Foreplay III in SW Missouri

randy@matrixq.com

randy@matrixq.com

New member
Just finished my second build.  My first was a Quickie. 

This project has given me a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction.  I enjoyed the build process from beginning to end.  The instructions were spot-on with great attention to detail.  I approached this project with an attitude of zen-like patience and it really paid off.  I had one unsoldered connection that I caught during the inspection before the resistance checks. 

The chassis is anodized and the transformer bell was blued using a cold bluing kit. 

My only mods from the stock kit are a pair of Mundorff Supreme caps in the output stage.  I'm pleased all around.  The sound is absolutely gorgeous.

A big thank you to Doc, Eileen, and Paul for all of your help and assistance.  What a great experience. 
 

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Randall,

Nice looking build, how about a picture of the works too?

I like the bluing on the transformer.  That is a great effect.  IIRC, Doc suggests a clear coating on top of the bluing.  That may depend on the bluing used, or not.

My first Bottlehead kit was the Seduction, a paper instruction manual.  It was the best manual I had ever seen and I started building kits in 1965.  Today's manuals from Doc are beyond anything that was feasible when I started, still the best I have seen.

Again, a very nice build and color scheme.
 
Here is the underbelly of the beast.  The piece of copper tape improves the chassis ground connection for pin #28.  It was easy enough to unscrew the solder tab near the IEC connector in order to dremel through the anodizing but once I had pin 28 put together, I was not taking it apart.  It's about as hum-free as I could ever hope for so it must be working OK.
 

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Thanks John, I've become a real fan of the old-school finishes lately.  I think I have about nine treatments of BLO, each followed up with ultra-fine steel wool sanding before the next.  I topped it off with a light coat of wood wax and buffed it out with a cordless drill. 

I've been really impressed by the work I've seen in the Gallery.  Really creative stuff going on.  It makes me want to try new things.  For instance, I'd never blued anything before in my life.  Someone in the gallery had blued their transformer bell and it looked great so I spent the best part of a day researching the process and the available products and by the end of the day I had a really nicely blued bell.  Plus, I know about something that I didn't know before.

I think I'd be jumping into another kit right now if it wasn't for school starting up.  I'm afraid this will be mostly a summer activity for me.

 
Very nicely done Randall! I'm really digging the green anodized finish! Were you able to have someone perform that locally or did you ship it somewhere to have the work done?
 
I had trouble finding a place close to home that was still in business and would take on small work.  I did find a place that was only about 2 hours away but I shipped the plate UPS ($5 vs. $50 for gas).  Between the time I shipped it off and the time I got it back was about 7 days which gave me time to do the oil finish on the base.  The company is Jerry's Metal Finishing in St. Clair, MO.  Very easy to do business with.  JD Coleman is the Sales Manager that I worked with. 

If you do a build with an anodized plate, remember to dremel around the holes on the bottom side where the ground connections are.  Paul Joppa reminded me that the anodized layer makes a pretty good insulator and my experience confirms this.  I used a wire brush attachment.  Easy work.

I think is looks great and was very resistant to slips of the screwdriver during the build process.  It is a pretty tough surface that I'm confident will last a long time.

Glad you like it.
 
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