Are Hand Wired Amps Really Better?
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2020
- I've always wondered about the differences between hand wired and non hand wired amps in how they sound and feel, so when Righteous Guitars got their hands on two Fender Princeton Reverbs, one hand wired and the other not I jumped at the chance to shoot them out against each other.
Fender 65 Princeton Reverb Non Hand Wired (affiliate link)
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Fender 64 Princeton Reverb Hand Wired (affiliate link)
imp.i114863.net/c/2330848/794...
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Are you a hand wired amp player?
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.
I feel like there's so much confirmation bias around these kinds of tests if they're not blind. The hand-wired amp is twice the price and has more expensive everything, so any difference is perceived as an improvement. So the circuit board amp is brighter. Perception: 'Too' bright, 'too' scooped', Hand-wired is 'warmer', etc. Whereas if the more expensive amp was the brighter one and the cheaper one was the darker one, the conclusion would be that the more expensive one was clearer, had more sparkle and chime, and the darker one was 'dull' and 'muddy'. Of course there's going to be a difference, but the question is whether that difference is 'better'. This is why a blind test is always better. Make your comments about the different tones without knowing which one you're listening to. Otherwise you will always hear what you want to hear.
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.
While hand wired amps sound better, wiring an amp with no hands is a much more impressive feat!
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
I feel sorry for the old Chinese lady in Ming Province that didn't get a shout out because she wired the PC board.
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.
There is another option. Build your own. I built a Princeton Reverb for a little over $1000. This is a hand wired amp, built on a turret board with discrete, quality components. It sounds amazing, and has been relentlessly reliable. There are a couple of caveats. A beginner to electronics should build a couple of smaller projects first. Maybe a pedal kit or two. And you have to be meticulous, patient, and willing to double check every connection. But when you get that sweet tone from an amp that you built, it is a very rewarding thing.
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.
I work on amps for a living, I specialize in Fender tube amps, and I can say in no uncertain terms, there is no tone difference between hand wired vs printed circuit board. That doesn’t change the sound of the circuit, different components do. Tolerances in component values (up to +/- 20%) can have two amps built exactly the same, yet sounding completely different.
You are showing two different amps. Just look at the tone caps, on the hand wired, they are Fender Blue Molded, on the printed board they are Illinois caps, way lower quality, and a different tone characteristic. That alone would change the tone of the amp as much or more than anything else.
Honestly, the only difference between the two formats (other than ease of access for repairs) is quality of solder joints. Point to point can get you a nice big solder joint, very strong. Fender has a reputation for using very thin solder traces on their circuit boards that have a tendency to break under stress. As a repairman, that’s the number one difference. Components can be switched out, bias can be altered, a thousand things can affect the tone of the amp. Hand wired vs circuit board is not one of them.
People like to try to convince themselves that hand wired sounds better. It does not. It costs more to have a person do in four hours what a machine can do in minutes. That is what you are paying for. Not some magically “better” amp. Just a higher labor cost. That’s it. (Admittedly, you are also paying for a few upgraded components in this particular hand wired amp, but you can throw many of those same upgraded components into a pcb based amp too. Fender has just chosen not to in this model.)
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.
“The circuits are slightly different, the components are different....the speakers are different”
*shocked Pikachu face when they sound different*
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.
The difference in sound is not about hand wired or not, it is about:
"The circuits are slightly different, the components are different....the speakers are different”
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. UA-cam 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.
- The circuits are slightly different, the components are different, the speakers are different
- So I guess the main thing we're testing out today is handwired vs non-handwired
- Yeah
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
Here’s a Princeton story for ya, back in 1974 I was 14, my dad took me to a garage sale and bought me an unbeknownst original 1964 Princeton Reverb Amplifier for forty dollars, I’m glad my stupid teenage years didn’t destroy it, so guess what....I still have it and it sounds wonderful.
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!
