Are Hand Wired Amps Really Better? 

Yup 68 Princeton, had it re capped about a decade ago and that is it.

yup! I've got an early Dr. Z Carmen Ghia head I love

Itd be cool to get a review of those 1x12 Vox AC30s that came out like a year or so ago, I want to get one but the old Custom Classics always would break down. Great video Rhett!

Yup, Goodsell Super 17. My only amp for the last decade.

Yes Vox AC15 combo and AC30 head 50th anniversary series, but it's hand wired in China. Does that make a difference? I've had them serviced and the tech said they were great. They sound great to me.

Totally agree

Absolutely

100% dead on. Any test involving sensory interpretation and preferences needs to be blinded or its worthless.

Hearing with the eyes or nameplates, I used to do this with Peavey products, and others , I hated the look and hideous logo ( Peavey) so they must suck. Circuit curmudgeon’s suck. I’m playing through a Blug Amp-1 Mercury all analog and carefully wave soldered in China ,lol but has glorious arshally tone (s) and feel.

@@michaeltaylors2456 I use a Peavey Classic 50 4x10 from the early 90s. Admittedly I've swapped the speakers and valves but I removed the logo and people always compliment my tone and ask what amp I'm using. Their reactions are priceless when I tell them it's a Peavey.

Astonishing lol

I 1st read 'While hand wired amps sound better, wiring an amp with no hands is much more impressive with feet'. Haha

I prefer wired hand amps.

I prefer foot wired amps.

Nose wired is my fave

Well the thing is a Super Reverb's circuit is different between say 1964 and 1966, slightly. However, if you made a 64 replica by hand and a 66 replica by circuit board in the same manner you'd see the same differences nothing like you'd see between two real Supers of those eras if brand new. I wouldn't put the difference much to the circuit. Its probably the fact that there's a thousand components that were lower quality. Lower quality means different spec tolerances compounded so that circuit board be less representative of what the circuit design intends than a hand wired equivalent of the same circuit. And then of course the speakers. The speaker makes a huge difference so its clear that you lose a lot in that speaker alone.

No kidding! You could have put them both on a PCB and they'd still sound different. If they're using the same components they'll sound the same...the hand wired might have a little more hum depending on how skillful the builder is. It's the circuit and the components that matter (and how the AC in the heater circuit interacts with the signal path...etc.)

Exactly. And I can't wrap my head around hand wiring being more reliable. What a strange industry. So committed to old technology no matter what. Maybe SpaceX will abandon PCBS and go back to the Apollos hand wired control circuits of the 60s because they are "more reliable". Pretty sure reliability is important in the aerospace industry.

P*Funk Yeah it probably has more to do with tolerances and speakers than it does circuit differences.

mijwil Agreed. The only benefits I see with hand wiring an amp is that it’s a little easier to repair because things are right there in front of you. Removing and soldering on PCB can be a real pain in the ass. Again, these aren’t things you can hear unless the hand wired lead dress is garbage and then it’s a noise problem and not as much as a tone issue.

It’s a Fender, that means it’s an old Mexican lady, jeez

Most like likely wired by a teenage girl than an old lady but hey, the amp will sound the same anyway.

@@cliffbraun3850 the pc boards are probably produced in china

Ha ha!

The Fender Blackface '64 PRRI is made in America.

Did you build your Princeton Reverb amp from a particular kit? If so, will you please share which kit you used so I can purchase one. I'd really like to do what you did.

I bought the board and electronics from Hoffman. Chassis,transformers, and choke(?) from Mojotone. Cabinet and speaker from Weber. And you'll need tubes of course. I use Tube Depot. I prefer JJ's FWIW. Good luck.

@@stratoman5504 Why not get everything from Mojotone? Why board and electronics from Hoffman? Where did you get the schematic?

@@tonebenderx Hoffman offered turret boards. I don't like soldering eyelets. His circuit has an improved tremolo which sounds great, and he also incorporated adjustable bias. Seems like soldering in a pot is a lot better than swapping resistors in and out. And as I recall his prices were reasonable. I used Hoffman's schematic and layout drawings.

