Hi guys,
I've done both. I bought several AZ12 to 5U4G adapters (they're cheap!) and did surgery to see what was necessary. Once I saw the resisitor layout it was easy to use a regular straight blade screw driver to separate the resistors ever so slightly on a "standard" unsurgerized adapter and flatten them a tiny amount through the guide post hole, which then let the tube sit all the way down perfectly. Even better, on one of the adapters I bought, I didn't have to do that at all (but it was the exception) so it seems like a QC issue in China. I wrote to xuling and told him most of his his adapters were faulty and he was surprised, but my guess is that he will now pay attention to the resistors and install them lower to the base making any modification to the adapters such as I have done unnecessary. He also refunded me $30 for the one I did surgery on, which wasn't necessary as its perfectly usable although it ain't pretty. I'm also more comfortable with a ceramic shell than a wood shell for the adapters as I'm not crazy about putting a 235° F tube (that's the actual temp- rectis get hot!) in a wood base even though it's probably pretty safe, but that's just me.
Marty -- Are you using the mesh or plate version of the AZ12?