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Author Topic:  how many of you still play older msa's PSG??
Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 11 Feb 2017 12:44 pm    
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Don Poland wrote:




Those white fretboards look really nice. The compliment the rosewood mica very well.

As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Reece and Bud built those guitars to last. Those old MSAs are still excellent instruments that are fully functional.

Back in the 70s the were considered to be the Rolls Royce of steel guitars. As far as I'm concerned, they are still the Rolls Royce.
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Don Poland


From:
Hanover, PA.
Post  Posted 11 Feb 2017 8:18 pm    
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Thanks Mike, I picked those fret boards up years ago at the Dallas show from a fella from Louisiana. Bobby Bowman put me in touch with the guy. Don't know that I can recall his name, but I believe it was Bob Simmons or something like that.
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Paul Wade


From:
mundelein,ill
Post  Posted 16 Feb 2017 5:23 am    
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ttt
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Nathan Burns

 

From:
Alberta, Canada
Post  Posted 16 Feb 2017 3:07 pm     MSA Classic
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I have an MSA S10 Classic. It's a bit worn with some scuffs in the exposed metal parts. It's that brown-wood style finish. But of course it still plays well and everybody that tries it out says so.

Here's a question. I'm thinking of selling it to help pad some of the financial hit I took in just acquiring a new Mullen G2. What would you ballpark an old MSA S10 Classic with some wear?

I could post pics but I'm currently at work and am really just looking for a ballpark.

Thanks!
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Darvin Willhoite


From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
Post  Posted 16 Feb 2017 3:19 pm    
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Probably $600-$800, assuming it has a usable case.
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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, as well as some older MSAs, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Recently added a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored blue Rose, named the "Blue Bird" to the herd. Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic again that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also added a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks.
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 16 Feb 2017 4:12 pm    
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How many knee levers does it have?
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Nathan Burns

 

From:
Alberta, Canada
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 8:16 am     Four Knee Levers
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It has three pedals and four knee levers with standard Emmons copedent. It does have a case but it's pretty worn. One of those old, heavy plastic MSA cases. The whole unit is quite a beast to tote around but, as has been mentioned, feels very solid when playing it.
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Petingill Southern Belle through Fender 68 Princeton Reverb reissue.
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 8:31 am    
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Witg 4 knee levers, I would guess that it's worth $11-1200, depending on its condition.

Can you post some pictures?
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Darvin Willhoite


From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 9:16 am    
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Everything must be higher in California. Smile
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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, as well as some older MSAs, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Recently added a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored blue Rose, named the "Blue Bird" to the herd. Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic again that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also added a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks.
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Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 10:11 am    
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I am going to go in between my friends Darvin and Mike, both of them, [like myself] MSA players/fans for many decades... If that were my guitar I would ask about $1000, and expect $900.. If it were lacquer and similarly scuffed up, I would expect maybe $1200, more of course if condition is exceptional.. Older mica MSA guitars fetch less than most other makes made in the same years, for reasons I won't get into.. that being said, they are very well built, extremely reliable, and will outlast their owners... bob
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 11:21 am    
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Darvin Willhoite wrote:
Everything must be higher in California. Smile


Everybody is higher out here. Laughing
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Darvin Willhoite


From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 1:17 pm    
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Smile
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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, as well as some older MSAs, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Recently added a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored blue Rose, named the "Blue Bird" to the herd. Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic again that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also added a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks.
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Paul Wade


From:
mundelein,ill
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2017 8:29 am     how many of you still play older msa's PSG??
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ttt Smile
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Dustin Rigsby


From:
Parts Unknown, Ohio
Post  Posted 21 Feb 2017 6:16 am    
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I have a D-10 that was once owned by Paul Wade and restored by Tom Bradshaw in 2006 and has a Shadow Guitars logo on it. It sounds great but man is it heavy and I'm starting to have back issues. I thought about making it an SD-10 and doing another restoration/makeover on it. I just feel weird about taking the back neck and changer mechanism off. I wouldn't be the first to do it though. It would lose 20 pounds that way and a wheeled buckles and straps case would really make it portable. Opinions ?
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Paul Wade


From:
mundelein,ill
Post  Posted 21 Feb 2017 6:24 am     how many of you still play older msa's PSG??
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dustin,
paul wade here. that is a great old msa d-10 that tom built for me. yes heavey. if , you don't play the back neck then make it a sd-10. it was heavey for me to

p.w
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John Goux

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 21 Feb 2017 11:34 pm    
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1974 S-10 Classic with lotta upgrades by Jim Palenscar. 5 x 5. Great sustain, solid as a rock and still gets the call for outdoor gigs.
J
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Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 22 Feb 2017 5:24 am    
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MSA in the 70's was simply the best mass produced pedal steel built. In reality they were overbuilt.
Ultra precision with consistent build quality that other steels of the era couldn't match IMHO.
All of them are still around and play as well, and are every bit as reliable as they were 40+ years ago.

They don't wear out, and they just don't break.
Still, Chalker was really the only big name player to use one. As good as they were, they couldn't really compete with the sound of a Bud, Emmons, or ZB.

The company seemed to be looking for more of a dark thick sound, more suited to jazz/ pop/swing C6 stylings than a bright twangy country sound, and they got it.

However, in the modern age with so many pickup options available, good amp and speaker options as well, an old MSA can sound as twangy and woody or as thick and lush as anything else out there. Never liked ANY old MSA pickup, and will always believe thats whu they were considered muddy, wooly, or dull sounding.. The original single coils were not very good, and the SS Humbucker was too dark and thick sounding for typical E9 country.. Just my opinion.

