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ThroBak Vintage Authentic Series pickups are produced with a commitment to using vintage authentic manufacturing techniques processes and materials whenever possible. Details that gave the classic vintage PAF's their legendary tone are studied and duplicated in the ThroBak Vintage Authentic Series. Wound on a vintage Leesona 102 coil winder and the vintage Gibson made "Slug 101" PAF winding machine the Authentic Series offers unsurpassed vintage PAF winding accuracy. Add 42 AWG plain enamel wire and NOS vintage correct plain enamel wire for the Limited PAF line, the Vintage Authentic Series pickups embody the actual techniques and materials that made the original PAF's great. Custom rough cast magnets and a relentless quest for vintage correct parts mean that every ThroBak Vintage Authentic Series pickup lives up to its name.
The Two Winding Machine Models That Wound PAF's Also Wind All ThroBak Authentic Series Pickups.
Original Gibson PAF and Patent number pickups were machine wound exclusively. An important tonal ingredient of these legendary pickups are vintage machines that wound PAF's. The two vintage PAF winding machine models are living, breathing mechanisms. They require constant maintenance and tending by skilled operators to run at peak performance. But when used properly these winders breathe pure tonal magic into the pickups they wind. Partly a quirk of fate and partly a happy accident, these vintage winding machines hold within them a key element of the legendary vintage tones that so many strive to achieve.
The Leesona 102 Vintage Pickup Winder
In the late 40's Gibson purchased two Lessona 102 coil winders to take
over the ever growing pickup winding duties. Ultimately the Leesona 102 was destined to wind the Gibson PAF humbucker pickup. The Leesona 102 is a very
large machine that is designed to wind 3 coils as large as 3
inches in size. When adjusted down to the 1/4" size of PAF and P-90
bobbins the tolerances of the machine and runout of the chucks begin to
play a very important role in the the peculiar winding patterns of the
PAF coils wound on the Leesona 102. Doing double duty for both PAF's
and P-90's, the Leesona 102 made a large variety of coil shapes.
Thankfully, in the hands of a skilled operator these peculiarities add up
to tonal magic when it comes to winding pickup coils.
Pickups made on the Leesona 102 are rich in the double tones and
dynamics that are associated with the best of vintage PAF and P-90
pickups. Vintage Leesona 102 winding machines are very rare. Only one
other guitar pickup manufacturer owns a Leesona 102. Even rarer is
finding one that is operational. Fortunately ThroBak Electronics owns an
exceptionally well maintained Leesona 102, complete with original
tensioners, chucks and wire guide pulleys. Updated with digital auto
stop counters, the ThroBak Leesona 102 is tuned to perfection.
The Slug 101 Vintage PAF Pickup Winder
A one of a kind Gibson made and designed machine, the "Slug 101" has been
sitting dormant, in a state of disrepair, for decades in the old Gibson
Kalamazoo
Parsons street facility. Until now! In 2008 ThroBak Electronics
purchased this historic PAF slug coil winder to once again bring it
back to it's rightful role as PAF coil winding tone machine. There is
no other machine like the Slug 101. Designed and hand made in the 50's
by a Gibson pattern maker to wind PAF slug bobbins, this machine is the
holy grail of PAF coil winders. It's existence was speculated
over for years. Previously only known as "the small 4 bobbin winder,"
it's
existence was the stuff of mystery and myth. But, once more, the Slug 101
lives again!
The pickups made with the Slug 101 are exceptional, as is the machine is
itself. The Slug 101 was used by Gibson to wind slug coils for PAF and
Pat # humbuckers whenever the need arose to put it to use. Due to the
slow winding and set-up speed of the Slug 101 there are proportionally
fewer PAF's with Slug 101 coils in them. But PAF's that do contain
these special coils have a clarity and focus that is imparted by the
unique winding pattern of the Slug 101. Radically different than the
Leesona 102, the winding pattern of the Slug 101 is a function of the
one of a kind, hand made traverse and tensioning mechanism of this
exceptional
machine. I have blacked out a portion of the unique traverse mechanism I want to keep secret. A little mystery never hurt when it comes to PAF mojo.
How I happened upon the Slug 101
In January 2008 I visited Heritage Guitar Inc. which occupies the old
Gibson Parsons Street factory building in Kalamazoo. The purpose of the
trip was to pick up a custom order guitar. Prior to the visit I asked Bill
Paige if they still had any old Gibson pickup winding machines on the
premises. When I arrived at the historic Parsons Street building Bill graciously showed me the Slug 101. My jaw dropped, I
immediately recognized its importance.
