Sample of two Marshall Class 5 in a jam session. Man, these amps are amazing....like a mini bluesbreaker Marshall amp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvxz8sxc-bk

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http://www.youtube.com/user/gmlasam

mmm... well, this is why I said that many techs "seem" to express a preference. I actually thought as I typed that SlapChop might reappear and chastise me for making such generalisations... Probably I shouldn't perpetuate such (mis)information. I'd say that any who do feel that way have worked on a fair few amps from the wild and lawless days of PCBs in their time. My own view is that if something is made by hand it can be generally be repaired more easily, and if I were an amp tech who knew my stuff I'd feel better seeing someone walk though the door with an amp that I knew I could fix for them. I assume (perhaps erroneously) that point-to-point wiring makes it easier to isolate faults and to swap out individual components rather than lose several components because they happen to be mounted on the same board as a defective one.

I recently had a Dynacord Echocord Mini tape echo repaired by a wonderful tech down the coast from Sydney. There was no circuit diagram available for this one (though we did try!), and all the control knobs and inputs (of which there were at least half a dozen) were labelled with symbols that must have seemed self-evidently appropriate in 1966. I think he ended up being quite grateful for the fact that it's all hand wired inside and that the manufacturer's intentions (as well as subsequent user modifications) could be deduced fairly easily once he got going.

I think that amp techs are like mechanics in that they tend to appreciate elegance and simplicity of function. State-of-the-art technology is just that (er.. state-of-the-art), but it can be expensive to repair. My preference is for devices that were built with the expectation that they would last more or less indefinitely with proper maintenance and the odd repair, but I can't always get what I want!

And... to go further out onto my limb...heh... I just feel like a nice well-insulated wire is the best vessel for three or four hundred volts of direct current. I'm sure PCBs are fine, and goodness knows I have had plenty of gear that features them, but when someone whose opinions I respect states a preference for hand-wired and it seems to me that there might be something in it... well, I just think "seems fair enough" and then post as much on a forum! Ha... that'll teach me...

(incidentally, can anyone think of an aphorism so inflammatory that it would entice the 'Chop back?)

(oh... also, I agree with Ceri's sentiment above... these days, hand-wired is shorthand for "no expense spared" rather than just being the manner in which everything is constructed by default, so I can imagine where it gets its mystique...)

Sorry my BAD!

I have owned the Marshall Haze 40 combo for a couple of months now. I am very, very pleased thus far with performance. Remember though, it is my first tube amp so I have no long time comparisons. Also, I did have to go inside and tighten things up a bit, loose screws. Ultimately though I love the sound it plays and how my guitars sound through it.....

Beaubs

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I Can't Explain