The EBow was invented by Greg Heet in Southern California. The EBow is a hand held string driver which when held over a guitar string generates an electromagnetic field that drives the string to produce endless sustain. The first working model (the Energy Bow) was developed in 1969 and was built into the guitar. The hand-held version appeared in 1974 and was officially launched as the EBow in 1976 at NAMM in Chicago. It was at this NAMM show that Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir bought three EBows. Greg Heet had grown weary of the effects business and put his efforts into his other interest including his pretzel cart business. This meant that although the EBow became a popular gadget with players, they were difficult to find during this period. 1983 saw the introduction of a new EBow model, which was updated again in 1989. In 1998 the PlusEBow was launched with a new harmonic mode and a blue LED.

Source:Ebow catalog 1989

Source: EBow website (4 April 2017)