The board cleaned up almost 100% with just an inch of exposed copper trace. The sacrificial 220 ohm grid stopper melted.
I guess it wasn't carelessness with the tube (the detent on the Sovtek 5AR4 is kinda vestigial) but something else as the same thing happened when I powered up this AM on the bench. Has to be a short on the hidden side of the board. I was fumbling around in the dark before the first time to re-attach a ground to a tranny bolt and I must have fubar'd something.
Blame it on my advancing Glaucoma: (voice of Jim Backus) "Oh Magoo, you've done it again!"
Tomorrow, I'll disconnect and lift the board. As we say in construction, 'there's never time to do it right, but always time to fix it'.
Good to have the Nova Phenomena as a back-up, Acoustic Sounds just came to my door:
Way Out West, Farmers Market Barbecue and Clifford Brown All-Stars.