In 1968 I walked into a music store that hadn't officially opened. I saw a used Princeton Reverb picked it up and looked for someone to pay. I scared the guy - I wasn't suppose to be in the store. He just said give me $50. I still have it. Pretty cool.
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 $50
You could take two hand wired amps of the same model and they will sound different. Components have tolerances that could affect the tone. I started building my own amps mostly because of the way Fender takes all kinds of shortcuts including cheap components, flimsy circuit boards
. The hand wired version has the same cheap IC (Illinois Capacitor) filter caps, you’d figure for twice the price you’d get some nice Sprague or F&T caps.
the two different Speakers by itself make an incredible big difference in Sound.
I won a 15$ bet Rhett would play the wind cries Mary! 😂😂😂
@@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
A short story to illustrate my previous points: Back in the 90"s Jimmy Page was in Vancouver recording an album with David Coverdale at Little Mountain recording studio. My bud and colleague, Jim Sirvus (guitar tech extraordinaire) was his tech for the recording. I owned/ran a service/ repair company called the Audio Doctor through the 80-90's. I did all their amp and processing gear service for them over about 4 months. Page had many amps and guitars here, as you might guess. They sent over one of "those" Marshall 100 W plexi's. After troubleshooting it, I discovered that the output transformer was pooched. I didn't have the right transformer in stock and delivery was weeks away from the Canadian distributer in Montreal. I did have a HIWATT 100 watt output transformer (Partridge -manufacturer? ). I installed it, tweaked the bias, did some maintenance stuff, and played through it.LOUD. And guess what it sounded like? It was that somewhat bright-ish Townshend HIWATT....... "KKKKKRANG"!!!!!. I was more than a little nervous (being a total, unrepentant fanboy- like you would imagine) about sending it back to the studio sounding quite different than stock. Guess what? He loved it. I am guessing that it added to the colour palet of the 20-30 other amps he had brought over the pond to Canada. I also discovered that he brought over about 6 RCA BA-6 tube limiters--(a 50's broadcast limiter with an output section similar to a 6V6 o/p tube Fender amp of the day).... maybe the key to his killer acoustic sounds.And I did, courtesy of Mr Sirvus and Page, get to play "those" Les Pauls, the ES-1275 and Danelectro's. I nearly peed. haha. He (Page) was also a very nice guy, a true gentleman and very verbally appreciative, which surprised me somewhat, especially for someone who has had their ass kissed, probably both literally and figuratively, for the last half-century.
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 hard-wired reminds me of vintage amps with those big thumpy, _oompf_ sounds. It definitely adds some depth like you're in a bigger room. (Prob great for live.) But both are really nice, I like the clarity/treble in the not hand-wired one.
I had 4 Princeton Reverbs at one time. A '69, two '74's, and a '78 With the same tubes and speakers, and biased the same, all 4 still sounded different. I sold 2, and kept the 2 that sounded the best, which were the '69 and one of the '74's. But people forget that the wood in the cabinet also has an effect on how the amp sounds. Solid pine sounds much different than the pressboard that was used on the later models. Bottom line is, get an amp, set it how it sounds good to you, and go gig. The crowd will never know the difference from one Princeton Reverb to another.
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.
IMO, the speaker is 60% of the tone of any amp setup. That said, the handwired amp wins hands down in this comparison. Also, even though they have the same tube types and brands, tubes vary greatly piece to piece so can't discount that aspect either. Those wonderful poly caps in the handwired have such a wonderful smooth treble response. Soooo smooth!!!
Let me know if you want some mods for that baby. I designed and built handwired tube amps for years before starting my pedal biz. Still build some here and there.
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
Which sounds best is subjective to an individuals ear. That being said HUGE difference between the two. I personally thought the hand wired had a much richer sound.
Me too
It sounded like a touch more reverb and distortion to me. Just a little. Makes me wonder if you could equalise them...
Hi Rhett,
I super love this video and the comparison of both amps. I have played guitar since the 1960’s so I started with point to point.