@@stratoman5504 which weber did you get? my pr clone has a weber 10f150t and i cannot wait to replace it with the wgs vet10 i bought. the weber is too dull and dark for my tastes.

This is what happens when you let a salesman and a guitarists evaluate circuits. Did you test the output tubes to see if the two pairs were exactly matched in gain? (For best results, you should get a matched quartet, and split them between the amps.) Did you test the preamp tubes to see if they were anywhere near close? (I just worked on a brand new 5150 with three (!) bad preamp tubes right out of the box) Did you check the negative bias circuit to see if they were set/responding similarly? Did you check the plate voltages of each amp to make sure there wasn’t a difference in B+ voltage? All these things will drastically affect the tone of the amp, and that doesn’t even get to the audio signal path variances! You cannot plug in two tube amps, even of the same brand and model, and expect them to be the same. You certainly can’t compare two different models with different internal components as being the same amp, and chalk up any differences as being due to hand wired vs circuit board. Too many other variables that a tech would bring up, but a player might not even be aware of.

Very informative

That my friend is awesome info! I totally bought into the salesman/guitarist and pro guitarist commentary...thank you for that 👍

well i think the idea with “hardwired” amps is that no expense is spared. if youre investing hours into the build, youre going to be investing good parts as well. the PCB trend is kind of the posterchild of “cheapest means of production”, slapping together parts that are “close enough”

@@LeeGHThomas I think you meant "hand wired". Both types of amps are, by definition hard wired, in that if a wire is physically connected, it is hard wired (as in the opposite of "wireless"). But you are generally correct, that boutique amps and hand wired amps are usually built to a higher price point with generally better components. If you are willing to pay more for a person to spend the time wiring the amp, you are probably likely to be okay with some upgraded and/or more expensive parts. And that is my point: those better components make the amp possibly sound better - not whether it is hand wired or circuit board. And again, those upgraded parts are (almost always) not exclusive or unique to the hand wired amp. They could just as easily be put into a circuit board amp, and that amp would sound just as good as a hand wired using the same components. It is the components, not the construction method, that makes one amp better or not. (On a side note, I work on a lot of vintage amps that were hand wired and they used some cheap components and some very questionable layout techniques! I've seen some scary stuff in older hand wired amps.) The PCB trend you mention does exist, and is an unfortunate effect in manufacturing and design decisions being dictated by attempts at maintaining the lowest bottom line. But, the market dictates how cheap is acceptable, and those things still sell. There are, however, many PCB based amps that are a beauty to behold. They are well designed, solid construction, and very few corners cut, if at all, on component quality. They are able to sell at maybe a slightly higher price point than some Fender models, but still manage to bring a well built amp at a cost way less than most hand built. Point is, neither platform is a guarantee of a better amp, in quality or sound. It's all about the components. And in this video, they are comparing apples to oranges because they are built with different components. The narrator chalks that up to PCB vs hand wired, and I was trying to explain that is not at all the explanation for any differences they are hearing.

@@jacobray8685 oh it's not his fault it's mandatory

I'm pleased for your win. My only query is how does Rhett get to play the classics without a youtube copyright strike? Many channels suffer from that problem.

@@DaveJavuify check out Rick beatos Video i think it was was called I testified before Congress, he talks about this... Tragic

Awesome!!!! If you ever need a loving home for it, keep me in mind!!

@@jambajoby32 From Black Sabbath to Mark Knopfler.... Bach .... Thanks Jamba!

👀👀👀👀!!!!!

Pretty sweet investment I'd say.

I wish it was $50

My neighbor when i was a kid was a jazz musician and he threw out a 69 Princeton , I was dabbling in guitar and my dad pulled it out of the trash and gave it to me and guess what it diddnt work and unknown to me my dad then put it the garage rafters with my old hockey cards ...30yrs after my dad had passed I found them ...1 tube and a reverb tank later i am still playing that amp ...and love it to death ...

We all love happy endings!

I agree Henry all this dumb ass tech talk . You can make either amp sound good enough to get you through the night.what’s the big deal. who sits up and frets over this kinda shit?

Speakers are massively responsible for the sound.

