So I went ahead and trimmed some remaining excesses and tightened a few screws here and there.
The weird very very low volume hiss (I almost have to "look" for it) is still there - although it is not there all the time. I find that I can get rid of it simply by unplugging the headphone jack and replugging it. It is a little weird, because it is independent of the RCA jacks and independent of volume control. Anyone has similar issues? Maybe I might have to try a few other tubes?
Apart from this little issue, the crack w/speedball upgrade works beautifully and it has been a great few days working on this.
Thanks,
Ben