Show us your MSA please.

[Cholly Nachman]

Hi Mike! Thank you for replying to my first ever post on this forum!! Heres the original pictures of the guitar when I purchased it.



I hope this is helpful - I'm hoping to be able to find parts for the push and pull but if not I know I can make my own I used to be a machinist.. but hopefully I'll find some parts from another old guitar that will speed up the resoration.
-Cholly

[Gary Spaeth]

not mine but you know who. spring 69
quote from Maurice Anderson
"I have production records in my possession written in Tom Morrells hand writing, that verify the guitars made for Bobby Garrett and Don Helms were produced years after Bobbe left. The records verify without question that Don Helms guitar is serial number 2-0005 completed on July 28th 1967,

[Darvin Willhoite]

I re-built a similar vintage MSA a few years ago, here's what it looked like after. I replaced the old changer with a Classic changer and an all new shaft and rod arrangement. It took a LOT of work and I had to make a lot of parts.

[Cholly Nachman]

Oh WOW!!!! That's totally AWESOME!!!!! What model and year is that one?? I really appreciate your post - I've not found many pictures of the undersides of one of these 12 strings. You've already accomplished what I'm trying to do!! Soo nice man!! It looks brand new!! :D:D
-Cholly

[Cholly Nachman]

Gary!! That's my guitar!!! Its the only other picture I've found of one so far!! Thank you for posting it!!! I was born in 69!! hahaha! :D:D

[Darvin Willhoite]

This was a '66 model and was Maurice Anderson's personal guitar, he used this guitar to record the "Moods of Maurice Anderson" five album set in the '60s. These albums had a wide variety of styles and showcased Maurice's fantastic musicianship. If you don't have these albums, Mike Perlowin probably still has CD's with some of the music from this set as well as some later stuff. Every steel player should have it in his collection. David Wright owns this guitar.

[Bill Ford]

This is what the underside looks like, D12

[Mike Perlowin]

The CDs I had produced are long gone, but I still have the files and can burn individual sets.

Cholly, I suggest you pay Darvin (or Johnny Cox or Mickey Adams or Jim Palenscar) a lot of money to upgrade your guitar the way he did that other one. You may feel you want to do this yourself, but in the end you want the best instrument possible, and that's what you'll have if you let one of these experienced steel guitar repairmen get your guitar in playable condition.

[Dick Wood]

I got this a few months ago.

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[Cholly Nachman]

Hi Mike! Well, I appreciate the guidance on this! So I believe what I have then is called an S-12?? Single Neck 12 string MSA and it's pre 1970? The pictures are really helpful as you can see mine has been butchered up pretty bad over the years. I do have some of the linkages and such - but most of the underside of mine - the levers, and other mechanisms are missing. If I get really stuck on this restoration - i may reach out to one of the expert builders here. For now I'll see what kind of progress I can make on my own. This is my very first pedal steel so I'm enjoying the learning curve at this point. I'd like to find a picture of the underside of an original S-12 - just for guidance. I like the idea of upgrading to a more modern changer though so we'll see what happens as I get further into this. :D:D Thanks for taking the time to help me!

[Cholly Nachman]

@Dick Wood - WOW - that guitar is super sharp!!! - love the maple, and the burst on it!!! I''m hoping mine will look half as nice as yours when I'm done! :D:D:D:D
-Cholly

[Bill Ford]

Cholly, The above picture that I posted is a D-12, as far as looks and setup info is basically the same.

Bill

[Mike Perlowin]

Bill, how well does that D12 work? How is the pedal action? How many raises and lowers does it have? Does it have it an early all pull or pull-release changer?

If money and time were no object, would you swap out the undercarriage for a newer one?

Many of us have never played one of those first generation MSAs. I once saw one, but didn't play it.

[Bill Ford]

Mike, I bought that one when it was about a year old, don't really remember how the action, pretty good as I remember tho. All pull 2 up,2 down, you could pull one string with every pedal if you had enough F clips and set collars.If you look at the first pic posted, you can see the F clip and set collar. It was sorta aggravating to set up but seldom if ever needed anything done. Purchased when it was about 6 months old for $350, sold it 30 years later for some $$. Made a lot of money with it. And, no I would not convert, unless it was done like Darvin did the one he did...Really too heavy unless you never had to set up tear down had a real good tone.

[Bill Ford]

This is dated 1970, had hair then .

[Joe Alterio]

I believe this to be a 1977. I love it!


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[Mike Perlowin]

My guess is that it's a few years later. Maybe '80 or '81. Can you dhow us the end plate? that will tell us more.

[Al Evans]

I woulda sworn I'd already posted this, but maybe not. My 1976 MSA Classic D10.




--Al Evans

[Joe Alterio]

Mike P - I took a few more shots. It's hard to see, but the serial number is 2C 5803. Based on others' that were dated by Reece years ago, I landed at it being a '77. https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/013222.html The one at this link is a few numbers further down from mine, and that one is an Oct '77.



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[John H. McGlothlin]

I got this Vintage XL about 3 years ago and have been putting a lot of new parts on it. it is a 12 string universal but I don't know if I'll keep that setup or go with an extended E9th.

[Daniel Vorp]

[Mike Perlowin]

Daniel, how would you compare the Legend with the Ritt? If you could only have ine, which would you choose?

[Daniel Vorp]

Hi Mike, wow that is a tough one since they are both built so very well. Only good things to say about both guitars. The Legend is so beautiful I tend not to take it out on gigs as much as the Rit. The Rit is formica covered so in my mind better for road work. The Rit also has the BL705 pickup which I like the tone better than the single coil I have on the Legend. (Ordering a 705 for the Legend as we speak to see how that combination sounds). I can't see myself ever getting rid of the Legend so I guess that's the answer. That is mostly due to the gorgeous Caribbean blue/green finish Mark Giles created.

[Mike Perlowin]

Daniel, one of the great things about the new MSAs is the modular pickup system, which allows you to instantly swap pickups and compare them.

After trying out several different ones,I settled on a Lace Alumitone. Of course, you might prefer a different sound. I suggest you try several different pickups, including an Alumitone, and see which one you prefer.

[Ken Adkins]