Karyn
Guys,
 
PLEASE remember this forum is open to children. 
 
 
If you quote a post, PLEASE edit the title as above.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Not because I am a strong advocate of the specific term here, but because I think this may be a case of over-censorship. I would like to respectfully  point out the following:
 
1) The actual term, although not something you would here in a disney movie, is not considered a vulgar term. If a child is old enough( or neglected enough) to be browsing the web unsupervised, they have probably seen much worse.
 
2) It would seem pointless to remove the word and replace with the "adult toy" since both are about equal on the inappropriate for children meter and makes the topoc more confusing since a [insert bizarre adult toy of choice] is going to make a much different sound than the original item mentioned.  It would seem that by using the broader term would invite images of the original item along with extras which might be far more disturbing than origunal. I doubt a child old enough to navigate to this forum on their own would think "adult toy"  meant a huge slinky.  It is very conceivable that by attempting to censor such a thing you may have the opposite effect on the hypothetical child.  I have heard this word on primetime television, so it seems that a precedent is being set that Cakewalk is taking the path of having censorhip standards that are more along the lines of what would be in compliance with religious conservatives instead of society at large.
 
 
In the big picture I am not advocating for the word, but questioning whether the censorship is effective or warranted. It would make more sense IMHO to delete ( after letting OP know) and making it clear adult toys are not to be discussed in the techniques forum rather than sub with a word that makes the topic slightly more vague.  This is just something to think about. 

How about vibrator, as it's the vibrating element that relevant and vibrator could describe any thing that cause a vibration, unless you were already aware of them in that sense?
 
I don't think it's an issue really on this forum, as I said it was in SOS and that wasn't a top shelf publication, though maybe for some it should be. Well it wasn't top shelf in about '96.
 

Correction to my post. When I first saw the edit, the "D" did not show on my phone and I just saw "adult toy". My sentiment still remains the same that if the child is old enough to understand what that word is, they are old enough to know exactly what the original word was. It reminds me on the radio when they censor a word, letting the "f" and the "k" sounds remain audible and squishing the "u" sound as if it is the evil "u" sound that is offensive. :)

I also saw Hillage in System7 in about '97, and it was effective as a tool for that purpose. Although it's funny, I do think it's interesting what some people may use from around house, especially seeing the toothbrush in the Omnispere2 launch vid, and it woundn't have crossed my mind to use that for effect. 
 

Nevermind the censorship makes this thread unintentionally more funny. The censored "d******" may make some think it's a 7 letter word. There are 1250  7 letter words in english. Dangler, deboner,debauch,demount and so on make for funny adult toy possibilities

I consider SONAR an adult toy.
 
Drones are another. And begins with "D".

dubdisciple
1) The actual term, although not something you would hear in a disney movie [...]

I must admit the thread title initially gave me a chuckle and not because of the word, but because it was open-ended (i.e., there was not a "for...." at the end). Disney has a track record of inserting visual things in their movies to see what can slip by editors (the ORIGINAL "Little Mermaid" cover was pulled because of this). Can even Google things like "Mickey Microphone FAIL" to see a product that made it onto store shelves before it was caught.
 
Anyway... back to the OP... a guitar pickup basically responds to two things 1) a conductor vibrating in its magnetic field (different methods of moving the string) and 2) external fields interacting with the wiring on the pickup (like the drill example). A piezoelectric pickup responds to physical compression, so this is another option (direct physical contact with a vibrating source). These can definitely be employed to play with sound creation (regardless of the actual "source").
 
I have had an E-Bow for years, and although it has its uses, it is also something that requires some finesse to use to its full potential (and really only works best on a single string). It is not something that gets used regularly, but is definitely good for the "singing/infinite sustain" that appears on some tracks. But with that being said, a very similar infinite sustain can be achieved via a feedback loop between a guitar and amp (and will affect all strings).

dubdisciple
Dangler, deboner,

So we could use those words in the title instead?
 
Much much funnier.

Karyn
PLEASE remember this forum is open to children.

you don't say...

Saw System 7 at Hawkwind's small and intimate Easter mini-festival this year. Mr Hillage was using a round stainless steel bar for glissando.
 
Captain Dave Brock of Hawkind was using the back of a knife.
 
I currently use a Phillips screwdriver blade roughed up a bit with emery paper.
 
Using violin/cello bows can work, but you have to rosin them to get the friction. Rosin comes off all over the strings and guitar top and is very sticky. It's actually made from colophony (pine resin) which is a sensitising material which can trigger asthma and all sorts of things, so fingerpicking on strings covered with it is probably unwise.
 
The other essential components for glissando guitar are compression (lots, with a low threshold), a bit of overdrive, chorus and shedloads of delay/reverb.