Q: Are guitar amps that advertise point-to-point wiring the same as those that claim they are hand wired?
A: In true “point-to-point” wiring, the passive parts (like resistors and capacitors) bridge the gaps between active points, like the vacuum tube terminals. There would be no boards of any kind and very few wires. When talking about “hand wiring,” there may be eyelet board construction, which uses an insulating substrate board with brass eyelets set into it. Passive parts are mounted on the board by pushing the leads into the eyelets. Wires then run from the board to the tube sockets. Such wiring could easily qualify as being “hand-wired,” though such designs will generally be less expensive than true point-to-point wiring. This is, of course, an oversimplification (an in-depth discussion would require several pages).
The Gibson Les Paul Junior amp is a perfect example of an amp with genuine point-to-point wiring. It produces five watts. Does it sound great? Absolutely! Meanwhile, the Fender ’57 Limited Edition amp is a great example of a hand-wired amp that uses an eyelet board. It produces 12 watts and yes, it also sounds terrific. By contrast, a reissue ’65 Fender Super Reverb sounds as good as the original, however, Fender makes no claims as to any type of hand-wiring.
