The Steel Guitar Forum

well,
here i go again. does any body have this chage on a older m.s.a classic. i tried but will not go down a whole tone g to f. tried diffrent string 's but, with no luck. can it be done?? it's on my LKR on other change on that knee . i am thing that that type of changer will not work? let's here from you guy's help....


paul wade

Paul, I had that change on a 1970 MSA along with E to D lower, plus 2 pulls on E9th. It worked good but when I pushed the lever it was so hard that it would turn the guitar. I soon opted for E to F only, and 2 pulls on E9th. Now it was quite manageable. To this day I still have my guitars that way. I also like the way it works with P7. Regards, Louis

The changer will make that lower with no problem, but usually not with the stock lowering spring. You need to find a lighter spring (about the same size, but made of thinner wire). The last ones I bought (at Home Depot or Pep Boys, can't remember which), had part number 340662, with a UPC code of 080358185628.

Hi Paul,

One thing to check is that the whole-tone lower rod occupies the extreme changer hole (farthest away from the changer axle) - when the string is lowered, the nylon tuner (actually the 'pull tube' just beyond the nylon tuner) becomes a potential pivot, so by going to the extreme position, the return spring has lesser effect on preventing the string lowering.

Another condition that I've often encountered on older MSAs is that the 'pull-tube' (which is between the nylon tuner and the changer finger, through which the pull rod goes) may sometimes bind within the hole in the endplates tuning-window-cavity through which it moves, particularly on changes that require a lot of travel.
A remedy is to remove the pull-tube and put a slight taper on its end (best to taper both ends while you have it out).
This can be as simply done as chucking the pull tube in a hand-drill and carefully applying a flat file to the end of the tube, at an angle to cause a slight taper. Use a coarser file at first, then go to a finer file to be certain that there are no 'ridges' on the new surface that would cause interference.
If you have a drill press to turn the pull-tube, so much the better (and safer).

Lastly, keep in mind that different brands of the same guage string can have different diameter 'core' strings which will vary in the amount of travel required for the same amount of pitch change.

~Russ

What Donny said.

thanks guy's for all your help. start working on it
this week. russ, thanks for your input. hope to see you in june at the show in illinios

p.w