Thank you for sharing this with all of us. I must say that this is my favorite of your collection at this point. I super enjoy your playing and musical level and every time I watch you I learn something new. 😎👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Interesting comparison! The handwired one worked better for me as well. Although, I would've just loved to hear that brown Princeton sitting next to the wall. The 6G2 circuit - at least the original - is one of my all-time favourites. Great midrange, great tremolo and beautiful breakup. Thanks and all the best!
Perhaps the more important question that was only touched on, is the better quality components used in the hand wired amp. This to me is more likely to account for tone, along with the alnico speaker. Go to an online parts store and see the different prices for the same value caps for instance. Some boutique amps are made with circuit boards. When done to the highest quality standards, I doubt you could tell the difference. Quality is quality.
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.
"The speakers are different but.." ok lol, like that's not hugely responsible for the sound
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
I've been on UA-cam since 2007 and hands down this has been the best tube amp info I've ever listened to. I've been fortunate enough to only buy hand wired amps vintage/new and always wondered if it was worth the money - You convinced it was WELL worth the money to buy a hand wired amp. No doubt to my ears that it was worth every penny. Great video. cheers
Wow that speaker made a huge difference. Price wise, it definitely sounds worth it to get the regular one and upgrade the speakers! But that’s just me anyways
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.
Funny thing is I feel like the non-hand wired one would actually cut through a mix better.
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 😎
Ultimately, this are completely different amps that happen to share a tone circuit that is executed with entirely different components. It was an interesting comparison. In our horses for courses world, there'll definitely be folks who actually prefer the "budget" Princeton with the ceramic speaker. My vote was for the hand-wired, as I really liked the fullness and the midrange. It would be very interesting to further experiment with the cheaper unit with putting in the best possible speaker and then using an EQ at the front of the signal chain to further sculpt the tone.
Rhett, your videos are amazing. I'm a fairly recent subscriber and I'm very impressed. Video quality, content, angles and your presentation. Love it.
I love how Rhett defers to others when posing the questions about these myriad of aspects of guitar-ing. There is a certain humility about this channel I love and we can all learn from. Bravo!
He sure does love being called humble..
I felt as though the non-hand wired had more clean headroom? Different speakers though, so its' hard not being in the actual room.They both sound great. My all time favorite guitar amp. This was really great. Enjoyed it. oNe LovE from NYC
Speakers make a HUGE difference. I was a speaker engineer for Oxford in the 70s and 80s. The cones, magnets, plate chamfering, voice coil wiring... all make far more difference in tone than hard wired vs circuit board. Given a reasonably good tube amp, save the money and replace the speaker with a Good speaker. For a couple hundred dollars a speaker upgrade can turn a decent amp into a Great amp. Unfortunately it is hard to "demo" speakers to find the tone you want.
Long term, your electrolytic capacitors dry out and need to be replaced (or upgraded) and it is a lot easier to do that on a hand wired amp.
My rig is a 60s Bassman, with speakers based on the sound I want. Fav is an old EV SRO in a sealed baltic birch cab.
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?
Well done comparison! I’d pay the diff for the HW. I think you’re comments about durability, historical serviceability, and possible customization of individual components were all excellent observations, and would easily tip the scale for me. Not to mention the fact I’d be cutting one or more circuit boards out of my life. It just feels right on principle. 😎
Great video, thanks! I think the bottom line with "Hand-wired" vs PCB is servicability. I haven't played 2 vintage Princetons that sound the same - But, I do know that amps from the 50s/60s are still around and very easy to be serviced! Servicability is a big deal to me. More bang for my buck. Nothing wrong with the PCB Princeton. its a great amp too.
