adding knee lever

Mark Tewarson · From: New York, USA

Hey I'm a new owner of a 70's MSA d-10 8 pedals, 4 knee levers. The store I bought it from claimed it had the emmons set up, which it mostly does however on the C6 neck knee levers, I only have the RKR moving string 4 to a Bb. No RKL or left knee lever changes at all.
I would like to add all those additional moves if possible.
When I move the knee levers I see motion going on underneath the c6 neck, just no rods.

1. I am pretty mechanically inclined....is adding the rods something I could pull off myself?

2. If so, I know the psgparts.com owner is not shipping at the moment, is there someone else who would have the parts?

3. I will be using the c6 neck for thick jazz chords, are the standard emmons moves the best ones?

thanks

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Some photos of the mechanics underneath would help us see what you have going on there.

How many knee levers are there total?....and where are they located. Any on the left knee that work on the front neck?

Yes, adding rods and bellcranks is something anyone with basic mechanical skills can do. I can't steer you toward any parts suppliers for old MSAs unless perhaps Tom Bradshaw has them. You should be able to find his contact info in the links section, vendors etc.

If you are referring to the copedent charts listed here, the basic Emmons C6 set-up, should give you everything you need for jazz. It works pretty well for the man it's named for.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Jim Palenscar of north county steel guitars sells a lot of what you'll need.
Other than the PITA of removing the crossrod to add bellcranks, the MSA is a breeze to tinker on.
I'd add raising and lowering the As, and raising at least the upper C. The standard changes are very versatile.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Jim Palenscar · From: Oceanside, Calif, USA

I had a machine shop duplicate 30 sets of knee levers for the older MSA's a while back so I do have the parts needed for now.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

PS: the stock placement of MSA knees, while a bit inconvenient for E9, makes it really good for putting all 4 knees on both necks
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Mark Tewarson · From: New York, USA

thanks for the responses. I do have 4 knee levers total, they both work on the e9th neck. Perhaps I will take a picture tomorrow and post.
Jim, do I need any additional pieces to get the job done? It seems like there are the parts to connect the rods to (forgive my lack of terminology) on my psg.
Lane, which levers/pedals would you assign to those changes?
thanks

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

If I felt ambitious, I would move P5 to LKR, raise the As to Bb with P5 (you'll double foot if you don't put either 5 or 7 on a knee), lower the As with a knee (I use RKL and 4 goes to G# and 8 to G) and raise the Cs to C# with the fourth one.
Less ambitious: LKL lowers As, LKR raises them, RKL raises Cs.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Gianni Gori · From: Livorno, Italy

Mr. Tom Bradshaw always provided me with all the old MSA's parts I needed, from small details to complete lever kits...
And tons of kind and free hints and tips! Very Happy

http://www.songwriter.com/bradshaw/

Ask him for what you may not see listed on his site...
_________________
Gianni

Zum D-10 9x8, MSA S-10 4x5, Quilter Steelaire combo, Peavey Nashville 112 (w/Ken Fox mod & Jensen Neo), Hilton volume pedals, Sarno Tonic Preamp, Lexicon MPX-1

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