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previous: Steve Slick Randy,Point of clar... -- 5/31/2000 4:24 PM

Re: Point to Point versus PCB

5/31/2000 4:51 PM
Randy	Re: Point to Point versus PCB I think you are right in your assumptions. I feel that economic reality is the prime motivator but having worked with various types of tube and solid state gear over the last 35 years ( I am 48 ), I believe that any level of reliability, serviceability and even some mojo can be designed in a PCB tube amp. The rela problem comes in the manufacturing stage. Modern PCB's are robot assembled and often have entire sections of optional circuits programmed in or programmed out. To make the economies of this process work out, large numbers have to made. I doubt that a boutique business can achieve the scale. I am assuming that Kendrick will make a high quality , thick board with heavey traces that simulates a tag board. Each part will be graphically printed on the board and some one will hand place these prior to wave soldering. The leads will be precut and either hand soldered to the jacks or molexed ( plug). If high quality tube sockets are used ( ceramic ) they could be engineered into the board. with traces that mirror good lead dress. My gripe comes from all the voodoo, including Kendrick's. In any manufacturing situation, and especially electronics, the pay back comes when the incremental cost of each additional unit is minimized . The quality must be standardized. The computer business realized this years ago when it began testing microchips before they were encapsulated. This allowed them to reject them before they were packaged. Fender had the same problem when they ( CBS ) built the new huge factory in the late 60's. They hired more and more people to hand assmble more and more amps and produced amps that had to undergo considerable trouble shooting before they could be sold. Hence the parasitic caps and the other silver face problems. The opportunity now will be for the little guys to continue producing high quality hand wired stuff.

5/31/2000 4:51 PM

Randy

Re: Point to Point versus PCB

I think you are right in your assumptions.

I feel that economic reality is the prime motivator but having worked with various types of tube and solid state gear over the last 35 years ( I am 48 ), I believe that any level of reliability, serviceability and even some mojo can be designed in a PCB tube amp. The rela problem comes in the manufacturing stage.

Modern PCB's are robot assembled and often have entire sections of optional circuits programmed in or programmed out. To make the economies of this process work out, large numbers have to made. I doubt that a boutique business can achieve the scale.

I am assuming that Kendrick will make a high quality , thick board with heavey traces that simulates a tag board. Each part will be graphically printed on the board and some one will hand place these prior to wave soldering. The leads will be precut and either hand soldered to the jacks or molexed ( plug). If high quality tube sockets are used ( ceramic ) they could be engineered into the board. with traces that mirror good lead dress.

My gripe comes from all the voodoo, including Kendrick's. In any manufacturing situation, and especially electronics, the pay back comes when the incremental cost of each additional unit is minimized . The quality must be standardized. The computer business realized this years ago when it began testing microchips before they were encapsulated. This allowed them to reject them before they were packaged.

Fender had the same problem when they ( CBS ) built the new huge factory in the late 60's. They hired more and more people to hand assmble more and more amps and produced amps that had to undergo considerable trouble shooting before they could be sold. Hence the parasitic caps and the other silver face problems. The opportunity now will be for the little guys to continue producing high quality hand wired stuff.