Mech Guitar machine Bath UK

Subject: Mech Guitar machine Bath UK
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 08:28 AM

I have my own pics and will post just as soon as the ISP condescends to talk to me. They show a different guitar - a Legacy, it probably has a higher volume - they were invented for busking after all.

YouTube pics

He plays "Old Time" but the result sounds a lot closer to Cajun, probably because of the regular rhythm dictated by the machinery.

We danced a one-step to it happily. Much to the amusement of the open-topped tour bus that passed by. But a Mamou Waltz was impossible without a spanner and spares (he said).

Bath is a tourist trap and there were plenty of tourists around

Subject: RE: Mech Guitar machine Bath UK
From: GUEST,BanjoRay
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 05:17 PM

Phil Wickenden's a lovely old time fiddler who knows loads of tunes and plays them in good old style. He's also a very good engineer - he used to work on the Concorde at Filton, I believe. The Bandit is an amazing contraption - he once knocked everybody out when he brought it to the Gainsborough OT festival. I suppose if it was made by a modern engineer it would all be run by software, so he could summon up waltz time without getting a spanner out..... Phil's more of a Babbage than a Turing. I suspect the Bandit's earned him much more busking money than his fiddling alone would have done.
Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: Mech Guitar machine Bath UK
From: Mr Red
Date: 21 Mar 09 - 04:00 AM

I'm sure he was earning well. There was always a crowd looking-on.

Given the nature of the machine being regular the music was excelent. I wouldn't dance in public like that to music that made dancing difficult.

My pics