Another restoration done - The Plexi

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 7 Oct 2022 8:26 am

This is probably the only plexiglass pedal steel guitar ever built. It was built by MSA in '71 or '72 for a demonstrator of how the pedal steel works. I am happy to add it to my MSA collection.

It was owned by Maurice Anderson until he passed away when it was purchased by Junior Knight. I bought it from Junior about 6 years ago but I hadn't retired yet so I didn't have time to work on it. Junior wanted it back a couple of years later so we did some swapping and he got it back. Junior decided he wanted to clear out some equipment a few months ago, so I bought it back from him.

I totally disassembled it, cleaned and polished everything, and repaired a cracked tuning key mount. The 'scissor' parts of the changers were covered with corrosion to the point that some of them would not operate, so I bead blasted all of them and loosened the rivets to make them work easily. I added 3 new knee levers to the existing 2 levers so I could get some of the more modern changes. Some of the pedal rods didn't match, so I made a new set. Some of the tuning keys also didn't match so I replaced all of them. I raised it to 27 1/2" as I have to do to all my steels, and put my "modified" Day style setup on it.

The pickups are single coils and a bit microphonic so you can hear some buzzing and clunking from the pedals being operated. The E9th pickup is wound to 14.1K ohms and the C6th is 15.7K ohms, the E9th is pretty bright but I tamed it pretty good with the amp EQ, the C6 sounds good. It is heavy, 84lbs in the original MSA plastic case, too much for and old man to lug around, but it is a collector guitar not a gigger. The guitar still sounds pretty good for being 50 years old, with a 70 year old hack player attempting to play it.

Here's a quick video I made so you can hear how it sounds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKEx50TcBrQ

Carl Williams · Post by **Carl Williams** » 7 Oct 2022 8:41 am

Darwin,
You “Clearly” have a knack for MSA restoration!

. I’ve seen this/your MSA before and it really looks showroom new…great job on this unique, one-of-a-kind pedal steel….Carl

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 7 Oct 2022 9:24 am

That is such a cool guitar ... pretty cool being able to see how everything works whilst playing it.

john buffington · Post by **john buffington** » 7 Oct 2022 9:24 am

Good work Darvin, "Ole Plexi" is clearly a showstopper for sure.

Bryce Van Parys · Post by **Bryce Van Parys** » 7 Oct 2022 11:07 am

Oh my, this looks amazing. How does it sound? I'm all about the wood affecting tone (as a violin dealer and all around string player) Very curious

Bryce

Jeff Keyton · Post by **Jeff Keyton** » 7 Oct 2022 11:12 am

Great work on your MSA, as usual, Darwin ! Looks Great and sounds good, will have to add it into the mix on the tone discussions that go on around here.

Ron Funk · Post by **Ron Funk** » 7 Oct 2022 11:31 am

Clearly museum worthy.

scott murray · Post by **scott murray** » 7 Oct 2022 11:32 am

one-of-a-kind for sure! you both sound great.

thanks for sharing

Bob Watson · Post by **Bob Watson** » 7 Oct 2022 2:01 pm

I would love to hear Lloyd Green's version of "I Can See Clearly Now" performed on this pedal steel. It would make a great video! In all seriousness, I really would love to see a video with close ups of the mechanisms in action while hearing the effect of the pedal or knee lever that is being used. That is a nice video that you posted and I wasn't expecting a Plexiglass pedal steel to sound as nice as this one does. You chose a beautiful song to use as a demo for this steel and your playing sounds great. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 7 Oct 2022 4:35 pm

great job , looks awesome

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 7 Oct 2022 7:41 pm

AMAZING,,,BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Pat Chong · Post by **Pat Chong** » 10 Oct 2022 9:03 pm

Wow!
That is definitly a pedal steel that you would mount hidden colored LED lights on, to have the clear parts light up with! ....Pat.

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 11 Oct 2022 4:13 am

I’m working on that Pat, I just haven’t came up with a good place and a good way to mount them. I also need to mount a battery pack, and I don’t want to drill any holes and double sided tape can leave an ugly residue.

Roy Carroll · Post by **Roy Carroll** » 11 Oct 2022 6:12 am

Man , that is totally cool! Belongs in a museum somewhere.
Sounds kind of cool too. Thanks for posting, I had no idea it even existed.

J D Sauser · Post by **J D Sauser** » 11 Oct 2022 2:26 pm

Beautiful!

For once I am speechless and will keep it that short... although...

... J-D.

Garry Vanderlinde · Post by **Garry Vanderlinde** » 11 Oct 2022 8:17 pm

Enjoyed your tune too!

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 12 Oct 2022 5:56 pm

Darvin, Just now run across this. What a beautiful restoration job and a great picking job. You just keep outdoing yourself.
Keep on keeping on. J.R. Rose

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 12 Oct 2022 6:03 pm

I was in the MSA factory about 1972 or 1973 and this guitar was setting on the office floor. I was totally awe struck. I think it was on Stallard Street. J.R. Rose

Jim Robbins · Post by **Jim Robbins** » 12 Oct 2022 6:31 pm

That is both beautiful and cool as can be. Nice playing, too.

Bill Ford · Post by **Bill Ford** » 15 Oct 2022 5:31 am

Great job Darwin, You done it again, Maurice would be proud.