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Topic: MSA Knee Levers? |
John De Maille
From:
On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.
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Posted 26 Nov 2008 3:26 pm |
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I have a student, who, has an old MSA Pro-Am steel. It has 3p & 1k. He would like to add a couple of knee levers to it. Where might he get the parts?
I'm not even sure that this steel can be upgraded or not. It sounds and plays pretty good for an old steel, though. |
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Doug Seymour
From:
Jamestown NY USA (deceased)
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Posted 26 Nov 2008 4:13 pm old MSA
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| Whether it could be upgraded would depend on the changer, wouldn't it?? You'd want at least a double raise & single lower and a triple/double would even be better! Never heard of a Pro Am model?? Was that before the classics or was it a beginner like the Red Baron?? |
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John De Maille
From:
On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.
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Posted 26 Nov 2008 4:25 pm
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| The changer has double raise, double lower fingers. I think it was made in the late 70's. |
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Doug Seymour
From:
Jamestown NY USA (deceased)
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Posted 26 Nov 2008 4:53 pm
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| Sounds like it's worth an upgrade to me, depending on the cost of the parts? Someone has posted that they made MSA parts, or am I not remembering right?? |
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Bent Romnes
From:
London,Ontario, Canada
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Posted 26 Nov 2008 5:01 pm
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John, try Wayne Link at 204-895-9602
617 St Charles St
Winnipeg, MB R2Y 1S1
He still has MSA parts as far as I know |
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Les Green
From:
Jefferson City, MO, R.I.P.
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Posted 26 Nov 2008 8:33 pm
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Tom Bradshaw has MSA knee lever kits.
_________________
Les Green
73 MSA D10 8&4, 74 MSA S10 3&5, Legrande II 8&9, Fender Squier 6 string, Genesis III, Peavey 1000 |
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Harvey Richman
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2008 8:36 am
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Hello John. I'm pretty sure what you have there is technically known as a "Sidekick Pro Am." There are not very many of them around. I think it was intended to fill a middle ground for MSA. Much better than a Red Baron or a Sidekick. But, mechanically not as good, and very different from the MSA Classic. The parts from Link and Bradshaw are for the Classics. I think you'll find that this mechanism (see pic) bears little resemblance to the Pro Am. I don't think the Pro Am is set up to accept the Classic type parts. So, at about $130 for a kit (I think) and more for the reversing type kits, the Link and Bradshaw kits may not be cost effective and probably won't be any easier to adapt than any other parts. I do think the guitar is worth adding to and you could probably piece some knee levers together from parts gathered from here and there. Maybe you can post a pic of the underside of the Pro Am for folks to see.
Best
 Regards
Harvey Richman |
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John De Maille
From:
On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.
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Posted 27 Nov 2008 9:04 am
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Harvey,
This steel belongs to a student of mine. And, it's exactly that, between a Sidekick, Red Baron and an MSA Classic. Your picture shows very little resemblance to it. It's a nice little steel, but, it is over 30 yrs old and I'm really wondering if it's worth the upgrades. I believe David Wright was selling one like it, a few weeks ago in the buy and sell listings. He said it was worth about $500.00. I don't know if it's worth a couple hundred dollars of upgrades. My student's getting real frustrated with 3p/1k, even though, I'm teaching him as much as I can with his set up. Hopefully, we'll find a happy medium, somewhere. |
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Harvey Richman
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2008 11:19 am Sounds about right
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I think that estimate's about right, maybe even a little low. Folks on ebay are routinely paying more than that for Maversicks and the Sho Bud Fender student model (the name, of course, sells). Interesting, the regular sidekick (not the red baron though) which I think is a better guitar usually goes for less. They all have simple pull release changers unlike the Pro Am. I'll bet what your student is really missing is the F lever. I'll bet a buddy with a modest home shop could fix one up pretty cheap while you're looking for an upgrade. Best of luck with that.
Best Regards
Harvey |
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Doug Seymour
From:
Jamestown NY USA (deceased)
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Posted 27 Nov 2008 7:43 pm
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| I'd pay $500 for a steel with 3P & 4K with a dbl raise & lower changer?. The bell cranks in the picture only have 2 holes. The MSAs I had all had mostly 4 hole bell cranks?! The old Clasics & the newer SS laquer jobs! |
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Harvey Richman
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 28 Nov 2008 11:19 am Me too
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I would too Doug. The guitar John is talking about has only 1 knee lever now though.
And, yes, interesting about the MSA 2 and 4 hole bellcranks. The D12 in the pic has mostly 2 hole except for the lowers. The semi classic I just finished rebuilding has all four hole bellcranks. The two hole bellcreanks make sense to me bexause as things get crowded in there, the two hole cranks make it easier to work on. Actaully, I've always thought a 3 hole bellcrank would have been ideal for the MSAs.
Best Regards
Harvey Richman |
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Doug Seymour
From:
Jamestown NY USA (deceased)
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Posted 28 Nov 2008 2:39 pm upgrade?
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| At $500, it's still a good buy if it's in playable shape & then add the other 3 knees! You can't come close to buying an E9th S10 for that money. You mentioned a D12??? Where did that come from?? or is that what that steel actually is?? |
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