An Interesting Read??

[NightWinder]

Larrivee RS-4 Electric Guitar, TWELFTH FRET

[David Schwab]

Good article...

I love that first winder ... crazy looking contraption!

Those Larrivees are very nice guitars.

[StarryNight]

I've played these at the local music store (L&M) unplugged but it felt very nice and looked well built. Obviously direct competition with the Les Pauls of the world considering the price. Great story

[JGundry]

Those Bachi/Leesona 115 winders are very cool machines. Very compact and very solid. I have a Bachi/Leesona 115 winder and it can wind extremely fast if you want it to. They started being made in 1962/1963 and over the years have been made in many variants branded to Bachi, Leesona and Essex. Certainly a machine that should be on the short list for anyone wanting a vintage coil winder.

Side note. I have a Larrivee mandolin and love it!

[Electricdaveyboy]

Nice,
thanks for the link.
Can anybodytell how these wisker disks work?
tx
david

[kevinT]

Bake a pie, eat a pie.

[Spence]

Nice,
thanks for the link.
Can anybodytell how these wisker disks work?
tx
david

It just stop the wire whipping around for people using a tensioner instead of their fingers.
Nice article. I look forward to upgrading those in the future.

[belwar]

Nice,
thanks for the link.
Can anybodytell how these wisker disks work?
tx
david

They help in the de-reeling process. It basically adds just a little bit of tension right at the spool to keep wire from being thrown from it as it de-reels. They work like a charm and probably ammount to about 1/5th of the total tension required. They are dirt cheap from Azonics. I first saw them at Seymour Duncans, and then a few people here recommended them to me.

[Possum]

...

You really don't need one of those things, put your magnet wire in a plastic bucket a little oversized than the spool, works and is alot cheaper. I set my spools in a tall plastic waste basket, it goes up through a small plastic ring next to the felt tensioner and its all good. Fralin uses coffee cans if I remember, there's a photo somewhere of him winding that way.....

[John_H]

I'm willing to wager that they sound pretty good. Beautiful guitar. The silver on the headstock is a nice touch, and I'm diggin' those fretmarkers.

[JGundry]

Whisker disks are cheap. In the videos I have seen of Seymour's Leesona 102 they have several whisker disks stacked on each wire spool. Maybe they are using them for tension? They were available in the 50's.I use one but not for tension really. It helps keep the wire manageable.

[belwar]

You really don't need one of those things, put your magnet wire in a plastic bucket a little oversized than the spool, works and is alot cheaper. I set my spools in a tall plastic waste basket, it goes up through a small plastic ring next to the felt tensioner and its all good. Fralin uses coffee cans if I remember, there's a photo somewhere of him winding that way.....

It's definetly not a NEED thing, but they do work exceptionally well, and do add a little consistant tension. On a winder like this a spool of wire in a bucket on the floor doesnt work. The wire needs to come from overhead.

[belwar]

Whisker disks are cheap. In the videos I have seen of Seymour's Leesona 102 they have several whisker disks stacked on each wire spool. Maybe they are using them for tension? They were available in the 50's.I use one but not for tension really. It helps keep the wire manageable.

I have two new 5" ones from the 1960's, I'll sell them to you! NOS wisker disks! It's the PAF secret everyones been missing.

[Possum]

...

When I sent back my Azonic tensioner because it broke the wire every time from the jerking gauge spring meter, they suggested trying one of these
Azonic Products - Acu-Flex
It didn't look like it would work with my setup so I passed on it.
At their homepage they show their tensioner and wisker disk in action:
Azonic Products - World's leading manufacturer for the coil winding industry. Wisker Disk, rack mounting systems for multiple winding operations.
Note that the coil being wound is a symetrical ROUND coil, not an asymetrical guitar pickup. Guitar pickups cause the meter spring to bounce crazily until it breaks the wire.

[JGundry]

I have two new 5" ones from the 1960's, I'll sell them to you! NOS wisker disks! It's the PAF secret everyones been missing.

No, sorry everyone knows the nylon fishing line used in the disks in the 50's came from Madagascar. THOSE are the Whisker Disks you want. In 1960 an earthquake destroyed the Madagascar facility and the original formulation was destroyed along with the factory. Duh!