The Steel Guitar Forum

I did own a MSA steel guitar back in the mid 70s. I really like that guitar. All the Steel pickers around where i lived said the "MSA was the Cadillac of all Steel Guitars...I dont know about that...but my MSA played and sounded great. The MSA guitars have changed a little since way back then. They are Extremely Gorgeous "Beautiful" guitars. And in the hands of the right man they sound Great. Check out "Jody Cameron...and Dale Rottacker" these guys make the MSA come alive.

Bill Sutton wrote:I did own a MSA steel guitar back in the mid 70s. I really like that guitar. All the Steel pickers around where i lived said the "MSA was the Cadillac of all Steel Guitars...I dont know about that...but my MSA played and sounded great. The MSA guitars have changed a little since way back then. They are Extremely Gorgeous "Beautiful" guitars. And in the hands of the right man they sound Great. Check out "Jody Cameron...and Dale Rottacker" these guys make the MSA come alive.

I think that's the player and not the guitar. I can't speak about Dale Rottacker but Jody sounds great on his P/P as well. Just like Mickey Adams sounds just as good on a Mullen as he does the other guitar he plays on youtube in my opinon. I know you somewhat eluded to that, but to me, any instruments in the right hands sound good. In fact, there's a youtube video of Billy Phelps playing a Carter Starter and it sounds better to me than a lot of those videos with guys playing 3 and 4 thousand dollar guitars.

Remember, Dan has ordered the Pro Tour model. I’m not sure who else would be able to fill that need for him. I do know that Mark Giles was out of commission for a while with knee surgery, and orders were backed up because of that. Mark is one of, if not the best in the business, and his work is flawless. The rest of the build is fit and finish perfect as well.

The wait time is probably the hardest part when ordering a new instrument. Other than a few exceptions most steel guitar makers have an 8 month plus wait time. Im currently waiting on a new steel and I've just used the time to sell old stuff I no longer needed and of course practice on the steels I have. From what Ive seen the new MSA guitars are really something special so a little extra wait is likely worth it. They were a bit out of my budget but the quality appears to be top notch.

James, you are so correct! I have been saying that all along ! I have almost every steel there is and owned a lot of different models .. same with guitars I have 5 tele’s and a bunch of others.. and I can say with all honesty ... it is always me when I get on my Emmons it’s ME not buddy, dam it lol and when I get on a tele it’s me NOT Phil Baugh lol well that’s ok I get better everyday .. life is great in my music room..

When I ordered my purple Millennium in 2004 or 5, I was told it would take 5 months. It actually took a lottle longer, but less than 6 months.


I placed the order at the Dallas show, around 10 AM. Another player who I met at the shew, ordered the same guitar, but placed his order on the mid afternoon. The few hours between the time I ordered mine and the tome he ordered his resulted on a 3 moth difference in the delivery time.

After I got mine, I wanted another, but didn't have enough money to buy one. And by this time there was a 3 tear wait. Amazingly another U-12 millie, a white one, popped up on Ebay. I got it for 1/2 price, and it was delivered in 2 weeks.



Please don't hate me.

Hate you? No, we're all happy for you. You deserve a break.

Thanks Jerry.

When I got the white one, I took both guitars to Jim Palenscar, and asked him to set up the white one with the same copedant as the purple one, including the wrist lever. I told him I wanted to be able to sit at them blindfolded, and not be able to tell which one I was playing.

Needless to say, he nailed it.

BTW, I never decorated a steel before, but I thought this one needed it. I added a decal and some pinstripe tape. I think it looks a lot better now.

I think we can agree that 2020 has been a crappy year for EVERYONE.

I placed an order for 2 new MSA Legends some time ago. One for a good friend of mine, one for me (after a 20 year hiatus).
It took longer than expected, yes... and the second one got delivered half way into 2020.
My friend got his D10 first, me half a year later.
We both got GORGEOUS and most amazing SOUNDING guitars.
They are as CUSTOM as a Bigsby would have been in the 50's.
Kyle and the team has been back and forth with us all the time. Yes, we've had some emails lost because I emailed from "funny locations" and his server discarded them based on security settings they must uphold for business with a some very important patrons.
They've had some personal set backs in the production line the year before and then the China-Virus hit... EVERY BODY... me, you, them, supply chains....
I know that to be true from another sources.
Lacquer guitars have never been "quick serve", although Carter got close to make it that at one point, but those were years when you could sell over 100 guitars/year... just one brand. Today that market has slimmed down and we are back to a hand full of custom builders.

