In the past I've been able to use my Arduino UNO as a USB to 5V Serial device by removing the AVR from it and jumpering pins directly to the serial port on a small device. Now I have the need to do the same on a 3.3V device (ESP8266). I've got the DIP based MSP430 launchpad and it's been a while since I've played with it. I seem to remember there may have been a similar way to do this on the Launchpad (I also have the Stellaris Launchpad, Tiva C Launchpad and Piccolo Launchpad)
I see RX and TX near some jumpers, so would that work?