Hand wired all day long every day. The inside of the amp is even prettier than the outside. Craftsmanship is fantastic. Repairable. That amp will last for a lifetime and beyond. To me its worth it. I've built a couple amps and its a ton of fun and a ton of work. So the price is totally justified to have an American craftsman do that beautiful job. I think sound wise they both sound awesome. It's more about durability, where it's made, pride of workmanship, and some of that vintage vibe. For reference I've built two hand wired tweed amps and it takes a lot of time and work to do it well and make it clean and organized. I took a lot of pride in doing mine and I'm sure the guys building these hand wired amps at Fender are really proud of their hard work and it shows.
When they used the same speaker it was hard to hear much of a difference
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.
Yeah, that point-to-point wiring in that '64 Classic is really really clean. Very well done, to your partner, man. Great work.
Thanks for this video. This is an eye opener to anyone who is considering a hand wired amp. I do agree hand wired sounds better but really appreciate the physical showing of the guts and how that differs in so many ways. Thanks! I learned a lot! Great Video!!!!!
They sounded a lot closer when playing through the same speaker. But in the first part I gotta say I actually tended to like the sound of the non-handwired
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.
The speaker made a difference.
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.
I was just in here today! Ben is AWESOME! He has been sooo helpful to me. I am a newbie. He has helped me solve a couple of problems that I didn't realize I had with my guitars. I will be taking mine back to him for a setup and new nut sometime in the near future.
Thanks for making this video, Rhett. I was looking for info on the handwired deluxe reverb actually, but this was informative all the same. I think I could get away with a change the speaker, and a few of the tone caps on the Mexican amp.
I've been very happy with my 65 PRRI so far but this video proves it can sound even better. Listened to the speaker swap portion 3 times now and I'm hard pressed to hear any significant difference. I'm going to swap out the $50 C10R ceramic for a $125 P10R alnico and and tell myself I saved a $1000. I'm good at that kind of math! Thanks for posting.
Handwired sounds great, but I think the biggest difference is the alnico vs ceramic speaker.
Thanks, Rhett. 51.5 weeks ago, and this is super timely for me. Played a ton of both. Will not compromise. This just confirms it.
Thanks a $million for that. You guys covered almost every angle on the amp comparisons. That better speaker made the biggest change IMO for the money. I am however, an amp tinkerer. Easy to test the components and swap them out on the hand wired. The cheaper caps and resistors in the stock model could be the cause of the EQ diff. The values tend to be more variable. I have two old champs and have modded them some for excess hiss etc. but by no means an expert.
OK, there's a super nerdy follow up to this. Take both amps to a good amp tech and measure the bias of the power tubes. To me, once you eliminate the speaker as a factor the biggest difference in tone was that the hand wired amp sounded like it was biased hotter. I'd love to hear how getting the idle plate current values on the factory amp to match the hand-wired one would sound. The speaker was 80% of the difference with those two amps. I'd wager the tube biasing is at least another 10% on top of that.
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.
First off, Ben is a SMOKING guitar player.
Secondly, Handwired for sure wins. To me, the extra money is worth it for reliability and longevity- ESPECIALLY if you travel with it regularly. If you just want a Princeton, grab the '65RI and swap in the Alnico 10. Great for at home use.
Great video man!
Take the money you were going to spend on an amp and give it to Ben for guitar lessons.
Thanks for showing the guts of each. I'm hooked on hand wired DIY versions.
That was such a great video - thanks so much - just what I needed!!
Would have to play both to decide which one I'd pick.
Standard - More Top End
HW - More Mids
Through the same speaker the difference is not as big
Probably I'll take a normal one and upgrade the speaker
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.
As Rhett said, don’t open up your amp. Accidentally touched a capacitor with my left hand, and I had my right hand resting on my guitar strings, so the current went up my left arm, through my heart, and out the right arm and zapped the strings. According to my Apple Watch, my heart rate was alternating between 40 and 190bpm for the next 15 minutes.
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.
Sir your channel is so educational I love it !!!
