Can I use the effect of a melee weapon in a ranged attack?

I can't find anything that contradicts this…

yes you can. Weapons are never restricted to melee, because melee does not really exist in this game. Attacking is attacking.

Seems very anti-thematic, but that is the consensus - you can use them in a ranged attack.

Just pretend you're throwing the sword (or whatever) at the enemy, like one might a dagger. Don't worry about how hard it would be to accurately throw a large melee weapon in real life… :-)

As using Hands Upon the Bow requires ranged but does not provide a ranged attack, and so does not combo with Bard the Bowman effect.

As using Hands Upon the Bow requires ranged but does not provide a ranged attack, and so does not combo with Bard the Bowman effect.

Another reason for using Legolas and Rivendell blades...

Another reason why Bard has become a "Stays in the Box" hero. :-(

Bard's great with his Great Yew Bow in a staging area attack deck.

True, but still one of it's only benefits above others. With the cost of 11 and 1 obligatory attachment I rarely intend to exploit this idea.

Bard's main problem is that he's got stats that you don't need. Legolas, with his 9 threat, is a fantastic ranged hero with a built in 2x Blade of Gondolin. Bard, if he had 1 willpower and 1 defense (and 9 threat as a result), would be a fantastic hero with a built-in Rivendell Blade. As it is, he is a good hero with a built in (ranged-restricted) Rivendell Blade and some extra stats that you probably won't use.

But I tend to like the underdog.

They should really rewrite Hands upon the Bow in something like:

Action: Exhaust a character you control with ranged to immediately declare (and resolve) a ranged attack against an enemy in the staging area. It gets +1 during this attack.

I mean come on! Art and card title clearly show that you shot with a f.. bow!

Yeah, it's more thematic for my Gimli-double-dwarven-axe-with-dundeain-cache ! clearly