Yeah not at all 😂

You are delusional if you think speakers aren’t hugely responsible for the sound. Go plug your favorite amp direct, see if you like it without cab sim. Then go plug your favorite amp into the cheapest crappiest speakers you can find, see if you like it. Lol

@@MisterRorschach90 that's what I'm saying I mean that and mic placement is like a pretty overwhelming contribution to recorded sound

yeah, the difference speakers make was a recent big revelation for me. i was going to get rid of my princeton reverb clone (not enough treble), but convinced myself (via forum reading) to try a 60$ wgs speaker instead of the frigging overpriced weber that is in it now. except i haven't tried it yet lol, alll in due time. i also bought a buncha nos tubes.

being a big Keith Richards fan i really like the Ceramic speaker thats a lot brighter. and thats the one in the non hand wired! for that reason sound wise the non handwired is stock clearly the winner.

The two amps are different component and build wise. What the test is comparing is two different versions of a Fender Princeton. Yes it is all the differences that make them sound a bit different, the hand wired aspect speaks more to the build quality than the tone. For some that is highly desirable and others won't care.

What we are testing here is the sound of identical cabs ... oh, wait, the new one is flakeboard

The full hand wired ones feel a little more responsive to pick attack. Otherwise I agree 100%. That’s more to do with component selection/value changes than due to the PCB.

It's a huge difference, it costs way more money for the same sound. Amp makers will tell you the same thing. It's nostalgia only. Speaker choice and cabinet size makes the biggest difference in sound.

I still heard a bit more lower end on the wired amp. Difference in our computer speakers/head sets?

@@billedwards2657 I'm on studio monitors and the pcb amp is way pokier, while the hand wired more compressed

Sean Lew that’s probably more due to the xicon caps in the reissue. Each builder has the preferences.. I’ve seen mojo’s, Jupiter’s, and mallorys make it into the Carr’s and Swarts of the world. I think fender has reproduction Ajax’s in the hardwired. I’d also have to see if they put grid stoppers on the hand wired.

speakers make the biggest difference, then the circuit, pcb vs hand wired does not make the difference you are hearing

Totally agree. And not worth $2,300 bucks for a 12 watt amp.

I have the non hand wired version with that same alnico . The speaker made the difference. As any speaker would.l have a lot of old black face fenders and my non hand wired Princeton sounds very good. I did change output tubes though. It’s a costume color and bought it used for a good price. I have a lot of old amps to compare it to. I don’t have an old Princeton reverb so it is different in comparison but the tone of mine is equally as good as anything that I have. I bought the amp to save ware and tear on my vintage gear. He’s right it’s probably not as durable as the hand wired but for the difference in price I can deal with it. Just have to baby it a little more. But the amp does sound good. I am very very pleased

Not at all. I can smell the snake oil concentration from the hw.

the mic placement is different

@@ctld5266 exactly

I think we're getting more information by them talking about it. And they're convinced one way or another. RU-vid is not the place to make a judgment on a demo through your quarter inch speaker on your phone. But both of them are convinced the handwired sounds better and on this video there's no reason for them to deceive.

@@stringlocker I have no idea what you are trying to say relating to my comment.

Somebody talked about mic placement here I was more talking about that.

With drums and bass drowning your high frequencies and creeping in on your lows? Not a chance. Without solid mids they are absolutely right, a 15W amp would lose tons of definition with the cymbals, snare, and bass completely dominating those highs and lows. Sure, you can cut through with pure volume or a mountain of gain, but not with the sound they'd dialed in. That sound absolutely needs that mid range growl.

@@elixiriszog 100% correct. In live settings, you gotta sit in that 500-700Hz area for you main tone.... especially on humbucker guitars. It's amazing what a boost in those frequencies can do vs trying to be louder.

That might very well be true. I always feel when you put your amp to a really cool setting while you are alone in the rehearsal room, you will probably not cut through when everyone else joins in. And when you turn your amp on alone with the settings of the last rehearsal, it’s sounds crap. :) I have way more treble in live and recording contexts than I like listening too alone. I actually put a sound i like and deliberately put 10- 20% extra treble and lower the mids and bass by 10% afterwards at gigs.

@@groovezilla79 ... good point too. I only play humbucker guitars btw

@@elixiriszog tell that to the $100 crate Billy Corgan used on Siamese dream 😎

The hand-wired has twice the body and crunch as the assembly line model.

