Here's a link to an explanation of what a turret board is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turret_board
There are wiring photos of Jim's amps on the Frenzel website. I don't see
any boards in there. They
are neatly done and everything looks quite well fastened down. The amp is a simple enough design so that not using a terminal board doesn't result in an amp that's a rats nest to service. It looks like you can get to every thing pretty easily. I don't think use of terminal strips makes the amp something other than point to point. At any rate, the components
are solidly mounted. My own amp is a model of efficient layout inside. The soldering is first rate and all the pots and jacks are very high quality. The fact that the amp is very quiet and has a very rich harmonic pallette speaks well for the internal design and layout of of the amp. I think this type of construction is appropriate for an amp of this type and complexity.
I'm discovering the amp provides a rich overdrive voice for every guitar I've run through it at this point. I love to do pinch harmonics and find that this amp seems to make them jump out of the guitar, I love to roll my pinky down and roll the volume control up as the note fades taking it to the edge of feedback. I think the Hammond output tranny was used for the bottom end it gives. I've ran my amp into a Legend 15" speaker in an open back cabinet and was astonished at how extended the bottom end is. An open G chord on the bridge pickup on a Tele sounds so rich and fat (BRAAAAANG!!) you find yourself doing it just to hear how it sounds. I find myself playing more chord voicings that use open strings just to hear them ring.
I've run 6V6's in it now and running it into a 12" Alnico Mojotone, it does a nice tweed deluxe impression. You get output distortion at a lower volume than with the bigger bottles, which could be useful in some situations. The 6V6's do have a distictive voice, but I still like the amp better with 6L6's. A little more dynamics and headroom is the main difference I notice. I'm going to try EL-34's at next rehearsal.
The two inputs do have different voices that reflect the character of both Fender and Marshall amps. But, I really don't care how close it is to a Marshall or a Fender: it provides several distinct, rich, useful tones that rival some classic amplifier designs. There is a huge "window" between clean and distortion.
I'll give another update after I try the EL-34's.