However, stick a Wallace TT single coil or a BL humbucker with coil cutoff switch on a lacquer MSA, and you will have a super reliable, accurate tuning, soft playing guitar that will be able to stand toe to toe with most any pedal steel out there as far as sound is concerned.... I love old MSA pedal steels... bob
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I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......
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Darvin Willhoite


From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
Post  Posted 22 Feb 2017 6:31 am    
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You're right Bob, everyone has their own opinions, I think the old MSA single coils were some of the best I ever heard, I assume they were designed by Danny Shields. The '75 Classic I restored sounded as good as any modern steel; in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpFOTJfws0E
_________________
Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, as well as some older MSAs, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Recently added a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored blue Rose, named the "Blue Bird" to the herd. Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic again that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also added a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks.
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 22 Feb 2017 5:03 pm    
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Bob Carlucci wrote:
I am going to go in between my friends Darvin and Mike, both of them, [like myself] MSA players/fans for many decades... If that were my guitar I would ask about $1000, and expect $900.. If it were lacquer and similarly scuffed up, I would expect maybe $1200, more of course if condition is exceptional.. Older mica MSA guitars fetch less than most other makes made in the same years, for reasons I won't get into.. that being said, they are very well built, extremely reliable, and will outlast their owners... bob


I'd agree, more or less. Though not usually considered as "desirable", by many, that guitar of Nathan's is still head-and-shoulders above any student or entry-level guitar you'll ever find. Winking
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Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 23 Feb 2017 5:49 am    
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Donny Hinson wrote:
Bob Carlucci wrote:
I am going to go in between my friends Darvin and Mike, both of them, [like myself] MSA players/fans for many decades... If that were my guitar I would ask about $1000, and expect $900.. If it were lacquer and similarly scuffed up, I would expect maybe $1200, more of course if condition is exceptional.. Older mica MSA guitars fetch less than most other makes made in the same years, for reasons I won't get into.. that being said, they are very well built, extremely reliable, and will outlast their owners... bob


I'd agree, more or less. Though not usually considered as "desirable", by many, that guitar of Nathan's is still head-and-shoulders above any student or entry-level guitar you'll ever find. Winking

Thats for sure.. No contest...
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I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......
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Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 23 Feb 2017 6:04 am    
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Darvin Willhoite wrote:
You're right Bob, everyone has their own opinions, I think the old MSA single coils were some of the best I ever heard, I assume they were designed by Danny Shields. The '75 Classic I restored sounded as good as any modern steel; in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpFOTJfws0E

Understood Darvin.. We all hear things differently..
The reason I personally don't like any MSA pickups is probably because my personal idea of great pedal steel sound is the old Fender cable models, old Sho Buds, ZB and old Emmons... Always liked a bright twangy country sound.. MSA guitars just didn't sound that way to me.. They always had a thick mid, and a full bottom... I had an later MSA SS single coil as well, and to my ears that was the worst of them all. To be fair, my old rosewood mica MSA Classic single coil model was a plywood body and it was just dead, regardless of which pickup I put in it.. At the same time I had a white mica Classic that was identical except it had one of the first SS humbuckers, and that guitar was bright and alive, with excellent sustain. I did have the pickup modified so I could isolate the coils, and use it as a humbucker as well.. That was a great guitar.. Once I went to the wood body MSA's I found that for me personally, I was able to get a sound I liked somewhat easier, so it is what it is.. I have a feeling the resonance factor of the earlier mica bodies was inconsistent, because some had good sustain and were very nice sounding, and others had problem with sustain and tended to be dark sounding.. I wonder what an old Classic early 70's single coil pickup would sound like in a later lacquer body?... It might indeed be a great pickup... In my old mica S10 it just wasn't doing it for me.. i put a Bud pickup in it, and it was somewhat better, but not much.. I think it just was dead sounding guitar body... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......
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Darvin Willhoite


From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
Post  Posted 23 Feb 2017 6:49 am    
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I'm a fan of Alumitone pickups, which I tend to use most of the time in my newer MSA's. I hear good things about Telonics pickups, but I haven't tried one of those yet either. I have five different sets of pickups I can interchange in my new MSA's, and I can't tell but a very slight difference in any of them. I have loaned some of them to other players and they concluded the same. I put an Alumitone in Maurices "Universal Direction" guitar that I restored and it sounds really good to my ears.






_________________
Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, as well as some older MSAs, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Recently added a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored blue Rose, named the "Blue Bird" to the herd. Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic again that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also added a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks.
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Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 23 Feb 2017 12:13 pm    
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First off thats in the top two or three most beautiful MSA guitars on the planet. I had alumitone pickups in a Carter, and although they sounded really good, they were so powerful I simply could not tame them. I bet they sound great in an MSA, but they weren't to my liking in a Carter. Too powerful for me.
Darvin, looks like you and I are on two different sides of the fence when it comes to pickup selection.. However, we have GREAT taste in steel guitars!.... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......
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Darvin Willhoite


From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
Post  Posted 23 Feb 2017 12:19 pm    
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Like the old saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure". Sound is so subjective, everyone hears differently. I've heard some pro players that I didn't care at all for their tone, and others raved about how good they sounded. We're still friends Bob. Smile
_________________
Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, as well as some older MSAs, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Recently added a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored blue Rose, named the "Blue Bird" to the herd. Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic again that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also added a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks.
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 23 Feb 2017 12:30 pm    
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Magically Magnificently Melodiously Marvelous,
Stupendous Smashing Sonic-ally Superior,
Astonishing Absolutely Awesome.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
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