Yeah, an EQ pedal could make up for the difference... plus, most of us aren’t doing anything that warrants significant additional cost 😂

@@benjo71472 Better to have the sound from the guitar and amp than some pedal.

Yep, at that point you are just comparing two different amps.

The circuit is the same. The components are different. Axials vs radials.

@@russellesimonetta3835 If the circuit were identical, the tone would have been identical. The components don't matter. Their values do. People seem to think that there is a difference between a $0.05 capacitor and a $25 capacitor. As someone who understands electronics and has experimented with both, I can say there's no difference. These are different circuits.

@@Dartheomus maybe I should have said based on the schematic not the circuit. As to caps I think quality is inportant. I don't like the IC caps Fender likes to use in even their most expensive amps. Saving money on budget caps on a two to three thousand dollar amp is puzzling. F+T'S are with in a dollar or two per electrolic caps. I think the reissue fender amps still sound great actually. I am a life long ,old retired, pro drummer so not an expert,, but an afficiando. When I started I was playing five nights a week next to brand new 64 fender tube amps. During the 70's they started sounding shittier and shittier.

@@Dartheomus Components matter. For example, there are lots of capacitor physical construction variants and materials which affects their frequency response. Different capacitors have different ESR and inductance values that change with temperature and frequency. Thats why there is no standard capacitor. Search for capacitor datasheets and you will see that they are quitte different from each other. If it makes difference sound wise? Not really. There are a lot of other aspects in an amplifier that contributte more significatly to the sound. But if you are engineering a precision radio frequency instrument, as an engineer (which I am) you will have to know how to choose a capacitor.

I am impressed with how much better the non-hand wired sounded with the P10R. But I 100% agree with you.

Dude he literally plugged birth into the same speaker and IMHO the handwired still sounded better

I agree that the speaker makes the biggest difference. But the hand-wired had the exact same transformer(s) and tubes. It is the point-to-point hand wiring and layout of those components that are different. I guess it IS money well spent. If you've got it.

I agree ,different components ,different sound ,not worst ,not better

Didn't they say that the cabs were different?

@@jerrystephenson1172 64 is pine 65 birch

Does pine sound way better?

100 percent this. The best amp in the world is the one that makes you want to play for 100 hours straight, and makes the sounds you hear in your head. Sometimes a real nice boutique hand wired thing is indeed the answer, but not always.

The size and Construction of the cab matter much more than the woods. Jim Lill has a very well put together video about guitar cabinets, and tonewood wasn't a factor. He has a segment at the end comparing birch and styrophome cabs that are the exact same dimensions, there's a difference, but it's so minuscule you'd need some really sensitive ears to hear it the first time around.

Very good point.

Me too

It sounded like a touch more reverb and distortion to me. Just a little. Makes me wonder if you could equalise them...

i have an 85 mesa S.O.B. that is the princeton circuit, but extra gainstage ect... but it doesnt have reverb nor an effects loop.... but has holes for tube sockets and additional jacks... Question... would it be easier to install spring reverb or series effects loop? i would even settle for parallel just to add ANY ambience with a drykill device... your expert advice please.

@@minus9us677 depending on what exactly the jacks are for or where you can pull a tap out to add in external stuff etc. a series efx loop might be a better because an efx loop can be any kind of reverb (just slap it in the cab and plug it in) *and* whatever else you want, whereas something that's just reverb will often stay just reverb.

@@minus9us677 Series effects loop will be the easiest. Just have to find or make 2 3/8" holes to mount the jacks. should be able to tap in just before the phase splitter.

@@LawrencePetross the amp is retarded loud, i understand tapping before the phase inverter, just 2jacks that self defeat inline? no caps or resistors? the amp sounds great, just needs a loop badly.

@@minus9us677 I can't find a pic of the back of this amp. Does it have a jack labeled preamp out and one labeled power amp in? They'll probably be on the back

ah yes I remember Little Mountain studios drove past every day for years going to work I believe Randy Bachman ,and Joni Mitchell recorded there at the same time, and the good old Band Chilliwack, those where the days of real music.

