How vacuum tubes are made

Ok, I've been talking about upgrades I'm making to my tube based 2 channel stereo, and I ran across this video. From a manufacturing viewpoint, this is really labor intensive and insane to imagine how they can train employees to build these things with any consistent quality. From a tube audio fans view point this is really cool. Tubes were built by the thousands starting in the 1930's and were vital components to almost everything built (TV's to airplane electronics) till the 1960's when solid state became the new standard. Enjoy the video. 

The Raconteurs

I've been listening to these guys on Pandora a bunch lately, and I'm hooked. Check out these videos, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Jack White is one crazy guitar player.

How about some art today???

 

I was lucky enough to spend some time in Washington DC several weeks ago, and I took in some sights. I made it to a couple Smithsonian art museums and saw quite a few incredible pieces of art. I enjoy geometric art especially, and I spent quite a bit of time observing them from different angles. This one piece really stuck in my head. It might be difficult to tell, but these are Night Train bottles.  I walked away from the art museums feeling very inspired by the massive collections of creativity. I also wondered how bad the artist’s head must have hurt from consuming all that cheap wine. To quote Axle Rose "I'm on the Night Train, ready to crash and burn, I'll never learn". Having been on the Night Train early in life, I did crash and burn, but I did learn. Enjoy, I hope this inspires you to be creative today.

Eastman E10OM

 OK, so about 3 months ago I was in Lawrence, KS at a music store called Mass Street Music. I was killing some time while they did a set up on my Martin D-16 (I'll post some pictures of that soon) and I played a few guitars they had. This Eastman brand was one of the many I had in my hands that day. They stock a lot of guitars, and I was able to hack away on some high end Taylor's, Martin's and Collings guitars. Collings are unbelievable guitars and the fit and finish are world class. They are hand made one at a time by craftsmen here in the USA, and it shows. The salesman at Mass used to work at Collings and was a wealth of information on the guitars and the company. Needles to say at over $5000 each, I didn't keep it in my hands long for fear of scratching it or something. One guitar I did pick up several times was an Eastman E10OM. The body is slightly smaller than my Martin, and it just felt perfect. The sound was really big and bold for the smaller size guitar, and this is because of the special wood top made from Adirondack Spruce, and mahogany sides and back. It's all solid wood construction and nitrocellulose lacquer finish are stunning. It's a hand built beauty at a fraction of the cost of the Collings. I left Mass Street that day without the E10OM. As 2 months passed, I continued to drool over this model on their website. Christmas came, and my thoughtful wife gave me a gift card to Mass St. Music, and that was all it took. I called up the salesman that had helped me that day, and bought one. It arrived 2 day later, fully set up and ready to play. I couldn't be happier. Mass is hands down the coolest guitar shop I've ever been to, and the people that work there are great. Check them out on the web at http://www.massstreetmusic.com/ it's on my favorites list for sure. 

Hugh's HandBuilt: Big Bore, Rephased Street Tracker

Hugh's HandBuilt: Big Bore, Rephased Street Tracker: Great day in February to take a quick spin!

Finishing up the new interconnects

 Here are the completed interconnect cables for my phono stage preamp (record player), and for my preamp to amps. I cut them to fit, and they look clean.

So before I installed them in my system, I gave them a quick check with the ohm meter and then hooked them up to an extra CD player I have, for 50 hours of break in. I know, it seems like witchcraft or something, but that break in time makes a difference. If I wasn't so impatient I would have run them in for 100 hours. While they were breaking in, I installed an upgrade to my amps, to refine the sound a bit. Once the upgrade was complete, and the cables were run in, I assembled it for a listen. I ran through a few albums to test the modifications and cables. I only have a turntable hooked up right now. First up was Nirvana Unplugged, it was very engaging, and I listened to several songs twice while rolling a couple different tubes through the amps to check the sonic differences. Then I listened to a couple songs off the new Slash album to really give the changes a workout. Last, I finshed up with side 2 of ZZ Top Fandango. This might be the best group of songs on any ZZ top album. It was killer to say the least. Phase 3 is up next, an upgrade to the phono stage preamp.

Phase 1 of my tube stereo system upgrades

So I have rearranged my system resulting in the need for new cables. I like to build my own interconnects and speaker cables. It's a huge saving over paying for premium cables, and I think these are actually better cables. The other big thing, is they are all custom length so I can minimized the excess cable hanging and laying every where. These bulk cables feature 22 gauge .9999 oxygen free copper conductors with copper shield wire over the top. The jacket has a really nice feel to it, and it's really flexible. Time to fire up the soldering iron and get it done. Watch for phase 2 where I will install an upgrade in my tube amps.    

Time for something new in the project pile

I'm looking for a 54 Chevy 2 door in original condition. I would consider any 2 door , so long as the body is original and not rusted to pieces. This is what has me fired up. If you know where there is any old iron sitting, let me know. The right car has to be out there somewhere.

Bring on the BBQ !!

 Pork "butts" with a dry rub, and cooked low and slow over hardwood lump charcoal. I cooked these for 17 hours. We pulled them apart and they were crazy tender and moist. The "bark" on the outside combined with the moist tender meat makes for an unbeatable flavor. 

Beef Brisket "burnt ends" cooked over hardwood lump charcoal. This only took 6 hours to cook. It was the point of a brisket that I saved from a (packer) brisket cook the weekend before. I have never tasted beef as tender and moist as this. It was delish to say the least.

Feels like a Tom Waits day today

"Look how he worked around the hinge" !!!  That's funny! Unbelievable musician, and funny as hell.

Here's some XS650 goodness. This guy has it going on!

I can't wait to get mine done! Rephase means the timing of the crank rotation is changed. In stock form the crank is set to have one piston at top dead center, and the other piston at bottom dead center. With the rephased crank, one piston is at top dead center, and the other is at mid stroke. The result is a smoother running motor that responds to throttle changes much quicker. Now I just need to find some time to finish it up. I hope to be popping wheelies by spring time.

This cracks me up

I need to see The Big Lebowski again soon!!

Let's get this started

I'm likely going to post a random collection of thoughts and interests. Hopefully anyone stumbling on to this blog will find something of interest, or something that peaks their curiosity. To get this started, I'm posting a picture one of my buddies sent me from Sturgis last night as I was going to bed. Look at all that PBR. Enjoy!