The stuffing box
A gland does not leak in the photograph first. Daylight shows at the nut.
A packing gland records the drip where the shaft actually walks, not where the paint still looks busy. A ferrule does the same on South Main: a feeler finds the gap long before the player believes the ring has crept.
We slide a feeler at four compass points around the ferrule, then we tap the hosel with a nylon mallet. If the ring clicks only after a truck-hot hour, the problem is expansion, not a starved joint. If it clicks cold, Rhett marks a reset.
When the seven shows daylight and the pitching face is still seated, we refuse a single verdict. That bag is two wells on one log. The seven gets epoxy; the wedge stays until a later gland.
People who want one call for every ferrule are asking the tender to average a leaking well with a dry one. The lantern ring keeps separate drips.