Meanwhile in Las Vegas...

[Chuck H]

It's amazing how attached you can get.

Not to turn a thread, but one more post on this subject...

You're not kidding! I remember when it came time to have our first put down I thought, "I got this. I understand the circle of life and this dog lived a full one. It's something to be happy about really." Then when it came time I cried like a little girl. And each time since.

On the matter of pit bulls... Great dogs. When they were just called American Bull Terriers they were considered the all American dog. They had the nickname "nanny dog" because they were so good with children! Remember Petey from the Little Rascles? Then they became the go to breed for dog fighting. Now you almost have to assume that there there may be some animal aggression, or worse when you encounter them because it's been bred into them for generations. Half of the time it's not an issue or it's manageable, but there are cases when it's not. A crappy fate for a terrific breed. To be made into that and then banned in some states. This last dog was our first bully mix, but I've always liked them.

[Dave H]

My old sidekick Elvis had to be put down this year. He was a good boy.

Sorry to hear about that John. I know how it feels

[John_H]

I was rummaging through my storage unit today, looking for a tube shield. I happened across a cache of nice tubes that I thought went with the burglary a couple of years ago. I found 18- 12AX7's There are 5 Telefunkens, 5 RCA's, 2 GE's, 1 Sylvania, 1 Mullard, 1 Valvo, 1 Bugle Boy, 1 Toshiba, and 1 Matushita. It was like hitting a jackpot. Oh yeah, I found a tube shield too!

[nickb]

I was rummaging through my storage unit today, looking for a tube shield. I happened across a cache of nice tubes that I thought went with the burglary a couple of years ago. I found 18- 12AX7's There are 5 Telefunkens, 5 RCA's, 2 GE's, 1 Sylvania, 1 Mullard, 1 Valvo, 1 Bugle Boy, 1 Toshiba, and 1 Matushita. It was like hitting a jackpot. Oh yeah, I found a tube shield too!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]51804[/ATTACH]

And we learn a unique way to protect those goodies too!

[DrGonz78]

Yup eye glasses cases never thought of that before. Nice!

[Chuck H]

I was rummaging through my storage unit today, looking for a tube shield. I happened across a cache of nice tubes that I thought went with the burglary a couple of years ago. I found 18- 12AX7's There are 5 Telefunkens, 5 RCA's, 2 GE's, 1 Sylvania, 1 Mullard, 1 Valvo, 1 Bugle Boy, 1 Toshiba, and 1 Matushita. It was like hitting a jackpot. Oh yeah, I found a tube shield too!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]51804[/ATTACH]

Super sweet! I've exhausted my stash of NOS and good vintage pulls now so I'm down to new manufactured tubes for replacements unless I want to invest in more vintage stuff. I got mine when I lived in the bay area, Ca. and had access to all kinds of resources. At this point I'd have to pay retail and that just isn't going to happen.

That's a nice stash of tubes. If it were mine I'd test them for microphony and save the good ones for V1 in my personal amp/s.

[John_H]

And we learn a unique way to protect those goodies too!

Yup eye glasses cases never thought of that before. Nice!

The re-purposed cases work great. They're a good environment for tubes. Crush resistant, and soft on the inside. I recognized them, and knew right away what I had found.

Super sweet! I've exhausted my stash of NOS and good vintage pulls now so I'm down to new manufactured tubes for replacements unless I want to invest in more vintage stuff. I got mine when I lived in the bay area, Ca. and had access to all kinds of resources. At this point I'd have to pay retail and that just isn't going to happen.

That's a nice stash of tubes. If it were mine I'd test them for microphony and save the good ones for V1 in my personal amp/s.

I used to buy tubes on ebay. I first got on there around 2003. New old stock tubes were cheap, and plentiful. It's quite the opposite now. I'm extremely happy to find these. Telefunken has always been a favorite, and the RCA's are nice in a PI. There were a few other's I found as well. There's a pair of GE 7025's, a few other various 12AX types, a pair of JJ 6V6, and a couple of 6X4 rectifier tubes. I'll have to pull out my old tube tester, check them out, and try them in an amp to verify, but I think that they're good.

[John_H]

I got back to some guitar building this weekend. I needed to get two fingerboards ready, one Indian rosewood, and the other ebony. The rough blanks start out at around 3/8' thick. I start by surfacing the bottom with a router sled. After getting the bottom flat, and smooth, I machine the 12" top radius with another home made jig. Mark the locations, and cut the fret slots to finish. The whole operation takes two hours or so. These are ready to glue

[John_H]

I glued on the fingerboards that I readied last week. I always buy fresh glue for things like this. It's cheap insurance against the adhesive failing. Next I need to make them flat, and smooth with the sanding beam, and radius block. I'll sand them to 800 grit before I do the markers, and 1500 before fretting. The leveling, and prep work done at this stage can really impact the final result. I'll take my time.

The new cat took over where the old one left off. She's never too far away.

[Helmholtz]

I always buy fresh glue for things like this.

What type of glue do you use? Hot hide glue?

(I like the cat. Beautiful eyes.)

[Helmholtz]

Found this:

https://youtu.be/zBWc5Ye-uLU

[John_H]

What type of glue do you use? Hot hide glue?

(I like the cat. Beautiful eyes.)

I use hide glue for repairs only. On new guitars I prefer 'Titebond Original' It's very stable, has a short clamp time, and I've never seen it creep or fail when used properly.

Found this:

https://youtu.be/zBWc5Ye-uLU

Thanks Roland, That's a good video. It clearly illustrates that not a lot of expensive tools are needed to do this. The fancy tools are convenient, but not really necessary.

[Helmholtz]

On new guitars I prefer 'Titebond Original' It's very stable, has a short clamp time, and I've never seen it creep or fail when used properly.

Thanks for your reply. I just wondered because you mentioned that you prefer the glue to be fresh. Didn't know that shelf life is a concern with synthetic glues. Can't find an expiration date on the Titebond bottle.

What do you think about liquid fish glue for fretting?

[John_H]

...you mentioned that you prefer the glue to be fresh. Didn't know that shelf life is a concern with synthetic glues. Can't find an expiration date on the Titebond bottle.

An old half empty container of glue, that may have sat around for only a few months will always be noticeably thicker in consistency than new glue. This doesn't render it useless, but it has been compromised. It can't perform to it's full potential if it has already partially cured in the container. New adhesive has a thinner consistency. It will penetrate better, and evacuate better under clamp pressure. I use the old glue for other things.

What do you think about liquid fish glue for fretting?

I've never tried it. I built several necks before I ever used glue on frets at all. My normal routine is to use common white elmers school glue. It feeds well through a syringe, holds good, not messy, and will release easy with a little moisture, or heat. I'll use four, or five little spots along the length of the fret. If you use too much, there is nowhere for it to go, and it's hard to get the fret all of the way in. The fret wire I most commonly use has a long .073" tang. It grabs really well in a tight fret slot.

It's more work using glue, because I'll mask beside each fret slot as I move along to insure that I don't get glue on the exposed raw fingerboard. I believe it to be good practice to use glue, but you should avoid CA, or epoxy.

[Helmholtz]

Thanks for your reply!

The fret wire I most commonly use has a long .073" tang. It grabs really well in a tight fret slot.

How do you avoid neck back-bow after fretting?
Do you use a fret barber for the beads?