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And just when you thought that things couldn't be made any more unfair, you end up having worse-than-usual luck while working on cars and electronics where the 'phillips' screws just don't seem to fit quite right. As it turns out, it's not a metric-vs-standard thing, it's because you are trying...

My penchant for old gear always seems to lead me to a Mexican standoff with an old nemesis...in the form of one (or more) stuck Phillips screws... For what it's worth, here's a short list of cheats/hacks/tips I've collected over the years -- hopefully one or more of the following will help...

Perry, If you took a photo of your new (to you) reel-to-reel...and somehow managed to have that ACME unit innocently lurking in the background, that would be an epic combo. Some folks think that the sheer amount of money spent is all that matters. I would argue that the 'exclusivity factor'...

Glen, Looking at your photo, I believe that the number "7726" = a July '77 date code for the transformer. This would be in agreement with the '73 photo in the Variac catalog showing the 'space age' update vs the original cool-looking post-WWII meters in Perry's Variac: ( YYWW Variac date...

Perry, I was able to nail it down a little closer, but not exact. Here's the latest I found the old school meters: ('61 Catalog) And here's the earliest that I found the space age (rectangular) meter look: ('73 Catalog) Note: It was hard to find much of any official Variac documentation...

Wow! Here's a link back to the before photo (Image #6) so that the reader can compare them side to side. It's looks 'factory'. Nice! If it sounds as nice as it looks I have no doubt that you will be able to find it a good home... 3D PS - Thanks for the tip about the plastic razor blades...

If you are recently joining the vintage audio restoration hobby, and trying to figure out where to go to purchase quality wire, look up NavLinear and send him a PM. And if you are a long time member & wondering if NavLinear is still selling his wire kits? After talking to Grapplesaw, I decided...

NeverSatisfied, I think that's a great idea. I think that the first things to be added should be from the talent in here that have multiple successful WOPL conversions out there earning their keep. Mr. WOPL Sniffer & his mil-spec soldering/wiring, Gepetto's SPICE space & his proto test mules...

Speaking of pure tone testing, at low levels it's no problem, but if I'm looking for failures that only present at higher volumes I literally get a headache just thinking about suffering through that test session. :0( Luckily, the fix for me is simply using a pair of earplugs. A lot of times...

Cool! Reading around I was pretty sure that you possessed the really big guns in audio testing land. (!) FWIW I've been watching for the right Keithley 2015 to come up for sale -- I'm ready & waiting! And it seems that all paths in the land of audio troubleshooting eventually lead to the AP...

Lee, Thanks to the very nature of our hobby, we tend to first trip over sonic anomalies using the most complex analog signals out there. (ie: music) Since our brains are internally wired to be good at pattern recognition, most of the time we figure out the specific music pattern that...

J!m may be describing thermal spray coatings -- but here he speaks the unvarnished truth. Previously I asked if J!m's operation were the ones coating our F-16's engine tail feathers, and he replied in the affirmative. If you haven't seen what those coatings must contain, check out this...

J!m, Is this the source of the coating on the 'tail feathers' that the F-16 opens for idle, squeezes down during full mil (& opens back up for max afterburner) operation? I was always curious about the source of that coating that can take that kind of concentrated thermal stress & shrug it off...

J!m, While researching your problem, the ferrofluid/no ferrofluid question came up in my mind as well. If you can locate the speaker model # then we should be able to answer that in short order. It's possible that it's just a conventional driver, and that we're barking up the wrong twee-ter...

Hi J!m, Although I haven't personally disassembled/degunked any of these drivers, or even own any ferrofluid-enhanced drivers...once upon a time when I lived in southern NH I used to walk by/study the Ferrofluid display in the Manchester airport** ...so I guess that allows me to annoint myself...

mr_rye89, Gepetto's new 400 chassis is even better than it looks. My original chassis was all catawampus, but I was going to be brave about it, straighten it up after I stripped it, and press with what I got. But once I heard that the chassis is *deeper*, I immediately decided to upgrade...

Vince, After giving yourself a suitable break, here's one more video that you might enjoy. The gentleman that troubleshot that noise back to the failed component made a video detailing how to make the signal tracer that he used to isolate the failure to the bad part. To me, this tool would...

But there's more than just output transistors when it comes to doing the PL > WOPL transformation: So I just ordered 3 amplifiers worth of upgrade parts. I spent (what turned out to be) an enjoyable afternoon performing an inventory of the White Oak shipment. Based on this transaction I...

Ever find yourself wondering what 88 16 amp, 250 watt, 250 volt TO-3 output transistors in close formation looks like? Thanks to White Oak (Gepetto) I can share the vision with you: NOTE: Lee, I thought maybe I would organize them like this, but the concept of the less handling the better won...

Hi Vince, Your description of 'loud bursts of noises' right after replacing caps, but most of the time it eventually subsides? Well, this reminded me of a fascinating restoration video of an old Hammarlund HQ-140-X radio receiver. It was originally manufactured in the 1950s, and the unit that...