With out the beautiful gear, I wish the production of the record wasnt so "produced"

The placebo effect is not an optional pedal.

Didn't he say the circuits weren't the same as well? If the mids and treble are different, it's probably the result of different values in the EQ section of the circuit. It's a fact that the originals weren't using high quality components...

no, "better components" is also BS. Components may be +-10% according to the spec, but more expensive ones may be more likely to actually be in their spec range. But given two resistors in the circuit, both nominally say 2000 ohms, and both say really 2037 ohms, the sound will be identical even if one is NASA surplus and the other ripped out of a Chinese toy of some sort. Nice ones may drift less as they age. But ohms are ohms. Farads are farads. Cheap and stellar sound identical.

Actually I'm tempted to call BS on that. I realize more expensive components may age differently or have different voltage limits, or be more likely to be within their spec range, but otherwise, a resistor is a resistor. How could "better" be the factor you say it is?

@@lqr824 a mini is a car but not as good as a Rolls Royce! Easy comparison. Better quality equals better sound.

@@rgbplumbinghilton how is that possible? The comparison between a Mini and Roller is not apt at all. I'm puzzled you would even say that if you are an amp builder. At best you might claim one is a car built on an assembly line and the other is bolted together by hand out of identical parts. (Or in the case of this video, sometimes different parts that nonetheless function identically from an engineering perspective.)

@@lqr824 it was just a basic comparison as I don't know how technical you are. A production built mini would not be as good or as expensive as a hand built mini. I have built a few amps, one when I started in 2003 was a 5e3 using budget components. Everything was cheap Chinese stuff except the transformers and speaker. I built the same amp in 2004 using resistors that cost over 4 x the price and F and T caps. NoS GEC valves and better wire. Better CTS pots and Alnico speaker. The tonal difference was a mile apart and so was the cost. Now I am not saying resistors make much difference but Caps do and do speakers valves and pots. All marginal but big together. Now if you think it's BS and you are happy with the amp you have great. My comment was aimed at a comparison that is not a fair one due to componant level. It is really a budget Vs Boutique and our ears could tell which sounded best.

@@rgbplumbinghilton Speakers make a huge difference, utterly night and day, I'll grant, but I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT SPEAKERS. Tubes too. I'm talking about resistors, capacitors, and so on. I can tell a CTS pot by spinning it. It feels great and maybe it lasts far longer, but when you tell me it sounds better I say you're full of BS. I won't say you're lying as you may just not know any better. By comparing two amps with different speakers and tubes, no surprise they sound difference. The sad thing is you're naive enough to think it was the wires and the brand of the pots. No, Richard, it's not. And as I mentioned the tolerance band for the parts is pretty big, and parts are delivered that don't even match their tolerance band as well. Tell me you matched like for like actual resistance, actual capacitance and used the same tubes and speakers, and only then do I even want to hear your opinion on which wire or pot sounded better. As it is you don't even know enough to know how stupid you sound.

I wouldn’t pay the DIFFERENCE amount for an amp. That might be because a friend lets me use his Deluxe Reverb (bought new in 67/68 for a quickie PA to do announcing for his dance band in high school. I get my tube fix without the big investment. It’s a gem, in mint condition, but my lowly Peavey backstage plus (it’s “vintage” now) and a Fender Mustang II will suit me fine.

Majority of which is Labor cost to be made in the U.S.

I'm going to have to agree. Though I wasn't in the room, and my internet audio is far from great. It did sound to me like the difference I heard (up until around 11:30:00 or so) could have come from a difference in bias setting. Just that alone, on the same amp, with the same tubes, can make radical changes in the performance, tone, response of the amp. That said; back in the day, I got a silver faced deluxe for really cheap. Not bad. Pretty good, actually. I decided to see if hand wiring would really make a difference. Removed all the components from the circuit boards. Made a turret board that would lay out the components (the exact components from the PCB) as close as possible to an original hand-wired, and rebuilt the whole amp by hand. I did this just because.... Just because I wanted to see if it would really make a difference, and if so, how much. End result; it did make a change. But not a lot. I was more careful with wiring paths since I was not in a hurry on a production line. (which helps) I was happy that I did it. But except for the noted points about reliability and serviceability, I wouldn't shell out scads more money for what little bit of difference I heard in my experiment. Just one person's personal experience.

