I suppose this is one of those questions which never really gets a definative answer, but why not.
Okay, we all know Randall Aiken is a pretty clever guy, and any amp built by him I'd assume would sound pretty good.
Has anyone heard Randall Aiken's amp and how does it compare to 18 watt clones?
Hmm, Graydon's amp Vs's Aiken's amp, now that would be tough!
Yours Sincerely
Mark Abbott.
Donations
Clones Vs's the Aiken 18watt amp?
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Mark,
Here is a post I put up about a week ago about the Invader 18:
One more thing. Speaking of Randall Aiken, I had a chance to see and hear some of his amps today in Atlanta. He really builds great stuff. Tonally, his 18 watt Invader seems to have more of a late 60's plexi tone and early 70's Marshall sound. There's a toggle switch to change the voicing. It even had a Fendery sort of tone when played clean(especially with the reverb). It's different than the 18. It didn't have the inherent fullness or rich bottom of an 18, but it did have great mids and highs. Where the 18 can be a great blues and rock amp, the Invader seemed more suited to rock. It can crunch with the best of them. The Invader had a newer amp tone to me at times with some 70's Marshall thrown in. I felt like it sounded much better than our singer's Matchless Spitfire and most of the other 84 based amps out there. He definitely has found a different(and great) voice for EL84's.
The amp had bass, mid, treble, presence and reverb. It also had his attenuator which seemed to sound better than most I've heard. The amp is really versatile. You can yank several great tones out of it. He's using Aiken labelled 12" speakers that have blue frames. They looked like a ceramic Weber of some sort. They also had some of that blue pup tone to me.
The cabinets are extremely well made as is the rest of the amp. Everything is classic and clean. They even showed me the boxes the amps are shipped in and the packing is incredible. You can tell he's an engineer!
If you ever get a chance to check out his stuff do it. He's a great guy and builds some of the best stuff out there. In fact, for the money, it's a lot of amp.
I hope I'm not rambling, but I was really impressed with his amps and thought everyone might enjoy hearing about them.
Danny
Here is a post I put up about a week ago about the Invader 18:
One more thing. Speaking of Randall Aiken, I had a chance to see and hear some of his amps today in Atlanta. He really builds great stuff. Tonally, his 18 watt Invader seems to have more of a late 60's plexi tone and early 70's Marshall sound. There's a toggle switch to change the voicing. It even had a Fendery sort of tone when played clean(especially with the reverb). It's different than the 18. It didn't have the inherent fullness or rich bottom of an 18, but it did have great mids and highs. Where the 18 can be a great blues and rock amp, the Invader seemed more suited to rock. It can crunch with the best of them. The Invader had a newer amp tone to me at times with some 70's Marshall thrown in. I felt like it sounded much better than our singer's Matchless Spitfire and most of the other 84 based amps out there. He definitely has found a different(and great) voice for EL84's.
The amp had bass, mid, treble, presence and reverb. It also had his attenuator which seemed to sound better than most I've heard. The amp is really versatile. You can yank several great tones out of it. He's using Aiken labelled 12" speakers that have blue frames. They looked like a ceramic Weber of some sort. They also had some of that blue pup tone to me.
The cabinets are extremely well made as is the rest of the amp. Everything is classic and clean. They even showed me the boxes the amps are shipped in and the packing is incredible. You can tell he's an engineer!
If you ever get a chance to check out his stuff do it. He's a great guy and builds some of the best stuff out there. In fact, for the money, it's a lot of amp.
I hope I'm not rambling, but I was really impressed with his amps and thought everyone might enjoy hearing about them.
Danny
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