Sound Stone: Better than the EBow or Does it Suck?

the scraping and squeaking is a feature, not a bug! the ebow is certainly cleaner and more stable, but if you're into free-improv/noise there's a lot you can do with it.

I am going to name my child Ebo Soundstone.....so her full name will be Ebo Soundstone Uguboogome

Thanks for the great video. Trying a sound stone on my Fractal Harps (pedal steel like instruments) Would love a device like this across all the strings. Unfortunately it seems useless for this application. Had to try it. Oh well.

In my oppinion there is no alternative to the original EBow. I have tested all the alternative devices that are available. They are all dissapointing..

yeah.. its clearly the underdog, but i bought one anyway to play my hand made "Kotamo" with piezo electric pickups. Put through an effects chain, i imagine a variety of ambient goodness can come through it. If not, there's always the ebow.

The Joyo is closer to the EBow, even the same shape. I actually prefer it, the EBow volume jump is hard to control, at least for me
BTW, there's a reflection of a giant spider in your guitar. Blink twice if you are being held captive

I am finally seriously shopping for the EBow. Your video and demo makes it quite clear which one I should invest in. I've also invested in a REAL violin bow ... the kind of effects that I am interested in ... not the expensive toys.

The worrying thing is someone buying a Soundstone thinking it's just the same as an E-Bow. Then being put off using one 'cause the Soundstone just isn't very good.
I don't use my E-Bow often but it is a wonderful device and it always draws attention when I do use it at gigs.

eBow is so much better man

I can recognize the significantly better strength and reliability of the ebow... The soundstone's less reliable and more random sound is actually pretty interesting to me, tho I suspect it's not for everyone.

I have long wished that the ebow had some way of adjusting the strength of its excitation.

The defects kinda sound good. I got some Dune vibes. But if you want to make normal music, I guess it's a no.

The ebow wins for me, but i could see how some people would be into the thinner sound. It also seems like there's a different touch required, so if youre already used to e bow, the technique isnt going to translate directly amd youre going to have to forget a little bit of what you know. But if you've never had an e bow and this is your first sustainer, who knows...

Little bit of delay😂

The eBow is still the gold standard…

What about chords? Can you pick with it? Like an Em for example..

Soundstone. Ebow clone or expensive paper weight

The Sound Stone does almost appear to have a "modulated" lo-fi sound, which probably has a place for some players seeking that kind of sound. And at $35, it's really not a bad deal. But it does seem like you really have to "work it" more than the Ebow.

I bought one and I’m here to say it sucks. Straight up

Been using an ebow for years and love it. Very useful tool.

Strangely enough, and as bad as the Sound Stone comes off in the comparison, I find myself oddly attracted to its messiness and obvious misfires. It is definitely a messy and unpredictable and hard to control tool compared to the wonderful Ebow. But if it works like you show it, I might just go for the Sound Stone. You'd need to treat it as a different effect than an Ebow. If you treat it as a lo-fi more eccentric effect, there is a lot going on there. The Ebow is, as always, terrific. All hail the mighty Ebow! But I kinda dig the raggedy one, too. Think about it.

randomly checking in to say i was thinking of you and wanted to sing your praises. from: a random guy on the internet who loves 6 string bass and wants to learn classical guitar/prog stuff lol erhem. this channel rules, if anyone gives you trouble let me know. ill probably be nice to them but like. say things like hey, what in the name of sam heck. there, i said it

Two flavors of the same sort of thing. They don't need to be better or worse than the other. having a "weaker" option in terms of strength of magnetic field isn't a bad thing as you can pick the one that works/sounds best with the particular guitar and signal path you are using for a given part.

E Bow is much richer. Combined with a chrome slide, a good overdrive, eccos looper/delay and reverb. From Frith to Fripp and beyond.

I think the sound stone is actually too strong. It’s maybe restricting the string vibration. Less volume, slow to start oscillation, pulls out of tune. The ebow magnetic distance to the strings is balanced perfectly, kind like a Lagrange point is for gravity.

