It's probably not escaped most people's attention that we've been playing around with an acoustic version of FreePlayer. (Any acoustic guitar with a pickup can benefit from digital effects, so it's not an impossible dream.)
Our various attempts with gaffa-taped prototypes lead us to the Zaantheatre in Zaandam last Tuesday evening to meet a real acoustic guitar legend - none other than Tommy Emmanuel. We were invited by Willem Gort, who has been working with Tommy for years now. Six thirty on the dot, it's time to 'meet and greet', and we're grateful to have a short time with Tommy. There's little more than time for him to pick up the guitar, and we have a brief chat about FreePlayer (the idea is good, and the ergonomics seem to work). The vibe is good (that's really Tommy), and we come away with the impression that we've made a new friend.
The gig itself is a revelation (Jake Shimabukuru deserves special mention), with an encore that can only be described as pin-sharp.
On our way round we're briefly surrounded by a small group of curious guitarists who want to know all about FreePlayer, so we spend some time chatting, and swapping phone clips (at times like these you wish you had a bigger screen in your pocket...!), and all in all it's a lot of fun.
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