On my first Piccolo I got the cool blue LED backwards and it doesn't light in reverse.

On my second build, I put the LED in place and mounded everything up, fired up the power and waited to see if the light worked ok.

Then I unplugged, ran the soldering iron over the leads and trimmed them up. I love confirmation without solder! This is a great method for guys like me who hate to get it wrong....ever!
Geary I bet your Cornet 2 looks HOT!
Having the light up front is a great conversation maker! We must educate folks about tubes. This is a smart way to get that going.