All this would be more than enough for most,
but wait, don’t order yet… the E1 comes with
a control pedal, so what you hear is the low
harmonic and with the pedal you can move to
the high harmonic. In sustain mode you can
use the pedal to control which pickup generates
the sustain, and when you move the pedal
to either the heel or toe position, the other
pickup is actually muting the strings at that
position. With the control pedal centered, both
pickups give equal amounts of energy, giving
you the strongest response to the strings.
When you engage either the Controlled filter
or the Articulated filter, that Harmonic Blending
option becomes available on the E1’s control
panel (the center-notched knob next to the
Filter Toggle switch). This is way cool, and it
offers such a great textures that you’ll want to
spend a lot of time exploring it.
Flip the Filter
Toggle switch and the pedal
controls the ladder filter for what Fareed
Haque called “a wah-wah pedal for the new
millennium.” Of course it’s not a wah-wah,
but that’s the neighborhood it lives in. I would
be remiss to not make a quick mention of the
classic EBow, which was the first thing that
gave infinite sustain to guitarists. It is a great
product, but the E1’s possibilities go much
farther, as it’s polyphonic. The E1 is easier to
use and can do all the EBow does and frankly,
it does it better. The E1’s response seems
smoother and much more controllable, and
with the pedal and everything else I mentioned
there’s just no contest.
The Final Mojo… or Is It?
The E1 is a whole new deal, which requires
you to completely rethink the way you play
guitar and how you make music in general.
There will be players who will have no interest
in this at all, but for others this will be the ultimate
instrument. If Allan Holdsworth doesn’t
have one, I would be surprised. The recent
inclusion of MIDI compatibility seems only
natural to me; in fact, it’s hard to imagine why
they even made these without it—perhaps
to show how much can be done without a
synth? Anyway you look at it, it is amazing to
have synth-like sustain coming from strings. I
can see the E1 being a staple in every studio
in the same way the Yamaha DX7 was in the
‘80s. The possibilities for orchestral music
also seem very exciting. I mean, why not skip
the fake string ensemble and have real string
sounds? I am also sure we’ll be hearing sustained
single-note solos in songs on the radio
real soon. As many times as reviewers will say
something like, “This changes everything,” I
guess I’ll say it anyway. This changes everything,
so go check it out.
Buy if...
you want cutting-edge tech and
infinite sustain.
Skip if...
you’re resolved to sticking to the
old school.
Rating...
