Glue choices for making the Garrard 301 plinth

Oh, if you’re willing to use the hot hide glue, even better! I’ve never used Titebond’s Hide Glue, but as it comes pre-made in a bottle, it’s not as "genuine" as the professional, industrial hot stuff I have used. Once that stuff is made, it has to be kept heated in electric pots, or it will fairly quickly be hard as a rock. Once it dries and cures, it is impossible to even dent with a hammer. Regular wood glue is like soft taffy in comparison.

At the hardwood store I went to last week in Portland, they sell versions of Baltic Birch with outer veneers of a number of different woods: maple, walnut, the list went on and on. The drawback of solid hardwood is that it’s grain and fiber structure all run in one direction, without the 90 degree "cross-bracing" provided by plywood. And the solid wood is subject to seasonal expansion and contraction, responding to moisture (humidity) in the air. Warping is not uncommon. Solid hardwoods lack the structural stiffness and damped characteristics of plywood. But any one of them may provide a "flavoring" you find pleasing. You won’t know till you build it, install the table, and listen!

Titebond's Genuine Hide Glue would be an excellent choice. Hide glues are "stiffer" and harder than are "regular" glues, which exhibit a little "give". I used hide glue when I was working in a cabinet shop, the glue made by pouring dry hide powder (bought in large bags) into a "trough" and adding hot water, mixing the two together and letting it cook overnight. It was a messy, stinky substance, but it's the best glue structurally.

And that's what you want in a plinth---no relative motion between the layers of wood (or whatever) you make the plinth out of. As for the wood, there is nothing better than 18mm 13-ply Baltic Birch Plywood, available in 4' x 8' and 5' x 5' sheets for under $100. Take a look at the details Art Dudley provided in his article in Stereophile from a few years back, on his building of a plinth for his TD-124.