Found a little more info on the
vintageamps.com board (thanks for the tip!) :
I know that the company was started by a few dissillusioned Fender techs when CBS bought fender but exactly "HOW" close are the AIMS "twin reverbs" to a real fender twin? Anybody know?
even more from that source:
AIMS -> Arizona Instrument and Music Supply (pretty sure, definitely Arizona). So these were made in the west don't have much collector value, but do have tons of headroom as you say. Again, not much information out there, I don't know why.
seems like it might be a small step towards confirming the "disillusioned amp techs in Phoenix" theory.
more:
The AIMS Dual Twelve looks like it is basically an SFTR type circuit with TMB tone stack/ brite switch/ reverb on both channels, a pair of 6550's, and a primitive PSU--one cap feeding all the preamp and PI tubes! I haven't traced the circuit yet but I suspect it will have most or all Fender values. It's a pretty clean sound but not all that loud for a pair of 6550's; that may be d/t fixed-fixed bias a la Ampeg and Mesa and/or the alnico speakers.
There isn't much info out there on AIMS, but from what I pieced together, they were former Fender employees who basically made Fender circuits with some upgrades in the late 70's.
Mine is still with the amp tech, but I am so looking forward to getting it back- the word is that they have amazing clean tones and tons of head room.
in-depth
discussion of fixing the trem circuit here, which may illuminate what's going on in the guts of the thing.
and finally,
some red meat info here:
I just ran across my old AIMS (American Int'l Music Sales) amp brochure last night and thought I'd do a search to see if there were any discussions about them. What is really interesting is that according to the brochure, each of the 2 guitar amps they made (the VTG105 @ 105 watts rms & the VTG120 with 120 watts rms) used (2)6550s, four 7025s, and two 12AT7s with solid-state rectifiers. The pic of the rectifier board looks like it's ptp. Their P.A. systems were even tube-powered!
Redline wrote:Not Crap. The sound of death? The sound of FUN! ScrrreeEEEEEEE
