Hand-Wired Doesn't Always Mean Better

[GAD]

I love this guy's channel. My favorite comment of his in this vid is "If the manager saw you wiring like this in '65 you'd have been fired."

 

[GAD]

And the follow-up if you're so inclined:

 

[SFIV1967]

Also when he said "terrible point of design" about those inline fuses... "an insult to the owner"... "a lot of spaghetti"...

Ralf

 

[GAD]

Also when he said "terrible point of design" about those inline fuses... "an insult to the owner"... "a lot of spaghetti"...

Ralf

Yeah “insult to the owner” was another good one.

I’m by no means the best but I always try to make my wiring look nice. That thing made me squirm. Simple clean wiring is easier to troubleshoot.

 

[AcornHouse]

Of course, pcb board is also a minefield more and more as he's talked about. Companies are cheating out with the thinnest traces which are prone to damage.

 

[chazmo]

I know I'm preaching to the choir with you, GAD, but there's definitely an art to wiring and especially to fixing bad wiring... I know, in your case, dressing cabling is also an art!!!

I don't know if anyone here worked with folks who were manufacturing machines for commercial sale, but I did for many years. The minicomputer manufacturers here in Massachusetts had some amazing (professional) techs who could deal with incredible detaching/detangling/re-wiring jobs. I always respected and had fun with those people (mostly ladies, by the way). I imagine the situation was the same with those who wired core memories back in the 50s, 60s, and early '70s... Of course, being in it as professionals rather than hobbyists probably had something to do with it.

 

[Neal]

I can think of a lot of things I would rather spend my amp dollars on.

How about finding a real silverface Deluxe Reverb, and pocketing $1000 in savings?

 

[Walter Broes]

Yikes! That's pretty embarrassing for Fender. Especially because it's not your typical average clickbait sensationalized youtube clip, but a calm, intelligent dude who knows his stuff explaining the why's and hows.

And he's right about Headstrong amps - and there are a bunch of other builders too - they do cleaner work, don't skimp on parts and offer a better product.

 

[AcornHouse]

Yikes! That's pretty embarrassing for Fender. Especially because it's not your typical average clickbait sensationalized youtube clip, but a calm, intelligent dude who knows his stuff explaining the why's and hows.

And he's right about Headstrong amps - and there are a bunch of other builders too - they do cleaner work, don't skimp on parts and offer a better product.

I think the whole PRS amp line is a bigger ripoff; something Lyle has also talked about when he's asked to fix one. Boutique prices for import components and design. They should just stick to electrics and not try to be everything (not that I'm drawn to their electrics either, but I would like to try one sometime, just to see how they feel.)

 

[GAD]

Of course, pcb board is also a minefield more and more as he's talked about. Companies are cheating out with the thinnest traces which are prone to damage.

His Mesa videos were eye-opening.

I’ve seen him comment favorably on Suhr amps which somehow makes me happy even though I don’t own one.

 

[GAD]

I know I'm preaching to the choir with you, GAD, but there's definitely an art to wiring and especially to fixing bad wiring... I know, in your case, dressing cabling is also an art!!!

I don't know if anyone here worked with folks who were manufacturing machines for commercial sale, but I did for many years. The minicomputer manufacturers here in Massachusetts had some amazing (professional) techs who could deal with incredible detaching/detangling/re-wiring jobs. I always respected and had fun with those people (mostly ladies, by the way). I imagine the situation was the same with those who wired core memories back in the 50s, 60s, and early '70s... Of course, being in it as professionals rather than hobbyists probably had something to do with it.

I worked on mainframe and minicomputers for years with most of those Mass-based companies like Dec and Honeywell (I did Vax support for many of those years). The insides of the older Vax stuff was all wire-wrap and just insane looking to me as a 25-year-old punk programmer.

There is an art to wire management but it takes time and you have to care and be patient. The wiring of maybe six ground points and two power tube sockets in my JCM800 took me over three hours (but I’m an amateur and not on the clock).

I’ve shown this before, but check out the wire looms on this old nixie board I have from about 1964:

That’s nothing compared with some of the mainframe stuff you’re talking about, but it’s artful work of the same type. These things were made by people who were proud of their work and it was made to last.

 

[jp]

His Mesa videos were eye-opening.

I’ve seen him comment favorably on Suhr amps which somehow makes me happy even though I don’t own one.

I've been watching this guy's vids for a while too, especially his analyses of Voxes. I agree that they are enlightening. It always seems like the majority of issues he finds are often low quality components where they should be dependable and lack of best wiring practices for stability, heat dissipation, and the like--essentially, common failure points. His comments on newer PCB board Fenders didn't surprise me at all.

As a fan of Mesa Boogies, I was also disappointed to see some of his findings. I must say, though, mine have been rock-solid and dependable, despite some pretty tough touring experiences.

Also glad to see his analyses of Suhr's amps. I've been eye balling the Badger series, which is very tempting.