Had a Deluxe a few years back that I couldn;t get on with. I put a Weber in it that improved things but, still just wasn't "there" Watching this video is so reminiscent of that situation. The Handwired amp sounds right/"There" . Expensive. Worth it. Thanks for this video!
Soooooo... The components AND the speakers are different? they're not the same amp then. the difference your hearing isn't the wiring lol most tone comparisons show that the speaker plays the biggest role in tone shaping when comparing two similarly voiced amplifiers. That being said even with the shared speaker tests we are hearing deferent circuits.
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
I own a ‘65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue that decided it wanted to be rebuilt around November 2018. I gutted it and put a Hoffman parts kit in it and when it came to life, there was definitely an audible difference, and for the better. Same tubes and everything! Different components, that’s the only difference. I swapped the 100w Jensen for a 35w and WOW, even better.
Again, what can't be beat about hand-wired amps is their gloriously quick, cheap, and easy serviceability. This cannot be emphasized enough. With basic electronic circuit knowledge, soldering skills and solid safety practices, you're golden. Eyelet boards are a total breeze to replace old worn out/out of spec components on, and even mod should you wish it (which is exactly what I did when I turned my AB165 into a AB165/AA864 hybrid with extra mods - all non-destructive and easily reversible). In my 25 years of owning this amp, I've never once required an amp tech, and doubt I ever will.
I have a 69 Princeton, the handwired sounds a lot like real vintage
it has that elusive "bloom" in the low mids that really makes vintage amps awesome
the regular is almost all bright highs
My first amp (that I still have) is a '64 Princeton Reverb. Paid $300 back in 1977. It was a lot of money at the time. It's still an incredible sounding amp.
What you have to also investigate is the pre-amp tubes between the 2 amps. Fender bought out Groove Tubes and thus they do not manufacture tubes...they rebrand. I suspect that one amp has Sovtek 12ax7WA tubes and the other has Sotvek 12ax7 WC tubes...and sonically they are different response which is what you are hearing to a great extent.......as you note the character of the amps change with the speaker being used. I do tube amplifier service as well as build, so the circuit board amp is not service friendly but can be dealt with and changed. The control panel board can be swapped out with normal parts to eliminate the circuit board and then be tied in to the main board. The biggest factor is that they used Illinois brand capacitors which can be swapped out. The electrolytic caps have a service life anyway and can be swapped out at the point in their cycle....or just changed out if you don't want to wait. The signal caps are a matter of taste......but the actual pre-amp tubes are critical sonically as you can see with the speaker change. If you can imagine the gauge of wire being used in the hand wired chassis......and rolling the copper out flat......then comparing that to the traces on the circuit board of the non-hand wired amp......>>>>in AUDIO applications.....the lows travel better with thicker wire and the high travel better with thinner wire. SO the circuit board can be retrofitted by using wire between the solder pad points as a secondary over the traces.....which might give the visual appearance of a real hack job when it actually has a purpose. The average amplifier tech would be completely baffled.......
Nice string buzz after the plank adjustement!
As expected, the two amps sounded differently due to the different components, speaker and maybe even circuit schematic. Given a practically identical set of components and circuit for both amplifiers, the handwired vs non-handwired construction should not influence at all, as electrically they would practically be the same thing. Due to different layouts and wire placements on the handwired variant's board, it would be easier to replace components and debug, but that's a separate subject. Great demo and playing guys, they both sounded magnificent cranked with the black strat!
0:35
The circuit is different. You can't do an apples to apples comparison.
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.
The proper way to do these comparisons is blindfolded. That's the only way to filter out ego/preconsceptions. 🎸🎶
The placebo effect is not an optional pedal.
I play a 1965 Princeton Reverb , I just went through it and replaced all the caps and the power transformer . It's back to new .....It enough to play any gig I play theses days .....
