PRS says PAF covers were stainless steel???

[orangedrop]

I listened to the online version of a recent Guitar Player edition. In an interview Paul RS says that early PAF:s cover were made of stainless steel – is that really correct?

[belwar]

no thats not true

[Dave Kerr]

I think the story goes that Seth Lover specified stainless for the cover, and Gibson went with nickel-silver because it's easier to work.

[voodoochild]

From what I have read the original PAF "prototypes" had stainless steel baseplates and covers. Gibson changed it to nickel silver for production. So it depends on how you look at it I guess. Here is a link to some questionable information that supports this question. I say questionable because I know some information on this site is indeed questionable but for the most part useful. http://home.provide.net/~cfh/paf.html

[Possum]

....

That website link has alot of wrong stuff on it, they also say there Gibson used BRASS PAF covers, yeh sure...

I did see a set of PAF's, real early ones on ebay and the guy claims they were stainless covers. But, lay people who don't know metals could conceivably think nickel silver is stainless maybe. Stainless is a bitch to solder to using electrical rosin core solder, so it doesn't make alot of sense, but its possible maybe some really early few had stainless.....maybe?

[the great waldo]

That website link has alot of wrong stuff on it, they also say there Gibson used BRASS PAF covers, yeh sure...

I did see a set of PAF's, real early ones on ebay and the guy claims they were stainless covers. But, lay people who don't know metals could conceivably think nickel silver is stainless maybe. Stainless is a bitch to solder to using electrical rosin core solder, so it doesn't make alot of sense, but its possible maybe some really early few had stainless.....maybe?

You can solder stainless with silver solder fluxed rods, you might even have some left over from your jewellry making days, but you´ll have to use a gas torch to get it hot enough.

Cheers

Andrew

[Spence]

Absolute rubbish. They were made from candied angelica spread with butter and wrapped in aluminium foil.
Some old guy who worked in the old Parsons Street building told me he used to use them as edible lunch boxes for the Oompah Loompahs on the Leesonas.
Gospel.

[Possum]

....

Damnit, Spence, there you go givin' it all away, no more secrets left.

[Joe Gwinn]

You can solder stainless with silver solder fluxed rods, you might even have some left over from your jewelry making days, but you´ll have to use a gas torch to get it hot enough.

I think the intent is to soft solder the stainless. This is done below red heat. One uses ordinary tin-lead or tin-silver soft solder and some kind of liquid inorganic acid flux; there are many brands. Surfaces must be clean.

[spud1950]

Joe is correct. I worked in the sheet metal trade and soft soldered a lot of stainless with no problems.

[Possum]

...

This is rather ridiculous, butyrate bobbins melt around 150 degrees, you're going to use a torch to solder a bucker cover on???? I just don't see Gibson digging out specialized fluxes to solder a cover on, stainless I doubt is commonly used in electrical shielding. So far I have yet to see any actual proof stainless was ever used. When you show a raw nickel silver cover to someone who knows nothing about guitars, the brushed look of them suggests stainless because it has that same textured look. PRS is no doubt repeating some internet myth they read somewhere.

[the great waldo]

This is rather ridiculous, butyrate bobbins melt around 150 degrees, you're going to use a torch to solder a bucker cover on???? I just don't see Gibson digging out specialized fluxes to solder a cover on, stainless I doubt is commonly used in electrical shielding. So far I have yet to see any actual proof stainless was ever used. When you show a raw nickel silver cover to someone who knows nothing about guitars, the brushed look of them suggests stainless because it has that same textured look. PRS is no doubt repeating some internet myth they read somewhere.

Methinks that we are talking about soldering stainless seams on pickup covers, not welding pickups together !!!?

Cheers

Andrew

[Possum]

.....

I think it was being discussed how to solder a stainless steel cover onto a bucker. Why ?

[belwar]

I saw a very close up picture of the prototype PAF that Seymour owns and you can clealy see in the photo that the cover is not stamped but folded. It might not have even been soldered.

[David Schwab]

Here's another one saying they were first stainless, and then brass!

I've never seen a brass Gibson humbucker cover.

Vintage Gibson PAF Pickups

Early P.A.F. pickups as used on the 1956 lapsteels and 1957 Les Paul Standard had brushed stainless steel pickup covers (brushed to make them look nickel plated). This quickly changed to brass covers with a nickel plating. If the cover was gold, the brass was first nickel plated and then gold plated. Early PAFs also have four brass bobbin attachment screws, instead of steel screws. Also the early PAFs with stainless covers often did *not* have a PAF decal on the bottom (so some 1957 Gibson guitars will have unlabeled PAF pickups with brushed stainless covers). Here is a pre-PAF sticker 1957 Les Paul goldtop pickup. Notice the lack of a PAF sticker, which is common for many 1957 PAF guitars.