[DenverW]

Awesome! How would you describe the difference?? I just completed my crack and was contemplating the power cord kit at some point...

sorry for the delay! I’d describe the sound as smoother, overall. I’m not a poet, but I find a bit more of a blacker background with better tone, leading me to keep using “smoother” to describe it. The kit wasn’t hard to build, even though I’m sure I’d do better another time around. 100% worth it.

 

[mxxl]

Can anyone compare the crack with speedball to the little dot mkIII? I see so much praise for it and I’m wondering if it could be a solid upgrade down the line

 

[TylersEclectic]

Just picked up @raindownthunda extra base for the crack...damn if it isn’t beautiful! Great job bud! I’ll try and get non-camera phone pics soon! Ziricote wood if anyone was curious...

 

[Wes S]

Just picked up @raindownthunda extra base for the crack...damn if it isn’t beautiful! Great job bud! I’ll try and get non-camera phone pics soon! Ziricote wood if anyone was curious...

Wow! Looks killer and goes very well with your desk!

Curious what is the driver tube? Looks like it could be a Brimar ECC82 with a socket saver?

 

[JTori]

Just picked up @raindownthunda extra base for the crack...damn if it isn’t beautiful! Great job bud! I’ll try and get non-camera phone pics soon! Ziricote wood if anyone was curious...

That's gorgeous!

 

[TylersEclectic]

Wow! Looks killer and goes very well with your desk!

Curious what is the driver tube? Looks like it could be a Brimar ECC82 with a socket saver?

That is a correct assessment on the driver

 

[Wes S]

That is a correct assessment on the driver

Nice! That was the first driver tube I feel in love with, in my BHC. Never heard a Brimar I did not like.

 

[JamieMcC]

Just picked up @raindownthunda extra base for the crack...damn if it isn’t beautiful! Great job bud! I’ll try and get non-camera phone pics soon! Ziricote wood if anyone was curious...

Looks fantastic any chance of some more details on the type of product/coating used to get such a nice finish?

 

[TylersEclectic]

Looks fantastic any chance of some more details on the type of product/coating used to get such a nice finish?

I didn't build it...lets ask the man himself

@raindownthunda would you be so kind as to inform on this?

 

[raindownthunda]

@JamieMcC I was inspired to build the ziricote base because of the ziricote ZMF Aeolus headphones I bought from @zach915m. I reached out to Zach to get help on the products and process to achieve a matching finish, so basically all of these tips are thanks to him! I'm planning to post a build write up on the base as I have a bunch of pictures of the process and final product. Right now I'm having too much fun tube rolling with my new Bottlehead Crack, so here's the quick rundown:

1. Sand up to 400 grit then apply Mohawk pre-catalyzed sanding sealer
2. Sand up to 1000 grit. For the high grit (500-4000) I used the abralon pads used for bowling balls that Zach recommended
3. Apply 5-7 coats of Mohawk pre-catalyzed semi-gloss clear lacquer, with light sanding at 500-1000 grit between coats - as needed to remove any bumps in the lacquer and definitely before the last coat goes on. The more you sand off the more coats you'll need to apply... Use a tack cloth to clean up dust between each coat, esp after sanding.
4. After the last coat dries, sand up to 4000 grit. I dry-sanded first and eventually wet sanded everything again, which turned out better.
5. Let the lacquer cure for a little over a week and then apply the Mohawk penthouse polish. I underestimated how much of a difference the polish makes! You can see after / before polish in the two pics below.

Let me know if you have any more questions! This was my first time doing this type of a wood finish so had a lot of questions going into it myself...

Here's the other base and Aeolus after applying the penthouse polish to both:

Fully assembled crack, BEFORE polishing the base, with all black furnishing & powder coated top plate & transformer:

 

[JTori]

@JamieMcC I was inspired to build the ziricote base because of the ziricote ZMF Aeolus headphones I bought from @zach915m. I reached out to Zach to get help on the products and process to achieve a matching finish, so basically all of these tips are thanks to him! I'm planning to post a build write up on the base as I have a bunch of pictures of the process and final product. Right now I'm having too much fun tube rolling with my new Bottlehead Crack, so here's the quick rundown:

1. Sand up to 400 grit then apply Mohawk pre-catalyzed sanding sealer
2. Sand up to 1000 grit. For the high grit (500-4000) I used the abralon pads used for bowling balls that Zach recommended
3. Apply 5-7 coats of Mohawk pre-catalyzed semi-gloss clear lacquer, with light sanding at 500-1000 grit between coats - as needed to remove any bumps in the lacquer and definitely before the last coat goes on. The more you sand off the more coats you'll need to apply... Use a tack cloth to clean up dust between each coat, esp after sanding.
4. After the last coat dries, sand up to 4000 grit. I dry-sanded first and eventually wet sanded everything again, which turned out better.
5. Let the lacquer cure for a little over a week and then apply the Mohawk penthouse polish. I underestimated how much of a difference the polish makes! You can see after / before polish in the two pics below.