Custom made pedal steels, especially with lacquer bodies have historically taken some time. Often longer than what we waited for our two guitars.
Kyle and the team have been going out of their way to be helpful and very and understanding and generous with special requests.

Given what we have sitting in our homes now, where I to do it all over again, yes, I would order from MSA again.

Well,MSA was and still is the Rolls-Royce of steel guitars. Custom built from key head to bridge. It takes a while to get a Rolls,as they are still mostly hand crafted.Chevy’s are ubiquitous and can be bought in every downtown in the USA. There are plenty of Chevy type steel guitars out there, but you want the Rolls baby...

50 + years into it, I consider myself fortunate-blessed-to be able to play instruments from custom builders-guitars, banjos, fiddles, mandolins, etc. But I still love the stock Push Pull my mother bought me when I was 16.

That being said, I heard and saw Travis Toys tour pro 10-6 and I immediately ordered one last summer. It is supposed to arrive in August 2021 or so. I got curious a while back and tried to find some vids or recordings of other MSA 10-6’s. I couldn’t find any. So I called and asked Kyle. He told me straight up that The green 10-6 owned by Travis is the only one ever made. They are working on a batch (of 10) of them.

So with covid and all the crazy crap going on in the world, I enjoy having something to look forward to. Kyle had always been easy to reach and eager to respond. Meantime I’ve got several great instruments to play with. Unfortunately there are aren’t any real gigs or shows to play, so I look forward to that day too. Enjoy the ride.

Sorry, but can’t believe it takes a year or more to make a steel guitar no matter how fine they are. In 1986, I ordered a new Emmons D-10 LeGrand with custom color mica and got it in 2 weeks and it was perfect in every way and can you just imagine how many guitars Emmons was selling during that time period.

It probably wouldn't take a year- unless there were orders b4 yours- like 30-40?

Henry Matthews wrote:Sorry, but can’t believe it takes a year or more to make a steel guitar no matter how fine they are. In 1986, I ordered a new Emmons D-10 LeGrand with custom color mica and got it in 2 weeks and it was perfect in every way and can you just imagine how many guitars Emmons was selling during that time period.

As Jim says, I think it’s more of a waitlist situation, coupled with the fact that - as far as I can tell - MSA is basically 2 people making high end, bespoke instruments as a labor-of-love business when they’re not doing their “day jobs” machining aerospace parts.
I think pretty much all pedal steel guitars are custom made by individuals or very small shops at this point, and that leads to lengthy wait times.
I remember I looked into possibly ordering a Scheerhorn dobro about 15 years ago, and the waitlist was 5 years long.

Patrick Thornhill wrote:

Henry Matthews wrote:Sorry, but can’t believe it takes a year or more to make a steel guitar no matter how fine they are. In 1986, I ordered a new Emmons D-10 LeGrand with custom color mica and got it in 2 weeks and it was perfect in every way and can you just imagine how many guitars Emmons was selling during that time period.

As Jim says, I think it’s more of a waitlist situation, coupled with the fact that - as far as I can tell - MSA is basically 2 people making high end, bespoke instruments as a labor-of-love business when they’re not doing their “day jobs” machining aerospace parts.
I think pretty much all pedal steel guitars are custom made by individuals or very small shops at this point, and that leads to lengthy wait times.
I remember I looked into possibly ordering a Scheerhorn dobro about 15 years ago, and the waitlist was 5 years long.

Patrick I think you are correct... MSA is NOT the bread and butter of MicroSpace Instruments, specializing in Mil-Spec Components for Military Aircraft & Missile Systems is what pays the bills... They ALSO, like you say, as a Labor of Love make perhaps THEE Premier Pedal Steel available today, and even in this Covid climate we now find ourselves in, MSA Pedal Steels are STILL highly prized and sought for in high demand. When you make something this good, every body and their sister is going to want one.

While speaking of Covid, supply line flow has also been badly disrupted, and I've heard this from another guitar manufacturer experiencing the same glitch in getting supplies with some of those suppliers having gone out of business.

