shesews...thanks for your reply...serial number indicates Nov. 1951...is that considered a newer Singer and not a "vintage" one??? The bobbin is I'm pretty sure original, but I may have a newer bobbin in there from "sew-classics" I am having trouble winding the bobbins on this machine, but I can use other machines to do the bobbin winding, but have been wondering if this machine is always noisey, so I'd like to hear from all of you that have them and what your experiance is with them. I'll try another bobbin and see if it changes. Thanks