MSA E9 Lever RKL

[Gary L. Gordon]

As I try to work through various PSG books, charts and exercises, I have to ask about my RKL. It raises my 1st and 7th strings (F#'s), both to G#. The RKR is a lower to C# with a half stop on the 2nd string. The LK levers are both standard F's and D#'s.

I just want to study and proceed with the available material and I am seeing RKL's going to G and not G#. Is this an "un-standard" standard?
Can I just tune this change down a half-step and not upset the PSG equilibrium and earths rotation?

I can get stuck on the most simple issues. Hoping this isn't one of them.
Thank You

[Bob Carlucci]

Depends.. the 1st string F# to G is standard for some players.. However, the F#-G# is standard for others... MSA guitars all came standard with F#-G... I found out early on as a young player that the full tone raise made a lot more sense for me.. I learned that I could balance "halfway" and stay on the halftone by feel/sound. Still playing that way to this day, and no one is the wiser.. I use the halftone raise and full tone raise on the first string a lot, and never felt the need for a "feel stop", although that might make more sense for some players.. If you are a new player, the feel stop might be of use.. I feel the half tone raise only without the ability to raise a full tone on the first string is very limiting... bpb

[Tucker Jackson]

Can I just tune this change down a half-step and not upset the PSG equilibrium and earths rotation?

Yes, probably. Give it a try. It's easily reversible.

The 1/2-step change (F# to G) was more popular in prior eras. It's particularly useful for playing classic country. Formuite Bob Hofnar once noted that classic country "is all about getting into and out of 7th chords in interesting ways" so this 1/2 step change is really useful.

In later eras, we started seeing more players migrating toward the whole-step change (F# to G#). This is more useful for melodic lines. But you can also get the 1/2-step note by hitting the knee lever half way (takes practice) or with bar movement.

[Gary L. Gordon]

Gentleman,
Good explanation, I'm a classic country musician and that style is what sits in my ear. For these initial steps I'm taking, the half step raise to G will work. I can understand the feel of a half lever and would be willing to try it however my rudimentary and slightly ham-fisted motions need some familiarity & confidence. I'm using vintage study materials. Classic would be a more righteous description.

Super, I'm feeling less stuck. Thank you both.

Gary Lee

[David Wren]

So, I wrestled with losing the 1st string F#->G (a real common "Mooney" lick, and made popular on many of Haggard's earlier songs).
Finally, I changed and not only moved the F# up to G#, but also added a 2nd string raise, Eb to E.... then after 6 months tried to go back,, didn't like it. Guess I like the unisons of 1 and 3; followed by the unison 2 and 4 strings better than the "Mooney" type lick (which I did find a work around using the bar or sometimes even pulling the string with behind the bat to get the 1 fret raise). BTW, this is on my outer LKL lever (7 knees on my U-12), which also raises my lower F# to only G.

Sometimes, just try everything, and keep what you find yourself using the most
Good luck!