this "would-be" the ultimate test,, the rest of this is just blah"blah mid scoop yawn,,,

@@aceraspire7456 Personally I think *if something fails* then it may serve to handwire the replacement. But probably not until then. The first busted potentiometer would have me tossing that whole front board out. Get me some big chonky connector to interface it with the main PCB too, to ensure good contact for years (then Deoxit, wiggle, and you're good for a few more years). BTW, I still have an 8.9" Acer Aspire One. It's pretty amazing what they managed to cram in there, yet still be relatively easy to take apart.

@@mal2ksc Your idea does make much more sense than mine does. But mine wasn't really meant to satisfy any existing need or to right anything that was wrong. Just simply; "I wonder...." I got the amp super-cheap; so not much of a loss if it all went down the tubes. (*see what I did there?) But I wasn't worried about that since I'd been diddling around with electronics for many years already. My experiment was as much a 'make-work' project for fun as it was to see what the difference would be. I knew it would be better physically and practically. But I was curious (like the concept of this video) what the sonic difference might be also.

@@aceraspire7456 Well I figured with a name like "acer aspire" you'd know about the "shotgun method" of troubleshooting, as frequently practiced in the computer world -- tear it down to the board level, then put it back together and see if it works. If you had a bad solder joint -- you don't anymore! This can be faster than actually tracking down the bad solder joint, but it can also lead to a habit of tearing things apart without bothering to properly diagnose them first.

Take the money you were going to spend on an amp and give it to Ben for guitar lessons.

Same Oxford as the speaker units in a Fender Twin reverb from the late 70's? Im looking at one at the moment and my friend who is an authority on Twin reverbs claim it has "Oxford" speakers, dont know anything about it 😄 Cheers

I just picked up a first generation EV sro/12 alnico in great shape for 100 bucks today, I'm so stoked, I think it's gonna go in a closed-back front-ported 1x12 I got...do you know the power handling?

is it yr opinion that the speakers have to 'break' in order to acheive their full tone?

I think they have switched the speaker so that they are using the same one for each amp

So true Robert, and I own two point to point Fender amps.

No bc the feel as a player would not be there . If this were the case u can replicate any amp with a eq pedal. U can reproduce sound but u cannot reproduce the sustain, compression aka voicing the amp has .

Can't make it feel and react the same though. The difference is not only to do with sound. A Novice player probably won't notice as much, but someone who knows what they're doing will absolutely notice and that extra special ingredient that the hand wired amp has, is absolutely worth it. It's not just EQ it's the harmonics and the richness of the amp and the way that it compresses and holds together. The EQ is only one aspect.

What would of happened if your right hand wasn’t on ur guitar strings? Glad u are ok!

Man I was playing my dad's old 60's windowmaker noname amp that still had a two prong power cord and was trying to plug a speaker into my computer to hear music to play to. One hand on the guitar and as soon as my other hand touched the back panel of the computer...SQUEEEEEK..was about the only sound I made but I felt that bolt shoot through my heart with this sick pop. I felt for sure that my heart had literally skipped for at least a full second. To this day the grossest feeling Ive very felt.

I think the same guy wired up the speaker cable later. So I don't think he's an electronics noob.

Me two I have owned mine since 2008 - and it really sounds great with a 2 x 10 closed back Tremollux Cabinet along with the built in Speaker together...

I liked both amps. The non hand wired seemed brighter and less muddy, yet slightly less resonant. I’d be happy to own it still.

Ditto - I preferred the sound of the non hand wired

I thought the hand-wired was 'noisier'. The printed had a much more clean signal to me

My ears must be going bad. I didn't hear a whole lot of difference at all, and I even tried those torture device ear buds and watched the video over and over.

a phone is actually a pretty simple thing to handwire. and if it is subsequently connected to a proper landline it will likely sound better and get better reception than the do-everything app infested pocket mini computers everyone is carrying around these days. a simple guitar amplifier is pretty much the same thing...it is designed to do ONE thing....be a guitar amp...a real "phone" is the same...it does ONE thing....the thing in your pocket is NOT a "phone", so it's an unfair comparison.

