Weber Amp Kits 6M18 TMB Head Build -- Part 1

This build is one of two amps I'm building simultaneously. I've actually already started the build, so I will go back and cover what has been done so far as I go along. The other amp is also from Weber, the 6M45P kit. Both kits were ordered on September 10, 2016 and arrived on September 30, 2016 -- a lead time of 20 days. Not bad! Only one part - the choke for the 6M45P - was on back order, and eventually came in on 10/19/16. These are both head kits, with all standard parts. No upgrades were selected at checkout, and nothing was omitted. Both kits came excellently packaged - very well protected for shipment. Upon receiving the kits, I couldn't help myself and had to open the box containing the head cabinets right away. I am very impressed with the finish on the cabinets. The tolex, piping, hardware, etc all is fantastic to look at. All the other components, chassis and hardware were packaged in a separate box. The components are in little sandwich bags, wrapped nicely along with the turret board inside the chassis with shrink wrap. The transformers were all in separate labeled boxes. All this and a copy of the BOM was all that came with the amp. I started with the 6M18, since it is a little bit simpler of a build. This is my third amp or so that I've built from the ground up, so I have a little bit of experience, but I'm still somewhat new. Following the advice of some people online, I did a dry fit test of all the components of the chassis. Right away, I discovered some problems with the chassis (some of which are known issues - for example here): -- The holes for the cap can are not even close. I ended up drilling another hole almost 3/16" away from where the pre drilled hole. -- The hole for the impedance selector switch is barely too small. Drilled it out to fit, though this switch was eventually replaced by one from Tube Depot Otherwise things were fine. I fitted the transformers and organized the unused power transformer leads, covering the ends with heat shrink and zip ties, then turned my attention to the heater wires. For the heaters, I used solid core 18 gauge wire. There is some good information regarding heater wires here. For general chassis wiring, I took some inspiration from the Tube Depot layout - using separate grounding points for power, signal and AC safety ground. Here is the progress just prior to getting started on the main board.

I left some parts unfinished due to wire routing plans. Once the chassis was mostly done, I started on the turret board. The Weber turret board comes with forked turrets, which are nice to solder to. Unlike round turrets, the channel in between the forks makes a little conduit to lay the parts in and solder. No need to wrap the legs of components around the turrets. I did not realize this until I got going, so a couple parts were soldered in "the old way." No big deal. Here is a close up of this in progress:

And a nearly finished board:

Notice the buss bar on the far side. I prefer this set up to soldering to the backs of pots and the brass plate which came with the kit. This bar will serve as a common signal ground. The board was then placed in the chassis and wire routing was started.