The Steel Guitar Forum

Here is my SD-12 Ext E9th Legend.
JE:-)>

Here is my old MSA, "3x5" It plays and sounds "GREAT", I love it!!!!

here is one that got away
p.w

TTT

Paul,

Is this the one that I now own?

Keep them pictures coming.

hi michael,
no, that is not the one i sold you. that was one i had in 2001 bought it down south. pickups where org. B.L
705's dam good sounding guitar

p.w

Here is a better pic of Joan's new M3. She was kind enough to let me take it out on this last tour. My son, Josh took the photo.

Here is the second MSA that I've owned, the front is the rosewood and the top is white, I think its a mid 70s model Classic D10

just pickup this gem. sounds great!!
p.w

I bought this in 1968 in Denver at Don Edwards Guitar City.

I just want to share a couple of really good looking and sounding MSA guitars.
www.garyskelton.com

Hey Gary, the classic looks likes it's dieboard with a mica finish, and the vintage XL has a solid maple body with lacquer.

Do they sound the same? If not, how would you describe the difference in their tones?

Hi Mike, yes there is a difference in tone. That being said, it is still very difficult to describe tone. To me the mica guitar seems a little brighter, a little more bite to it, the lacquer guitar has a more mellow tone(which I like). Now that brings me to a question I'd lick to here a discussion on (may be for another thread) if the changer system can affect tone why wouldn't mica affect it a lot more.

I can spell, but sometimes with auto fill you never know what you will get. I did preview it and still got it messed up i apologize for the computer.

Gary Skelton wrote:... the mica guitar seems a little brighter, a little more bite to it, the lacquer guitar has a more mellow tone....

Gary, that's the exact same difference in tone as my 2 former classics, (one mica and one lacquer.)

I have found that this is true brand to brand. I have had both mica and laquer guitars in other brands such as Zum and Emmons and the mica guitars are brighter. Having said that its usually just one or two notches on the treble control to match them up.

Hey guys, what is the difference between say a legend and the vintage xl. I live in east tennessee and I have not had a chance to see or play one. Thinking about buying a new d-10 in a year or so

Gary Skelton wrote:Hey guys, what is the difference between say a legend and the vintage xl.

For starts, the Legend has a 4 raise 3 lower changer with split screws on all the strings. The Vintage XL has a 3 raise 3 lower changer and does not have the splits. The legend (Like the Millennium and Studio Pro) has a modular pickup system so you can have a lot of different pickups, or like me, try out a lot of different ones and see which one you prefer. The Vintage XL does not.

The New MSA guitars all have set screws on the knee levers and adjusting wheels at the base of the pedals, so you can instantly set them all up the way you like, while seated at the guitar. The Vintage XL also does not have this feature. There are undoubtedly many other features that I've overlooked.

Even so, the Vintage XL is a fantastic guitar. Don't think for a second that there is anything wrong with it or any reason to avoid it. It's still a Cadillac. It's just that the legend is a Rolls Royce.

A few other things I might note. The Legend, Studio Pro and Millennium all have 241/4 inch scale compared to 24 on the older MSA guitars. Mechanically they are much more versatile with a 13 position rod puller that is easily removable without taking out a cross shaft. With these pullers balance between long and short pulls on the same pedal is easily achieved. Other features include adjust on the fly pedal height. No more serching in the dark for those worn out numbers on pedal rods. The rods are all the same length. The pedal height is adjusted by a small wheel at the top of the pedal rod conection. So if you wear your tennies one night and your boots the next you don't have to break out the wrenches to make the adjustment. One other very important thing is the cabint on Legend and Studio Pro, it is not as thick as the old MSA. The result is more. resonance and sustain and a brighter, cleaner sound. It also makes them lighter!!!!,
There is more on www.msapedalsteels.com.

OK,
so if you wanted to have a brighter sounding laquer guitar you could cover the underside with mica, instead of flocking ?

Ollie, that's not at all what I'm saying. I think that the contact of the neck, keyhead, changer, ect to the mica on top of the guitar makes more of an impact on the sound than just the gluing of it to the wood. So I don't personally think that replacing the flocking with mica would make much difference. I'm guessing someone has thought of it and maybe even tried it.

I know Johnny, just kiddn`.
BTW, still loving the Legend....

Gary, here's a link to my MSA Legend page where you can see a ton of detailed pictures including the undercarriage using the links on the upper left. There's also a long list of features at the bottom of the page.


http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Msa/msa.html



Greg