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It’s All In The Feel
Have you ever noticed that everyone’s pedal steel
guitar feels a little different than your own? It’s all in how the springs
are set, how far the pedals travel, how the knee levers are set up and of
course the copedant used…and there are a lot of complicated set ups out
there!
I play an old MSA Classic from the mid 1970’s and
really like the guitar.
Yes it’s a little on the heavy side and the technology
is dated but I can rely on it to have a consistent feel and sound day in and
day out.
There are a lot of MSA Classics out there. I don’t
know exactly how many were built but suffice to say it was a lot!
Unfortunately there aren’t very many owner’s manuals left so I thought I
would pass along a quick tip for adjusting the pedal feel.
The pedal “feel” on the MSA Classic can be altered
by removing the ball joint attached to the pedal to a different mounting
hole. Move it closer to the pedal bar and the pedal travel increases and if
you move it farther away from the pedal bar the pedal travel will decrease.
The height of the MSA Classic pedals is also
adjustable. Some (myself included) prefer to have the “B” pedal (usually
second from the left on an Emmons setup) sit a little lower than the “A” and
“C” pedals making it easier to cover both pedals and slowly squeeze the “A”
pedal in to create the signature pedal steel guitar “crying” sound.
To do adjust the pedal height on the MSA Classic,
simply remove the pedal rod from the ball joint on the pedal and loosen the
jam nut above the connector. Turn the connector joint up or down to achieve
the desired pedal height and then tighten the jam nut being careful not to
over tighten the nut. In this case, snug is just fine.
If you need parts for your MSA Classic or other
repair work done, you can’t go wrong contacting the great Bobbe Seymour and
the knowledgeable folks at Steel Guitar Nashville.
So there are a couple of tips to getting your MSA
Classic pedal steel guitar to feel the way you want it to feel. Drop me a
line sometime and let me know if this helped you and send along a photo of
you with your steel guitar if you like.
Be sure to stop by
http://www.steelguitarzone.com and check out the new products available
and as always,
Jam On!
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