Super interesting comparison, thank you! I think the heart of the matter is is contained in the snippet at 12:35, where the same riff is played through the same speaker. I was genuinely surprised to hear that the handwired amp does sound slightly warmer and less harsh at that point. I don't know if I would say "far and away" better, but I didn't feel the amp react myself either. I also am curious if the general EQ of the 65 changed from the 64, i.e. the actual circuit design.
He should have been been blindfolded and had his friend switch inputs so he wouldn't know which one he was playing. Results may have been the same but the confirmation bias would be removed from the equation.
Very good point.
Maybe it’s cause I was watching through my TV, but I really liked the tone of non hand wired stock. Sounded like it has better head room.
Nice video, thorough and fair. I agree with your winner. With a speaker swap and pedal no one could hear a difference live though.
A replica of the handwired circuit can be found by many handfuls of quality, skilled builders for half the price of the Fender.
....so today we learned how important speakers and cabs are....shocking
That '64 Custom sounds glorious. I'm just finishing up the conversion of a noisy PCB amp to a handwired 6G2 brownface Princeton clone. I'm hoping it's going to be as big a difference between its old and new incarnations. I've got an alnico Jensen coming for it.
When I finally started to learn to play (after 50 years) I found that, much to my delight,
every amp is an instrument in itself and requires that 'special touch' to really bring it out
This wasn't really a test of Wired, vs non-wired. Right at the start they said the components aren't the same. They'd have to actually use exactly the same components for it to be a true test.
I remember the first time I opened a Fender amp, 50 years ago, and I thought I was looking at a world war II radio. Unbelievable quality and these models are still sold for very high prices, which tells you that Leo Fender really created a perfect product.
You WERE looking at a WWII radio! That's from where Leo Fender took his ideas, the radio shack!
Really enjoyed this. I would just point out that for $100 you can put a 10 band eq on your board and make all the tonal adjustments you need and save yourself the $1,300 difference. There are a lot of eq limitations on Fender amps, especially in the mids.
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.
Excellent comparison! Thank you.
I never really experienced hardwired until recently. I got a handwired JTM45 head for £400 off eBay and was blown away by the quality. Probably only got it so cheap due to the brand name being from a builder who is now retired and wasn’t too well known at the time. Will definitely look into more now.
Rhett, It's not a fair comparison, you make everything sound good!! I guess the old adage is true: "Tone is in the hands of the beholder"
The funny thing is, looking at the sound alone, Leo Fender would have probably preferred the non hand wired for it is slightly cleaner sounding, which has probably to do with the mid scoop.
That said, i do prefer the hand wired amp.
Quality makes a difference 👍🏽 awesome demo!
I have the non-handwired version modded by Pete Cage in Damascus MD with a new 12" baffle, it's got a Jensen C12R (Italy), he added tilt back legs, a line out, and it's a killer little amp. Sounds great to me. All my other amps are vintage hand wired.
You'd be hard pressed to find a guitar store in most places that would take the amps apart for a video demo. Cheers to Righteous!
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.
Nile Rodgers swears by his Princeton. "Let's Dance."
Nile: David, does this sound too funky to you
Bowie: I don't think there's such a thing as "too funky," Nile
Looking back at this good job guys and well damn.....kinda jelly and maybe one day but for now my regular Princeton will do but damn...good sounds and good vibes. Best regards
Great comparison video Rhett.... many thanks😀😀
I play hand wired and PCB and can honestly say as an amp builder too, the hand wired amp will sound better as it has better components inside it! Put all the same components on a board and there won't be any difference 🙂
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.
