ThroBak Maximum Vintage Series Pickups set the new standard in Vintage tone and manufacturing accuracy. The first successful humbucking pickup was the legendary 50's Gibson humbucker known among collectors as the Patent Applied For pickup or by it's acronym P.A.F.. Surpassing the specifications of the popular ThroBak Vintage Authentic LTD series pickups the MXV series takes the vintage accurate P.A.F. style reproduction to a new level with Maximum Vintage specifications. The MXV series sets a new standard in vintage Patent Applied For (P.A.F.) tone and manufacturing accuracy.
Every MXV component has been tooled, molded, stamped and cast for ThroBak to ThroBak specifications and all made the USA. Years of research come together to create MXV parts that very often are made by original vintage suppliers. The result, every part of a MXV pickups is MADE IN THE USA. Details that gave the classic vintage 50's P.A.F.'s their legendary tone are studied and duplicated in the ThroBak MXV Series. Wound on a vintage Leesona 102 coil winder and the vintage Gibson made "Slug 101" winding machine, MXV pickups offers unsurpassed vintage Patent Applied For winding accuracy. Add 42 AWG vintage spec. plain enamel wire MXV pickups embody the actual techniques and materials that made the vintage 50's P.A.F.'s great. Custom rough cast USA MADE magnets and a relentless quest for vintage correct parts mean that every ThroBak Maximum Vintage pickup lives up to its name.
The Two Winding Machine Models That Wound Patent Applied For Pickups Also Wind All ThroBak MXV Pickups.
Original Gibson Patent Applied For and Patent Number pickups were machine wound exclusively. An important tonal ingredient of these legendary pickups are vintage machines that wound vintage 50's P.A.F.'s. The two vintage 50's P.A.F. 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 Leesona 102 coil winders to take over the ever growing pickup winding duties. Ultimately the Leesona 102 was destined to wind the Gibson Patent Applied For 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 a 50's vintage P.A.F. 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 pickup coils wound on the Leesona 102. 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 50's Patent Applied For 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 Patent Applied For Pickup Winder
A one of a kind Gibson made and designed machine, the "Slug 101" had 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 Patent Applied For slug coil winder to once again bring it back to it's rightful role as vintage 50's P.A.F. 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 50's vintage P.A.F. slug bobbins, this machine is the holy grail of vintage 50's Gibson coil winders. It's existence was speculated over for years. Previously only known as "the small 4 bobbin winder," its 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 Patent Applied For 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 vintage 50's Humbuckers with Slug 101 coils in them. But pickups 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 vintage 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 50's vintage P.A.F. style pickups in the ThroBak Electronics facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The Bobbins
Vintage Patent Applied For clone Butyrate bobbins come standard on all MXV P.A.F. style pickups. Tooled and molded at a secret location near Kalamazoo. The MXV bobbins represent many, many hours of research and old school tool and die skills. Tooling and molding were fine tuned by hours of on site consultation in order to achieve vintage correct dimensions, materials, construction and cosmetics. Even the distinctive cosmetics flaws in original Patent Applied For bobbins, like the offset square in the circle hole, is duplicated with MXV Butyrate bobbins. Molded with Butyrate supplied by Americas longest manufacturer of CAB these bobbins have the same resonant and mechanical properties as original Patent Applied For bobbins.
Color matched from a newly uncovered vintage Zebra 50's P.A.F. assures the plastic color is as close to original vintage specifications as possible. Compare for yourself. Every aspect of production and materials Made in USA.
The Coils
Over the years many myths have grown along with the legend of vintage Patent Applied For pcikups. Perhaps largest myth is that 50's vintage P.A.F. coils or the "best" 50's vintage P.A.F. coils were hand wound. In fact all production vintage P.A.F. coils were machine wound on a very small number of machines. The few machines that wound these coils each put their own tonal signature on the classic Patent Applied For humbucker. 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 50's P.A.F.'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 Maximum Vintage line of pickups.
Above are photos of original Patent Applied For coils and coils made on the vintage ThroBak Leesona 102 and Slug 101 50's vintage P.A.F. 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 50's vintage Patent Applied For winder models. Click the thumbnails 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 Patent Applied For coil. Differences that effect the final tone of the assembled Patent Applied For 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 vintage Patent Applied For humbuckers.
The Wire
All MXV Series P.A.F. style pickups are wound with Vintage Spec.42 AWG plain enamel wire. MXV series Vintage Spec. plain enamel wire is made in the USA by a small magnet wire manufacturer with a direct lineage as a supplier to Gibson Kalamazoo during the Gibson Golden Era. MXV Vintage Spec. wire is made with the same coating chemistry and processes as vintage era Patent Applied For wire. Even as with vintage plain enamel MXV Vintage Spec. wire has a faint smell of magic markers due to the Benzene used in the coating process. As with vintage wire MXV Vintage Spec. wire exhibits all of the varieties of tolerances, min. to nom., and build thickness that are found within vintage 42 AWG wire. Some makers find the this variation in wire within the 42 AWG tolerance an annoyance. But at ThroBak we buy 100lb.-300lb. lots of Vintage Spec. wire and hand sort it with a micrometer to harness this variation as a tonal tool for MXV pickups. Variations in build and diameter that before created sometimes random tonal results with vintage 50's P.A.F.'s are used to create repeatable vintage tonal magic with ThroBak MXV Patent Applied For pickups.
