The Steel Guitar Forum

I agree with you Johnny Cox that MSA are the best on the market these days!

I agree with you Johnny Cox that MSA are the best on the market these days!

after reading and viewing all of your MSA's I want one... BAD! looks like the best guitar on the market today... I use to have a 12 string years ago and always wished I would have never traded it for that d10 sho-Bud.. oh well maybe its time for a new one... wonder how long it takes to get one?

Here is mine.
Bought it used at Acoustic Music Shop in Edmonton.
Sounds great and plays great. It's a great guitar for me to cut my teeth on, although I'm sure I'll buy another guitar in a couple of years.

Not sure what the story with the notes in the finish...that's always what people ask about for some reason.

These guitars were certainly well built.
This guitar never goes out of tune except due to temperature changes when it's cold out.

Serial # is 2C4956

I am new to pedal steel as a player and have yet to take delivery of the MSA Classic XL I have purchased. When I do I’ll post some pics to add to the library.

In the meantime can someone enlighten me as to the difference between the Classic and Classic XL guitars?

Also, it seems that the pickup was swapped out for an Emmons one. The original Super Sustain II us still with it. Any comment on tone difference? I’m assuming the MSA pickup is still operational.

Thanks!

Keep the Emmons pickup. MSA steels were always very well made, which is why so many of is love them, but the one thing they did not do well was make pickups. Many players, including me, replaced them.

The green one in my avatar had a George L.

Mike Beley wrote: I'm sure I'll buy another guitar in a couple of years.

The only reason to do so is the weight. Aside from that, those older MSA guitars are still professional grade instruments, even by today's standards.

It’s arrived! I’m slowly taking it apart, cleaning, doing maintenance, re-stringing then the work really begins.

Its serial number is 1C6089. Can anyone tell me the manufacture date?

It’s missing the nut screws, can someone send me a picture of them or tell me what kind they are so I can get some replacements?

Thanks everyone!

Dr Twang


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[img]https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix ... CADA_1.jpg[/img]

Hyram Ballard wrote:I am new to pedal steel as a player and have yet to take delivery of the MSA Classic XL I have purchased. When I do I’ll post some pics to add to the library.

In the meantime can someone enlighten me as to the difference between the Classic and Classic XL guitars?

Also, it seems that the pickup was swapped out for an Emmons one. The original Super Sustain II us still with it. Any comment on tone difference? I’m assuming the MSA pickup is still operational.

Thanks!

There are significant differences in the Classic and Classic XL series. The Classics were a die-board body, and the XLs were solid maple wood. The Classics had a center support on the double neck guitars, whereas it was eliminated on the XL double neck models. The XLs had an aluminum neck stub (pickup surround) and the Classics did not. The pillow blocks on the XL changer are larger, and shaped differently. The Classics were all double raise/lower, and the XLs were mostly all triple raise/lower. The end plates are also a slightly different design on the XL series. Lastly, the XL models were a few pounds lighter, and had slightly better sustain, but they were the same physical size as a Classic.

As far as pickups go, many players like the 710 or E66 pickups better than the SuperSustains, but very few players put Emmons pickups in these guitars. I'd guess yours was made in late '79 or early 1980.

Loving my new Purple MSA and that beautiful Red n Black one

Wowzer!!

Dale, have you noticed any difference in tone between the purple one with the aluminum neck and the red one with the wood neck?

I hope this counts.

Mike Perlowin wrote:

Mike Beley wrote: I'm sure I'll buy another guitar in a couple of years.

The only reason to do so is the weight. Aside from that, those older MSA guitars are still professional grade instruments, even by today's standards.

For sure Mike...completely happy with every aspect of this guitar...until I go to haul it out the front door and drag it into a club for a gig....and then reverse the process at the end of the night.

A lighter guitar will be in my future for weight reasons only.

Mike Perlowin wrote:Dale, have you noticed any difference in tone between the purple one with the aluminum neck and the red one with the wood neck?

Mike, I haven’t done a lot of AB’ing, but from the what I have done, I keep coming back to this S10 being a little warmer and really rich, but with plenty of the bite that I like... I have no explanation for it, as I would think that a Single neck, especially one with a metal neck would perhaps be a little thinner and brighter, but NOT THE CASE!!!... But then having played only Double necks for the last 40+ years, what do I know about Single necks... All I can say is how pleased I am with what I’m hearing when I play it... The S10 MSA’s are a Magnificent sounding guitar.

Mike Beley wrote:

Mike Perlowin wrote:

Mike Beley wrote: I'm sure I'll buy another guitar in a couple of years.

The only reason to do so is the weight. Aside from that, those older MSA guitars are still professional grade instruments, even by today's standards.

For sure Mike...completely happy with every aspect of this guitar...until I go to haul it out the front door and drag it into a club for a gig....and then reverse the process at the end of the night.

A lighter guitar will be in my future for weight reasons only.

Mike if you get an S10, you’ll not only love how it sounds, but you’ll love the weight or lack there of. Mine weights 33.4 Pounds fully loaded with 5x6

Mike Beley wrote:...completely happy with every aspect of this guitar...until I go to haul it out the front door and drag it into a club for a gig....and then reverse the process at the end of the night.

Putting wheels on your case will help a lot.

A lighter guitar will be in my future for weight reasons only.

By all means, buy a lighter guitar for gigging, but keep the MSA. Everybody needs a spare.

Here is my contribution for this thread. D12 Classic and "The Universal".

Hi!!! My name is Cholly - and I've recently bought and started restoring an older MSA 12 string pedal steel. I bought it from reverb a few weeks ago and I knew when I saw the original pictures it would need some TLC - the bottom was very butchered up - missing lots of the pulls and mechanisms, but I knew with some determination and patience I could bring this old guitar back to life. As you see in the picture it's a 12 string and the original body is on the floor next to it. I decided to make a new body using the old one as a template as the underside looks a whole lot worse than the top surfaces. Can anyone tell me the exact model of this pedal steel?? I can't find a picture that is quite like mine as it has 10 pedals and no model name on it at all - it doesn't say universal - or S12 or D12?? I actually did get to play a little on it before I decided to rebuild it - but I played it like a lap steel. It had what looked to be an original pick up in it but the volume and tone knob were missing. I've since bought a new lace 4 1/2" wide pick up for it with new 500k pots for volume and tone. I also bought one lever mechanism for it but I'm pretty sure it's not the correct one as the under side of this guitar had only one lever on it and it had one flat aluminum "pull" which looks to be from one of the 1st gen MSA's that I've seen pictures of. Anyway - I joined this forum so I could make some new Steel guitar friends and get some help bringing this old guitar back to life. I've built the new body from birdseye maple and I'm still doing all the inlay work to it. I plan to make my own custom fretboard for it with lots of inlay work as well. Thanks in advance for any help or encouragement or discourgemant anyone can offer for me on this project! This is my first pedal steel. I didn't pay much for it compared to what a new one costs and I was willing to do the work needed to make it a nice guitar again. I've played music most of my life - piano, guitar, lapsteel, mandolin and this lapsteel is something I've wanted to play for a very long time.

The original body appears to be have been made before 1970. Can you show us a picture of the undercarriage?

trying to learn this d10 thing. love the sound of these pickups!

Jeremy, your guitar was made between 1970 and '75. It was probably assembled by Bud Carter.
The pickups don't appear to be original.

Cholly, does the undrcarriage on you guitar look like Jeremy's?

Mike Perlowin wrote:Jeremy, your guitar was made between 1970 and '75. It was probably assembled by Bud Carter.
The pickups don't appear to be original.

Thanks Mike- it is signed by Bud Carter.