Let me know if you have any more questions! This was my first time doing this type of a wood finish so had a lot of questions going into it myself...

Here's the other base and Aeolus after applying the penthouse polish to both:

Fully assembled crack, BEFORE polishing the base, with all black furnishing & powder coated top plate & transformer:

@JamieMcC I was inspired to build the ziricote base because of the ziricote ZMF Aeolus headphones I bought from @zach915m. I reached out to Zach to get help on the products and process to achieve a matching finish, so basically all of these tips are thanks to him! I'm planning to post a build write up on the base as I have a bunch of pictures of the process and final product. Right now I'm having too much fun tube rolling with my new Bottlehead Crack, so here's the quick rundown:

1. Sand up to 400 grit then apply Mohawk pre-catalyzed sanding sealer
2. Sand up to 1000 grit. For the high grit (500-4000) I used the abralon pads used for bowling balls that Zach recommended
3. Apply 5-7 coats of Mohawk pre-catalyzed semi-gloss clear lacquer, with light sanding at 500-1000 grit between coats - as needed to remove any bumps in the lacquer and definitely before the last coat goes on. The more you sand off the more coats you'll need to apply... Use a tack cloth to clean up dust between each coat, esp after sanding.
4. After the last coat dries, sand up to 4000 grit. I dry-sanded first and eventually wet sanded everything again, which turned out better.
5. Let the lacquer cure for a little over a week and then apply the Mohawk penthouse polish. I underestimated how much of a difference the polish makes! You can see after / before polish in the two pics below.

Let me know if you have any more questions! This was my first time doing this type of a wood finish so had a lot of questions going into it myself...

Here's the other base and Aeolus after applying the penthouse polish to both:

Fully assembled crack, BEFORE polishing the base, with all black furnishing & powder coated top plate & transformer:

Beautiful job! Thank you for sharing the steps you went through to achieve such a striking finish. I'll bet there are plenty of folks on the Bottlehead Forum who'd appreciate this info, if you share it there.

Best,

Joe.

 

[cddc]

@JamieMcC I was inspired to build the ziricote base because of the ziricote ZMF Aeolus headphones I bought from @zach915m. I reached out to Zach to get help on the products and process to achieve a matching finish, so basically all of these tips are thanks to him! I'm planning to post a build write up on the base as I have a bunch of pictures of the process and final product. Right now I'm having too much fun tube rolling with my new Bottlehead Crack, so here's the quick rundown:

1. Sand up to 400 grit then apply Mohawk pre-catalyzed sanding sealer
2. Sand up to 1000 grit. For the high grit (500-4000) I used the abralon pads used for bowling balls that Zach recommended
3. Apply 5-7 coats of Mohawk pre-catalyzed semi-gloss clear lacquer, with light sanding at 500-1000 grit between coats - as needed to remove any bumps in the lacquer and definitely before the last coat goes on. The more you sand off the more coats you'll need to apply... Use a tack cloth to clean up dust between each coat, esp after sanding.
4. After the last coat dries, sand up to 4000 grit. I dry-sanded first and eventually wet sanded everything again, which turned out better.
5. Let the lacquer cure for a little over a week and then apply the Mohawk penthouse polish. I underestimated how much of a difference the polish makes! You can see after / before polish in the two pics below.

Let me know if you have any more questions! This was my first time doing this type of a wood finish so had a lot of questions going into it myself...

Here's the other base and Aeolus after applying the penthouse polish to both:

Fully assembled crack, BEFORE polishing the base, with all black furnishing & powder coated top plate & transformer:

Very beautiful finish!

Just curious to know: other than the chestnut color there is also some golden color on the top. Is it caused by the nature of wood itself (say, some areas of the board absorbed the Mohawk paint differently than the other) or you used 2 types of paints (chestnut & golden)?

 

[raindownthunda]

Just curious to know: other than the chestnut color there is also some golden color on the top. Is it caused by the nature of wood itself (say, some areas of the board absorbed the Mohawk paint differently than the other) or you used 2 types of paints (chestnut & golden)?

That's the wood itself. I didn't use any stains or paints, just clear coat. The grain is just really wild! I believe the light blonde part is the sapwood (younger part of the tree). Here's more examples of what it can look like: http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/zircote.htm

Here's what the planks looked like before I did anything with them:

 

[cddc]

That's the wood itself. I didn't use any stains or paints, just clear coat. The grain is just really wild! I believe the light blonde part is the sapwood (younger part of the tree). Here's more examples of what it can look like: http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/zircote.htm

Here's what the planks looked like before I did anything with them:

Ahhh...should have figured out that the chassis is made of non-stock boards, coz it's much higher than the stock chassis.

Excellent wood work!!!

 

[Wes S]

Ahhh...should have figured out that the chassis is made of non-stock boards, coz it's much higher than the stock chassis.

Excellent wood work!!!

Looks like he left some room for some mods. Which was clever.