Other former Gibson employees at Heritage confirmed the historical
significance of this
machine. In June 2008 I purchased the Slug 101 and picked it up from
the old Gibson factory building in Kalamazoo now occupied by Heritage Guitar Inc.. The Slug 101 was
conceived and born in the old Gibson Kalamazoo building and resided
there for half a century. Restored to it's former glory the Slug 101 is
back to making incredible sounding PAF style pickups in the ThroBak
Electronics facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The Coils
Over the years many myths have
grown along with the lengend of PAF's.
Perhaps largest myth is that PAF coils or the "best" PAF coils were
hand wound. In fact all production PAF coils were machine wound on a very small
number of machines. The few machines that wound PAF's each put their
own tonal signature on PAF's. A tonal signature that is the result of
winding patterns and coil shapes that can only be accurately reproduced by machine. These machines
made a wide variety of coil shapes and as a result produced the wide
variety tonal colors that we associate with vintage PAF's. These shapes
varied with the machine model and with small differences in operator set-up. At
ThroBak we take all the tonal possibilities that these machines are
capable of and combine them to produce the ThroBak Authentic Series of
pickups.
Above are photos of original PAF coils and coils made on the vintage ThroBak
Leesona 102 and Slug 101 PAF pickup winder models. All are very tightly wound solid coils. They are just a small sample of the variety of coil shapes that can be made on these two vintage PAF winder models. Click the thumnails and look closely at the variations
in winding pattern. The turn per layer count for each machine has not
changed but the coil shapes and wire scatter differ radically. Contrary
to machine winding critics, coils wound on these vintage machines show a
complex wire scatter driven by the quirks unique to these machines.
They do not show the orderly distribution of wire
exhibited by modern computer controlled winders. None of these winding
patterns can be accurately duplicated by hand. Some of these shapes can be approximated by hand winding but the internal wire distribution of the hand wound coil will be radically different from the correct machine wound PAF coil. Differences that effect the final tone of the assembled PAF pickup. These machine wound coil shapes are in fact the
signature winding patterns and tonal signatures of the vintage
machines that were put to use in winding PAF's.
The Wire
All ThroBak Vintage Authentic Limited Series PAF's and Vintage
Authentic rewinds use NOS vintage correct plain enamel wire. This wire
is no longer being made. ThroBak has a large 200lb. stash of this
vintage wire. However due to it's scarcity it is reserved
only for the Limited Series PAF's and Vintage rewinds. So when it's gone it's
gone. I hope to successfully beg a wire manufacturer to make 42 AWG
magnet wire to these NOS specifications but successfully getting a wire
maker to do it is a long shot.
The Vintage Authentic Standard Series uses current production 42 AWG plain enamel wire. Although not the same as the NOS 42 AWG wire it does make wonderful sounding PAF style pickups.
The ThroBak stock pile of NOS 42 AWG plain enamel wire covers all of the varieties of tolerances, min. to nom., that are found within 42 AWG. Because of this we can match just about every possible wire combination when it comes to vintage rewinds. Plus this wide variety of wire lets us cover all the tonal bases when it comes to the ThroBak Vintage Authentic Limited Series of PAF's.
Just as with the vintage wire the NOS wire in the ThroBak stash has the color variances that are found within the 42AWG tolerance. The color changes can go from jet black, maroon to a very light maroon to brown. The photo here illustrates the range of wire colors from the same era and manufacturer of ThroBak's NOS 42AWG plain enamel wire stock.
The Magnets
Just as with vintage PAF magnets ThroBak Vintage Authentic series magnets have
the oxidation layer in tact on the outer surface. This
oxidation is a resistive layer that effects the inductance of the
pickup which in turn effects the tone. Some PAF magnets did not have
the pole edge ground smooth but instead had the oxidation layer from
the sand casting left in tact, still further effecting the tone. This
is just one other detail that we have duplicated with the ThroBak
Authentic Series line of magnets. All ThroBak magnets are special
ordered to our specifications from the manufactures. We are constantly searching for and
analyzing great sounding vintage magnets so we can work with our suppliers to deliver as
accurate a PAF style magnet as possible.
Vintage PAF Rewind And Repair Service
Preserve the vintage value of your dead PAF, Pat sticker or P-90 pickup
by having it rewound with the machine models used to wind them in
the first place. Between the Leesona 102 and the Slug 101 ThroBak can
cover any possible winding pattern your vintage Gibson pickup may have.
