with or without you guitar question

[marik]

can someone (gragravar, you are the master) tell me about the opening of with or without you in the different tours they've played it. I'm talking about the Jtree version, ZooTV version, Popmart version, and elevaton version. Specifically, i want to know what Edge uses for the opening minute or so. I try to watch the concert videos, but its hard to see exactly. Infinate Guitar (not sure exactly what this is), e-bow, whammy bar, a certain effect to get that sustaining sound. Whatever the method was Edge used. I don't think he used the same thing each tour, but i could be wrong.
thanks.

 

[gragravar]

Very amusing... Anyway, I think Edge has used a number of different methods to get the above sound... but they're all basically the same when it comes down to it and involve the use of a switchable electro-magnet to cause the string to vibrate. The E-bow is a separate piece of kit and is held above the string in question. Another method is to have a guitar which features an electro-magnet built in to the body of the instrument which can be turned on and off (it is otherwise a perfectly ordinary guitar). I can't remember exactly which method is used on which tour so perhaps someone else can provide this information though I don't think the E-bow has been used for a long while now, and for some reason Hernandez (or Fernandez or something similar) springs to mind as the make of the guitar that he used on Popmart and maybe Elevation too. Could be wrong though. I don't think the whammy bar (or pedal either) has any role in sustaining the notes in this song, it's mainly used for pitch-shifting (such as the first few bars of Even Better or Hold Me Kill Me).

 

[beezd26]

The guitar Edge uses now for WOWY is a Fernandez with an infinate sustainer system. I think he started using this instead of an Ebow during Popmart cause I was watching Zoo TV last night and he was still using an Ebow. You can buy the Fernandez guitar with the sustainer built in...but the one Edge has the model has been discontinued or you can buy just the sustainer system and install it into any guitar you own. Mind you the sustainer system itself is $200-$300 then you still have to get it installed by someone who knows what they're doing. So for if you want to save money go the Ebow route its the most cost effective, but the fernandez guitars are just fun to play with the sustainer in them, because you can sustain whole chords if you want to and with the ebow you can only sustain a note.

As for a pitch shifter Edge does us this but not to get the sustain. If you listen you can hear some strings sounds in the background. What that is, is Edge splitting his signal so he has two amps with two sounds coming out. The first amp has the sustain/ebow part normal. The second amp has a harmonizer/pitch shifter and a reverb unit on it. The pitch shifter takes the orginal signal and brings it up a whole octave. Then Edge combines this sound with the first amp to create his sound. This is known as the shimmer effect. You can learn more about this on U2 sound or U2 recording Yahoo group.
Hope this helps.

 

[marik]

gragravar, in your band, what does the guitar player use for this intro of WOWY? how do you guys achieve the same sound? e-bow?

 

[gragravar]

Our guy uses an E-bow on his Strat. He doesn't use the whammy pedal for this song (though he does have one) because the method described above requires two amps which is kind of inconvenient to carry around for most people, one is bad enough. Rather, the e-bow has a setting which can be used to add a note an octave above the root note... same principle, and the result sounds identical to me. The E-bow is the simplest and cheapest way to go for this effect.

 

[schoo2]

the edge used a custom squire strat fitted with the fisrt ever infinite sustain system built by michael brooke. it was pedal operated. in the zootv tour he used an ebow with his les paul. for popmart it was a fernandes decade elite. for elevation it was a fernandes native pro and for the vertigo tour he uses a fernandes retrorocket elite.

 

[marik]

can you describe in more detail how that effect is reached on the popmart- vertigo guitars?