MSA also had Covid go through their plant and had a friend and employee there for 27 years pass away due to Covid, with the endplates from my new MSA being the last ones he polished before coming down with it.

Do MSA's take longer to get than we'd like?, doesn't EVERYTHING???... we live in a cookie cutter society, but MSA's are NOT Cookie Cutter Guitars. We have access to stuff from Amazon on the Same Day. MSA is NOT that that kinda stuff. If you really NEED a guitar tomorrow, for all the gigs you have to play then you may need to buy a used one, or get one from a cookie cutter manufacturer with an assembly line type of production. BUT, if you want a new MSA, then you may have to wait, something I know they are sincerely trying to speed up to shorten the wait. We live in uncertain times, but I'll certainly wait for my new MSA without complaint, knowing that when I get it, I'll have one of the finest guitars you can get today... Okay, maybe not today, but soon.

Well I just became the VERY proud owner (Thank you Randy Pettit!!) of a 2008 Studio Pro 1 S12. This is the most precision built PSG I have ever seen,,in my 40 years of playing and building,,,precision and innovation throughout!!! And it is as close to "brand new" as it gets,,,this guitar could sell for new any where,,not a scratch or sign of wear anywhere that I can see. After owning most every brand of PSG at one time or another,,,even older MSAs,,,playing mostly Klines,,and being "keyless to the core" for all these years,,I am VERY happy with guitar,,,,(of course I might could be happier if it was "keyless,,,LOL)

What Dale said.......

Sonny Jenkins wrote:Well I just became the VERY proud owner (Thank you Randy Pettit!!) of a 2008 Studio Pro 1 S12.

Can you post a picture?

Well I've got the pics that Randy sent me but I don't know how to get them from my email to the forum??

Sonny Jenkins wrote:Well I've got the pics that Randy sent me but I don't know how to get them from my email to the forum??

If you send them to me I'll upload them for you. My E-mail is Mperlowin@sbcglobal.net

Let me try this,,




Hey that worked,,,LOL

There's a saying I like quite a bit; "I want good news right away and bad news even sooner"! Having said that when you make a deal with a builder nothing less than the truth in a timely manor is sufficient. But don't forget that the past 2 years haven't been normal anywhere to say the least.MSA had devastating weather issues and a Pandemic which took the life of one of it's most valuable, loved and respected employees, you couldn't get toilet paper much less knee levers. Truthfully some people aren't good at delivering bad news , it's an unpleasant task. MSA is backed up but not in the same degree as Homeland Security so they're working as hard as possible with a stretched out skeleton crew to deliver each guitar as promised. How do I know? Mine was shipped today after a very long period of waiting and patience on both sides.I didn't rush them because I remembered ordering a guitar from Paul Franklin SR. and when it was ready I was broke...Instead of reselling it as was his right, He put it away for me until I could pay him which was not a long period of time but became a matter of principle to me that you rarely see from anyone.
Whatever attracts us to a particular instrument has the integrity of the builder behind it, let them build their best one for you...Just Sayin!!!

Looks great Mike! I am in love with mine!

- David Spires

Dan Lynch wrote:In my case, I have not asked for a refund of deposit since I plopped it down with a 10-11 month wait in mind. However if I was misquoted an expectation and it actually is projected to take closer to 24 months it would be nice to know and then I might decide to start a request for the refund of $1500 and let me try another builder. Oh well like I said recently, I’m still above ground and doing well as far as MS, survived Stage 1 kidney cancer at the beginning of the pandemic, and also prostate surgery in June. I did win a settlement regarding MS so monetarily I am ok too. I look around and see all the suffering caused by pandemic and I try to help others as much as I can. I am no where near Bill Gates rich but I have found I LOVE being able to open my heart via my wallet and help those less well off then me. And one last thing, not wanting to delve into politics, this is the type of socialism I want, a society based on unconditional compassion and love. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Dan ... wow !!! I find it most remarkable what you are writing about yourself! Hats off to your struggle with life and your views on the community of people! Such people, with views like yours, should be much, much more!
Much more could be written on the topic now ... but your few words about it say everything and do not need a more detailed description.
Dan, I wish you a lot of strength and courage for the future, and above all, very, very good health! Keep your mentioned characteristics and views! You are so important to all people !!!
And a lot of joy and fun with your new Steel ... when it is finally ready and reaches you!