How involved a process is it to swap knee lever changes on MSA Classic?

[Jim Pollard]

I'm interested in a '70s MSA classic but the E raise and lower are on the right knee instead of left. I've made a few adjustments in the past two my Justice guitars but this looks like a bit different. Thinking about it logically is SEEMS like not a big deal since the rods are the right lengths already. I am thinking too about how I'm not sure how to adjust timing for the changes, especially on the right knee. If the price is right I might just get this and have the work done but I'm at a point where I already have two working guitars so I have the luxury of trying stuff. By the way, any steelers near Austin, Tx I'm interested to sit behind your guitar for a few minutes and check it out!

Jim

[Tommy Mc]

Jim, I've done this on a 1980 MSA Vintage XL, and I assume yours would be similar. If you have 4 levers and just want to swap the left knee and right knee changes, you may not even need to remove the bell cranks....just loosen and reposition them on the cross shaft. The reason I say may is that some bell cranks may be taller and have more holes. Before starting, make note of which holes are being utilized on both the bell crank and changer. Also, since the cross shafts are round, note approximately what "o'clock" each is at. That should get you in the ballpark for the timing. The only pain is if you need to swap around some of the longer (taller) bell cranks. At least on mine, the only way is to slide them off one end of the cross rod.

How involved is the job? Well you'll essentially be re-rodding every change. It's more tedious than rocket science. Just be sure to take pictures and/or notes of all the essential parts and their placement before starting.

[Lane Gray]

If none of the pull rods are bent to go around *KL knees, it's pretty straightforward.
I'd make a rodding chart of the 4 knees: I'd recommend letters for the changer (I put the A the first raise close to the axle and D the farthest lower, and numbers for the bellcranks.
You'll need a small Allen wrench for the set screws in the pull pins (I think it's 3/16ths) and a 7/64ths for the cap screws in the bellcranks.
If you don't have rods in the way to guide you, I'd take careful measurements of the distance from front apron to the center of the bellcrank, also the angle of the bellcranks (the angle often impacts the effective "gearing" of the pull)
Loosen the pull pins.
Remove the pull rods.
Loosen the cap screws holding the bellcranks,
Move the bellcranks to the new positions
Reinstall the rods, securing the pull pins.
Done.