSON

THE LATE GREAT SCOT TOOK THE EBOW FROM OBSCURITY TO THE HIT PARADE

INVENTED IN 1969 by Greg Heet, the EBow was another device for electric guitar that, like the Gizmotron, attempted to emulate the sound of orchestral strings by producing infinite sustain. While the Gizmotron worked mechanically, the EBow did its thing electronically, using an inductive string driver to form a feedback circuit that would create continuous vibrations when pressed against a guitar string. Early adopters include Blondie’s Chris Stein, Blue Öyster Cult’s Buck Dharma (who used it to create the sustaining note that ends his solo on “Don’t Fear the Reaper”) and Bill Nelson, who many consider to be the EBow master.

It was Nelson who introduced it to the guitarist who made the greatest impression with it: Stuart Adamson of the Skids and, later, Big Country. While it’s often thought Adamson used an EBow to create the bagpipe-like lead guitar on the hit “In a Big Country,” that effect was created with an MXR M-129 Pitch Transposer, chorus and delay. His most evident — and influential — use of an EBow was on the Big Country tracks “Lost Patrol” and “The Storm.” More than 50 years on, the EBow’s appeal, like its effect, is infinite. HEAR IT: “Lost Patrol,” The Crossing — Big Country