New Music Gear Monday: TC Electronic Aeon Guitar String Sustainer

Since the mid-1970’s, if you wanted an electric guitar string to sustain forever you turned to an Ebow, the ingenious handheld device that virtually every major artist has used on a recording at some point (case in point, the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia bought the very first one). If you wanted that sound, the Ebow was the only game in town, at least until now. TC Electronic has now introduced its updated version of a handheld guitar sustainer called the Aeon.

The Aeon works about the same as the competition, but there are some significant differences. Aeon features an auto-off after 8 minutes of inactivity to save the 9V battery (which is included), it works further away from the strings so it can be more expressive, the case is made of brushed aluminum instead of plastic, and the price is only $69.95.

Every guitar player and every studio should have one of these in their toolbox, because you never know when you’re going to need that long sustaining string effect that can only be gotten using a device like this. Don’t believe me? This sound has been used by everyone from Tom Petty, Big Country, Duran Duran, Blondie, Bauhaus, David Bowie (“Heros”), Blue Oyster Cult (“Don’t Fear The Reaper”), Van Halen, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, and Peter Gabriel (“Red Rain”).

At an MSRP of $70, the Aeon is a no-brainer. Find out more here, or check out the following video.