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Post new topic My latest project - MSA D10 Resurrection
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Author Topic:  My latest project - MSA D10 Resurrection
Ed Boyd

 

From:
Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2016 7:10 am    
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I'm doing a project guitar. I like projects. I aint right.

I will have to post 2 or 3 pictures. I don't have 1 good full view picture of the guitar setup. All the pictures were taken for the tech who is working on the guitar. The guitar was in storage for 15+ years after my friend got his Emmons. It seems to me that Mike has been playing that Emmons longer than 15 years but my sense of time isn't what it used to be.

I'm the 4th owner. All owners have been local and are guys I know. This is one of the most appealing factors. 1) Joe Fortune--Dino Strunk--Mike Webb--me. Dino says he bought it from Joe around 79. Joe thinks he owned it for 3-4 years. How long the guitar sat in a store I do not know. Joe injured his back then sold the guitar because he was afraid the guitar would re-injure his back again.

Mike plays a huge 2 cabinet amp rig and wanted a smaller amp setup so he let have the guitar in exchange for a Nashville 400. Jerry Erickson is going to bring the guitar back to life.

It is a 8+4 with parts for a 5th lever that was never installed. I will post a couple of pictures but it is not as pretty as most guitars on the forum. But when it is done I don't think it will look so bad. The amp cost $375 and I expect to put another $500-600 into it. The case is roached. I will need a case if I ever want to move it that will run another $250-350.

I am a sucker for projects. I just like bringing stuff back to life.









This looks like an old fuzzbox circuit.



Last edited by Ed Boyd on 12 Mar 2016 12:51 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Ed Boyd

 

From:
Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2016 7:12 am    
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[/quote]
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Dustin Rigsby


From:
Parts Unknown, Ohio
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2016 10:57 am    
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Kinda looks like the guitar just needs cleaned up. Is that blue laquer ?
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Ed Boyd

 

From:
Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2016 11:55 am    
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Yes it is a blue laquer.

The guitar was stable. It held tune very well. When Mike got his Emmons he was going to disassemble it and polish all the aluminum and refurbish the guitar but between work and family and gigs never got around to finishing it. All the parts are still here. The cross shafts are still on the guitar. All the cranks are in a box. All the rods are labeled. I think it will clean up pretty good. There is one cigarette burn on it and it has some dings.
The guitar sounded good when last played.














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Allan Jirik


From:
Wichita Falls TX
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2016 1:57 pm    
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I'll bet she'll be a peach when finished! Glad to see you have a tech working on it. In 2010 I bought a mid 70s MSA single twelve from the Forum and had a lot of fun stripping,cleaning and putting it back together- to a point. I turned it over to a qualified tech when my eyesight and patience (mostly patience) gave out. I feel satisfied that I took the project as far as I could and I wholeheartedly feel it was well worth the expense to have an experienced tech breathe life back into a wonderful vintage guitar. I'm sure you will be happy with yours!
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Dustin Rigsby


From:
Parts Unknown, Ohio
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2016 4:39 pm    
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I bet that guitar will look as purty as its gonna sound. I thought about selling mine once or twice,but in the end I couldn't part with it. Some people say that MSA's sound dull or dark,but I've had no such complaints.
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chris ivey


From:
california (deceased)
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2016 10:13 am    
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this project of you funding someone to fix this thing up is gonna get you a neat steel.
it already looks really good to me.

i'd probably have tried to save a bunch of money and taken my time and done it myself.
but that's mainly cause i'm cheap and poor.
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Ed Boyd

 

From:
Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2016 6:34 pm    
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Jerry has the guitar. The guitar looks better in person than in the pictures.

One question is strings. Maurice was a great C6 player and his guitar seem to have a deep bottom end to them. Would it make sense to string them with stainless wound strings? However I will be playing through a Blackface Twin for at least a while.

The case is actually sturdy but needs a latch replaced. It just looks horrible. Half the tolex is gone. I might replace the latch and do the exterior in bedliner coating as a temporary measure if I need to take the guitar to lessons.
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Dustin Rigsby


From:
Parts Unknown, Ohio
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2016 6:45 pm    
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I'd suggest Hatton split cases. A cheaper alternative is to use a gig bag...as long as you and only you will be handling your guitar. YMMV
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Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2016 7:29 pm    
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I prefer Stainless wound strings (the plain strings are the same). They're a bit brighter to start with, and last longer before they go dead
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More amps than guitars, and not many effects
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chris ivey


From:
california (deceased)
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2016 7:30 pm    
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i'd just get everything functioning simply at first.
don't worry about sounding like maurice yet.
put in a year of learning however you can and
your path will start appearing before you.
you don't need to start buying and spending on everything yet.
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Ed Boyd

 

From:
Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 15 Mar 2016 11:53 am    
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It needs strings. I didn't know if stainless or nickle would be best. When I was a kid I like stainless on my Strat but they ate the heck out of my frets. No frets to worry about here. Very Happy

I just told Jerry to put whatever he would use if it was his guitar and save the package so I know what to replace them with. I don't know if it makes any sense but I always use the same exact brand/set of strings on my Teles that the benders were setup with thinking there will be less variation in how the string pulls work from string change to string change.

My wife works in Neurology and says I have OCD.
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chris ivey


From:
california (deceased)
Post  Posted 15 Mar 2016 5:43 pm    
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she may be right. so far you're commissioning someone else to do your project.
somewhere along the way you should get your own fingers into it. start learning about it for yourself.
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Ed Boyd

 

From:
Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 7 Aug 2016 5:23 pm    
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Ed Boyd

 

From:
Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 8 Aug 2016 6:35 am    
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It's done. I thought I was going to replace the pickups with True Tones or maybe George Ls but Jerry bypassed all the on board pots and the stock pickups sound great now. Only leaving the neck selector switch in the circuit brightened it up a lot.

This thing is a rock solid platform. It don't shake or move at all.

Using one of my old Ernie Ball volume pedals and playing through my old 65 Twin. I want to find a used Goodrich pedal and a delay with tap tempo then I should be set..... for a while.
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Greg Johnson


From:
Greencastle, Pennsylvania, USA
Post  Posted 9 Aug 2016 5:04 am    
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I love my 73' Classic, I gig it 2-3 times a week and it never goes out of tune even the pedals and levers hold. I replaced the pup with E-66. Enjoy.
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