Steel Guitar Builder

I have a old reel to reel player than I am building a pick up winder out off. they come with almost every thing needed to build a pickup winder with. counter, winder motors .I also think you could do it with a panisonic cassett player

Steven, it would work in theory. But the problem with this idea is that there is no speed control. Like on your drill for example, the further you squeeze the trigger the faster it goes. The tape player has only one speed on the FF and RW and the tape speeds are too slow on the recording/playback.
Take a look at the way I have made my winder, pics here on Builders.

What I use is an old sewing machine motor then, for speed control, I use a simple light dimmer switch where the shaft on the switch is controlled by the string on the foot pedal, more or less like a VP on the steel.
Then you incorporate a counter with the help of a magnet activated switch and a calculator from the Dollar Store.