Soundstone is the best for dark ambient music 🤘
But i proudly own an ebow 😂

Bill, face it, your just to nice a guy to say it. The Soundstone sssssssssssuuuuucks. It's weaker, it sounds like you have to lay it right on the string to make it work, and then it buzzes, and not in a good way. And it is nowhere near as smooth and consistent as an E-bow. So yes, it sucks. There, I said. ;)

I’m really curious Bill, have you ever tried playing with an actual bow on guitar? It’s a pretty amazing sound in my opinion and I think it’s a great ambient technique.

If you want to be blown away, look into the German company Vibesware... it blows the ebow out of the water, and you can morph harmonics with the foot pedal. And you don't have to hold on to anything, so that you can play, throw in the sustain when you want it, etc.

I had an Ebow for 23 years. In that time I've used it extensively in the studio on records, on film scores, on tour live. Additionally I've damaged the wires and had to resolder them or in one case I even refit the 9v battery connector from another pedal, dropped it on concrete, gotten it wet. It still works. My point is it's pretty hard wearing, I'm not a typical guitarist by any standards so I've made the ebow sound like clarinet, reverse guitar, a synth, a cello, a simple drone waves of controlled feedback etc. But I always keep going back to it.

I haven't met anybody who's broken their ebow beyond repair. They tend to last imo.if something goes amiss it's usually an easy fix
There's not a lot that can go wrong. All the examples above of me breaking it were just due to using it an awful lot. It's few and far between. At the most I've had it out of action for a few days if that.

The tone is not to be beat. I've met so many folk who don't understand it but all ebows have an instruction manual and demo tape as far as I'm aware. So it's weird someone would just think it were limited as a sustainer device when there's a whole host of things you can do with it as shown here.

Miss u my friend greetings from Tambobo bay Philippines..

EBow +1

Joyo has their own budget version of the eBow. I wonder how that compares to this and the eBow.

The e bow with the blue light (the new version) seems to have a much higher output than the older (red light) e bow too. Wondering how the sound stone would measure up Vs the older e bow 🤔

I’ve not found anything which outshines the ebow!!!

The Sound “Stone” is a CHEAP plastic piece of future landfill CRAP. NO COMPARISON TO THE EBOW. The Sound “Stone” build quality is APPALLING.

I bought a Sound Stone because it was cheap. Unfortunately, I found it to be difficult to control and it created very harsh sounds. I have a Fender Stratocaster and a Fender Telecaster. Now that Sound Stone sits in a box… 😉

It sounds like Stone is well fit for LoFi sounds. About 6.50 there are actually some nice sounds reminding sounds of a mountain wind instrument. Well, thanks for the tour.

Sound Stone is the best for imitating the cry of a seagull 😉

Thanks for the demo and your thoughts. I think I’ll go for an Ebow now thank you

The tone that the soundstone created was just so inferior to the ebow that I just can’t see any use for it. I’d be giving it an F based on this video. Not really good at anything. Even the weird sounds it made and the pitch shift sounded bad. You were far too generous. The ebow is even superior on single note sustain.

Hi Bill, I have them both and I agree with your review. Sound Stone design could be better, but as a local project here in Austin... I don't regret supporting them.
Hope to see the Ibanez SRC6 multi-scale in your channel some day.

I got a chuckle out of your light dome looking like a spider as it reflects on your guitar! Always enjoy your vids, thanks for sharing 🙏

Sound Stone is not very useful. Elbow wi s out hands down.

Sound Stone detuning makes for a warped tape delay effect.

Love it! I have the Joyo Infinite Sustainer ebow clone. With the $30 I saved I can buy a half-carton of eggs! 🥚🎸🤘🤩🤘🎸🥚

I just wish eBow would make one with rechargeable battery. I just don't buy anything that takes 9v battery's.

another great video, thank you Bill!

Sound Stone sounds to me a bit harsher. I think some people may even like it better for their music. It is like a LOFI version of an EBow. Don't you think?