Every effort is made to repair a vintage pickup without rewinding but
when when your vintage PAF needs to be rewound do it right. All ThroBak
Vintage Authentic rewinds are done with NOS 42 AWG plain enamel magnet wire.
Care is taken to measure the number of turns and the outside diameter
of the original magnet wire. A NOS wire is chosen that matches in size
and color as closely as possible to the original pickup. Each rewind
receives a certificate of Authenticity stating the machine used for the
rewind, magnet wire lot and number of turns for the rewind. Preserve
the value and the tone of your vintage pickup with a ThroBak Vintage
Authentic rewind. This service is only available to customers with
vintage pickups that need repairing.
Rewind fee $150.00 per coil. Email us before shipping your vintage pickup.
Vintage Authentic Series Standard PAF Sets
All ThroBak pickups are wound on
either the vintage Leesona 102 or the vintage Slug 101 PAF winding machine models. Just
like original PAF's. Magnets are custom cast Standard Series A2 and A5 magnets. Features include current production 42AWG plain enamel magnet wire, paper tape and wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor braided wire and nickel silver pickup covers (gold covers available upon request). Standard models only sold as pairs with covers.
SLE-101 Standard
Neck 7.6K Bridge 8.1K
With slug coils wound on the original Gibson Slug 101 and screw coils wound on the Leesona
102 the SLE-101 Standard has a clarity and note bloom of the finest low
output Paf's. A2 magnets, plain enamel magnet wire, wood spacer,
vintage correct two conductor wire and threaded baseplate complete the
picture. Sold only with nickel silver covers. (Gold covers available
upon request).
$349.00 per pair Orders ship same week order is placed.
LEE-102 Standard
Neck 8.2K Bridge 8.6K
With both coils wound on the Leesona 102 the LEE-102 Standard delivers classic focused Paf tones that are associated with A5 magnets. Just hot enough to start pushing your amp the LEE-102 will give a nice edge to clean Jazz tones or dish out the hard rock tones like a good PAF should. Sold only with nickel silver covers. (Gold covers available upon request).
$349.00 per pair Orders ship same week order is placed.
SLE-101 Plus Limited
Specs.: Neck 7.8K Bridge 8.4K
The SLE-101 Plus Limited has the same winder configuration as the SLE-101 Limited but with ThroBak custom cast unoriented A5 magnets and extra winds for more power and bite. The unoriented A5 has the crunch of A2 plus the added power of A5. NOS vintage correct plain enamel magnet wire, Michigan hard maple wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor wire and threaded baseplate complete the picture. Sold only with nickel silver covers. (Gold covers available upon request).
$449.00 per pair (Standard Covers) Orders ship same week order is placed.
Specs.: Neck 7.7K Bridge 7.9K
This set is a direct clone of a personal favorite pair of PAF's I own. Magnets, coil offsets, winding pattern and even magnet wire micrometer measurements were taken from each pickup and to be recreated exclusively for the DT-102 ThroBak Limited Series PAF. These pickups are particularly rich in double tones imparted by the ThroBak vintage Leesona 102 coil winder that winds each coil. Closely matched neck and bridge pickups give a particularly sweet middle switch position tone. A2 neck and unoriented A5 Bridge magnets add to the versatility of these pickups. The sweet cleans and biting bridge lead tones offer a wide tonal palette from which to choose. Specifications include NOS vintage correct plain enamel magnet wire, Michigan hard maple wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor wire and threaded baseplate. Sold only with nickel silver covers. (Gold covers available upon request).
$449.00 per pair (Standard Covers) Orders ship same week order is placed.
PG-102 Limited (Peter Green 102) Kid Andersen demos the PG-102 LTD set.
PG-102 LTD Specs.: Neck 8.2K Bridge 8.6K (Available with or without neck pickup magnet flip.)
Wound with the same output specifications as the PAF's in the original "Greenie" and utilizing oriented vintage spec. A5 degaussed to vintage levels the PG-102 Limited offers the power and focus that was such a integral part of the Peter Green sound. With the neck magnet flipped for middle position out of phase tones, this set when combined with 50's style wiring gives tonal colors that are now legendary. A stunning variety of tones can be had from simple volume, tone and selector switch adjustment. With coils wound on the ThroBak vintage Leesona 102 winder the PG-102 encapsulates the PAF pickup at it's zenith. Specifications include NOS vintage correct plain enamel magnet wire, Michigan hard maple wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor wire and threaded baseplate. Sold only with nickel silver covers. (Gold covers available upon request).
$449.00 per pair (Standard Covers) Orders ship same week order is placed.