Interesting hearing guys who aren't familiar with electronics and component minutia, discuss electronics. First off- the "signal"or coupling capacitors in both amps are very different (from the very brief video shots of the two amp PCB boards). Why does this matter? Different cap materials sound different and behave differently. The audio signal flows through the caps in many (or some) cases so their construction material type does matter. In places where they are just used for filtering the DC voltage to make it smooth, Electrolytic types are used- in both amps. No signal goes through them, as they are only used for power supply-related functions, so one could argue the capacitor type does not make any difference in that particular electrical function. The value does, however, but only in how much filtering they do. Hum, anyone? The hand-wired amp shows polypropylene-types (I believe...) which DOES make an audio difference. For example- most audiophile-grade audio electronics use poly caps as they do sound better. I have no idea why, but they seem to. I am not a chemist or physicist, only an electronics hardware design engineer (and guitarist- 54 years) so I rely on lengthy listening experience and practical results. The Fender PCB-type newer version shows mylar-type caps being used. Why the difference over time? Cost of components/ profit, I would guess. They both do the same thing but have different cost and audio characteristics when putting dynamic audio signals through them. PCB or hand wired? No practical audible difference if both are done correctly- only reliability. After servicing literally thousands of tube amps in my 30 years in that biz, I have found that the output transformer determines a huge amount of the tonal characteristic. More to follow.......
See thats why I love your videos and pete thorns . You guys save me alot of money and buyers remorse . Both amps sound good but i am so ocd that this would mess with my head until I got rid of the amp
Using a 12" speaker on a Princeton reverb is a magic mod. That 12 watts fills every room smaller than a dancehall
The wiring is cool and awesome, but I personally wouldn't say it's beautiful. I was held to high standards wiring refractometers, UV devices, deicing machines, etc. and the ones done by my boss were absolutely beautiful, symmetrical perfect wire runs. Not downing the quality or anything of the Fenders amps, but there are much nicer wiring jobs out there.
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.
I wonder how the factory biasing would have compared on the two. That would definitely affect tone.
not nearly as much as a completely different speaker..bias 0.05% speaker 75%
One of the best sounding amplifiers I ever heard was a 68 Fender Princeton with an E V12L in it.
Good idea to warn people about the dangerous high voltages present in tube guitar amps. It helps to stress the fact that the larger capacitors in guitar amps often stay charged up even when the amp is turned off and unplugged. I learned that the hard way in 1968 when I was exploring inside a Silvertone head.
Were the 60’s as great as everyone says?
I just had three cups of coffee. Now I’m wired while watching this🤣
Yeah, I didn´t see the complete video to see they play different combination hand-nohanded components
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).
they're both great, but the reverbs between them are different. also the speaker makes a huge difference, love to see what a good 12" would do on that circuit
Great video as always. I have about the same preference as you: best was the handwired with the alnico speaker then second the pcb version with the alnico speaker. I do believe that most of the sound in this case lies in the speaker. Also at the beginning it was pointed out that the handwired version had a slightly different circuit design too. Bear in mind no two amps sound exactly the same because of the tolerances of the parts they are built of. Anyhow I would not be surprised if the handwired one was deisgned to sound better (or to be more precise the pcb one designed to sound worse), just to sell it better. But the prices, man... For the price of the pcb one you can build the handwired version yourself from a kit. Or maybe evene cheaper... Granted you have to know how to do it. But if Rhett could build a Champ, then I guess quite anyone can do that by a little learning.
As a builder I definitely prefer the handwired because of its reliability, serviceability, durability and tweakability (all that was pointed out in the video too).
Each amp sounded very different, a lot more so than I expected. The price difference was huge but if I had the coin I would go for the hand wired. To me it sounded warmer, fatter and I recon would break up more sweetly if you really pushed it.
Great comparison, loved the sound of the hand-wired amp and alnico driver. The durability and serviceability is also a huge plus as you pointed out. On the road, there are no PCBs. Lastly, I’d gladly pay an American craftsman to hand-make my amp. For me there’s no comparison. Which is why I have American-made guitars & gear.
I actually liked the slightly harsher tones of the non-wired amp. All comes down to personal preference.
However, if you are looking for a slightly less harsh sound, some guy on here (Gary Roberts) put a 12" Jenson c12q speaker (which the hand wired 64 custom deluxe amp has) into a non handwired 'Knotty Pine' limited edition Princeton '65 and it sounded fabulous.