The Magnets
ThroBak MXV magnets are made in the USA with vintage Alnico formulations obtained from vintage magnet analysis and vintage records still on file. ThroBak MXV magnets are custom cast in large lots in several vintage varieties. Long A5 magnets oriented magnets, long unoriented A5, short A5, short A2 and long A2 are some of the vintage choices. By casting MXV magnets with 3 different USA magnet makers ThroBak MXV pickups get the same tonal variety within Alnico types as vintage PAF's. All MXV magnets are sand cast. We are constantly searching for and analyzing great sounding vintage magnets so we can deliver as accurate a 50's vintage P.A.F. style magnet as possible. Made in the USA.
The Alloys
All metal parts in the MXV Patent Applied For assembly are custom made for ThroBak using the correct vintage alloys. Modern destructive lab testing of vintage parts of the entire vintage 50's P.A.F. assembly assure that the MXV reproduction pole screws, slugs, keeper bar baseplate... are vintage accurate and tonally true to vintage P.A.F.'s. No expense was spared in the quest for vintage accuracy. Pole screws are cloned in the USA from vintage samples with with custom cold header forms made exclusively for ThroBak. Slugs are turned on a vintage Brown and Sharpe automatic screw machine to accurately duplicate the bullseye signature look of the vintage original. And keeper bars individually custom machined to vintage specs.. Made in the USA.
Baseplates and Covers
Custom tooled to ThroBak MXV specifications the vintage 50's P.A.F. style reproduction baseplates and covers recreate many of the smallest details of the original 50's P.A.F. assembly. Threaded baseplate pole screw holes and flat cover tops with dimpled pole screw holes reproduce the classic look of 50's vintage P.A.F. covers. Correct nickel silver alloys are used as determined by destructive laboratory analysis of vintage P.A.F. parts.
MVX Patent Applied For covers are Nickel plated with the correct no copper process at the same family owned Kalamazoo plating shop that did Gibson Nickel plating all the way back to the 50's. Prep buffing and plating are both done in the Kalamazoo area with the same processes that were used with Gibson Golden era covers. As with original 50's P.A.F. covers no copper is used in the nickel plating process assuring as tonally transparent a cover as possible. Correct nickel plating along with ThroBak's 4 step aging process results in realistic aged look with the lightly aged ThroBak MXV covers. Made in USA.
Maximum Vintage Patent Applied For Set Specs.
• Patent Applied For clone Butyrate bobbins tooled and molded in the USA to vintage specs..
• Coils wound on vintage Leesona 102 and vintage Gibson, Kalamazoo made Slug 101 Patent Applied For winder assure unsurpassed vintage winding accuracy.
• P.A.F. style baseplates tooled and stamped in the USA for ThroBak.
• P.A.F. style covers stamped in USA and Nickel plated (with no Copper) at the same Kalamazoo shop that plated vintage PAF covers.
• Pole screws with vintage alloys cloned from 50's vintage P.A.F. screw with cold form die tooled for ThroBak. Made in USA.
• Slugs with vintage alloys cut with a vintage Brown and Sharpe automatic screw machine for correct vintage look. Made in USA.
• Vintage Spec. Plain Enamel 42AWG magnet wire made with vintage coating and processes. Made in USA.
• Alnico magnets custom cast in the USA with vintage formulations.
• Vintage correct braided wire. Made in USA.
• Entire ThroBak Patent Applied For humbucker assembly tooled and manufactured for ThroBak in the USA.
Gregor Hilden demos the SLE-101.
SLE-101 MXV specs.: Neck 7.6K Bridge 8.1K
The flagship pickup that put ThroBak on the map. If you want the best of classic A2 50's vintage Patent Applied For tone this set delivers but without the low end mud often associated with modern Alnico 2 pickups. PE magnet wire is wound on the slug coils with the the original Gibson Slug 101 winder and screw coils wound on the Leesona 102. The result is a complex tone with articulate clarity. A2 vintage clone sand cast magnets, custom milled Michigan hard maple wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor wire and threaded baseplate complete the picture.
Now available with Gibson quick connect wiring! (choose from wiring and baseplate options pull down menu).
$509.00 per pair Free Shipping within USA! Orders ship same week order is placed.
WE SHIP AROUND THE WORLD! $19.50 International shipping.
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. Vintage spec. plain enamel magnet wire, Michigan hard maple wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor wire and threaded baseplate complete the picture.
Now available with Gibson quick connect wiring! (choose from wiring and baseplate options pull down menu).
$509.00 per pair Free Shipping within USA! Orders ship same week order is placed.
WE SHIP AROUND THE WORLD! $19.50 International shipping.
This set is a direct clone of a personal favorite pair of vintage 50's P.A.F.'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 MXV Patent Applied For humbucker. 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 correct vintage reproduction plain enamel magnet wire, Michigan hard maple wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor wire and threaded baseplate.
Now available with Gibson quick connect wiring! (choose from wiring and baseplate options pull down menu).
$509.00 per pair Free Shipping within USA! Orders ship same week order is placed.
WE SHIP AROUND THE WORLD! $19.50 International shipping.
Kid Andersen demos the PG-102.
PG-102 MXV Specs.: Neck 8.2K Bridge 8.6K (Available with or without neck pickup magnet flip.)
Wound with the same output specifications as the vintage Patent Applied For pickups in the original "Greenie" and utilizing oriented vintage spec. A5 degaussed to vintage levels the PG-102 MXV 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 vintage Patent Applied For pickup at its zenith. Specifications include vintage correct reproduction plain enamel magnet wire, Michigan hard maple wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor wire and threaded baseplate.
Now available with Gibson quick connect wiring! (choose from wiring and baseplate options pull down menu).
$509.00 per pair Free Shipping within USA! Orders ship same week order is placed.
WE SHIP AROUND THE WORLD! $19.50 International shipping.
Lifetime Warranty For All ThroBak Pickups
Vintage Rewind And Repair Service
Preserve the vintage value of your dead vintage P.A.F., Pat sticker 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 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.
