Vintage P.A.F. Winder Unboxing

[JGundry]

I thought people might find this a cool bit of history. This is my second winder to actually come out of the old Gibson Kalamazoo factory.

Thursday the winder in the video was delivered to ThroBak. I bought the machine at the Doyle Collection auction. For me the pickup winder was the coolest piece up for sale. The machine is a Stevens coil winder owned by Gibson Kalamazoo and removed from the plant by Les Paul himself before the move to Nashville. I did a little investigation after it arrived and the machine was made in 1950 by Geo Stevens and delivered to Allen Electrical and Equipment in Kalamazoo who sold it to Gibson. It obviously wound quite a few P-90's and P.A.F.'s back in the day. There is even a photo of a similar machine winding at Gibson in the 50's. So at least 2 of these were hard at work winding pickups during Gibson's golden era. Friday I got the motor checked, cleaned and rewired. I was told the motor dated from 1956 so it obviously saw a lot of use prior to 1956 to need a new motor in 1956.

I hope you enjoy the video. I say umm a lot but if you can see past that I think you will find the vintage aspect of it pretty cool along with the connection it has to vintage Les Paul's as well as the man himself.

[larams]

Very interesting and cool. You have the fossil remains of humbuckasoraus and p90soraus-rex on that plate.

[JGundry]

Here is the ledger from Geo Stevens showing this very machine being shipped to Allen Electric & Equipment of Kalamazoo in February of 1950.

[JGundry]

Here is the other nearly identical Stevens winder Gibson also used to wind pickups. This photo was taken in the 50's.

[Audiotexan]

Absolutely coooooooooooooool!

Thanks for sharing this J!

PS: I think I was giddier than you (if that's possible) while watching you unbox it. I was like COME ON MAN! MOVE THE CARDBOARD! It's Christmas!!!!!! rofl

[Jason Rodgers]

Wow, that's a piece of history. Imagine who all played through the pickups wound on that machine, and the music and albums that they fueled.

So, we'll get another video of this beast cleaned up and cranking out the next generation of pickups, right?

[JGundry]

I switched the winder on today! I ran it for 20 minutes with no problems. It ran quiet and smooth and the counter ran perfectly!

I'll do a video when it is back to winding pickups.

[Jim Darr]

Jon,

Looks like a great winder. My Geo Stevens is similar, but with a cam and yoke, for the traverse.

Two questions:

Is the cam heart shaped? It looks like it might be non-linear.

Is there a speed control, or does it run at a constant speed? My Geo Stevens has a foot pedal for variable speed.

I find the dial counters to be very accurate, but hard to keep track of while winding (especially when I wind to many different turn counts). Auto-stops are the way to go for any winder who is doing this as more than a hobby.

Thanks for posting and good luck with the machine.

Jim

[JGundry]

Hi Jim,

It is not a heart shaped cam and it runs at just one speed.