I wish he had used a signal splitter and rocked both at the same time, would've been a great soumd for the studio

No no no, there is no difference between standard and HW. It's just different speaker and probably slightly different component values (they vary +-10% according to the spec, but some components won't even actually meet that spec) and different knob positions. Speakers make a HUGE difference and these guys could have played both heads through the same speaker. They really did a disservice to all the people commenting that HW vs PC sound different.

see at 12:40

They also played both amps through the alnico speaker.

You're correct. But even more than that, there's nothing magic about a hand wired circuit which guarantees it'll sound better. It could just as easily sound the same, or worse than a PCB layout. Any remaining differences between these two after going through the same speaker are likely the result of the different components used (and any circuit differences, if there are some), rather than the point to point wiring. Copper traces on PCBs are just as conductive as copper wires.

@@400_billion_suns Possibly if the same components were used in both amps! They weren't the same because of bean counters! Also the cabinets may have been different (Wood vs Press Board).

I think part of what happens is that the hand wiring is expensive on labor. So, they upgrade the speaker and components to make it sound better to justify the added cost. I also could see being able to replace individual components as a plus if it was something that would get used touring. But, that could be done with the boards if they wanted.

not nearly as much as a completely different speaker..bias 0.05% speaker 75%

You should've waited, they did put the non-handwired through the handwired speaker. When in haste...

@@cosmikrelic4815 I promise you they would sound the same if the part values and speakers matched. I bet they are not biased the same. Which changes a lot. And the values for each component is not identical. If they were. They would sound identical. All my amps are custom built by a famous builder. Hand wired on turret boards. He also builds with pcbs. Altho his are custom made for him. Heavy duty military grade. Just as durable and easy to fix as handwired. Fender uses cheap shit pcb. And his amps sound identical between his pcb and handwired or ptp

@@patrickrosington1174 Don't make promises you can't keep. I don't know what you are getting at. I agree they would sound the same with the same components, did anyone say any different? You baled saying they were different speakers but didn't wait to see that they changed speakers, that's all. But I guess having all booteek amps makes you an expert on all things. We call that entitled here.

@@patrickrosington1174 So you're saying if they were the same amp then they would sound the same? But they are not the same amp.... so they don't sound the same.

Issue addressed.

Did the same thing. '65 WAY better! The '64 was a dry and bassy story...

@@MarchPancake no shit?

@@bobbystereo936 the 64 is the handwired thats much more expensive so yea thats why its suprising

I noticed the 68 princeton is very bassy! The best one I've played is the bourduex with the 12inch alnico, What a dream amp!

use headphones dude

The hand wired is warmer but it also has a different speaker so that could play a part. My son uses his AC 15 & 30 (heads) paired with a vintage 30 speaker for his church worship so they are both warmer than the combo that usually comes with a Greenback which gives you those glassy highs and mids of the typical Vox.

On an iPad without headphones, everything sounds the same.

not true. the store is getting free promo, and/or rhett paid them. any store would do it for that

@@email3575 of course they’re getting promotion, it’s only fair. As does any store that’s featured in any sort of video. And unless you have proof Rhett paid Ben extra then that’s just a false claim.

@@email3575 but you and I both know that if we walked into a regular Guitar Center or Sam Ash they are not going to take the amps that are on the floor apart just so we can see what’s inside of them for a random video.

Wiring an amp is not usually done to be aesthetically pleasing. It’s done to negate interference. The prettiest wiring job could make the amp hum like garbage.

Yes

Asking the real questions

There are kits to replace the circuit board with an eyelet board and convert a new amp to handwired. I don't know how much the labor runs but if someone is charging $100/hour I'd expect him to knock it out in no more than 4 hours. The components couldn't cost more than $3-400. Or you can buy a handwired amp made by any of the companies that specialize in that sort of thing. Or you can buy an old amp.

Near the End !

Charles Peck time in video?

@@charlespatrick8650 You can find it as well as I! I would have bring it up and search so you do that!

I knew they weren't gonna do that because why would they? Well it would be scientifically helpful to see if the handwired in the ceramic speaker sounded worse than vice versa, but they don't think that way those guys who are into this gear.