Aiken Amplification Invader 112 Combo

The Invader is an all-tube, 18 watt, 2-EL84 amplifier with 2 channels and 4 inputs that can be jumpered. All preamp tubes are JJ/Tesla 12AX7?s except the reverb driver tube which is a NOS Jan/Philips 12AT7WC. Output tubes are JJ/Tesla EL84?s. The rectifier tube is a Chinese 5AR4/GZ34. The amp is designed to get early non-master volume Marshall style Plexi/Ali tones at a reasonable volume. Some nice features include a 3-knob reverb, built-in attenuator, and a speaker-emulating, transformer-balanced, XLR direct out.

You can get a combo with either a 2x10, 1x12, or 2x12 speaker format, or a head and cab. These are built from solid finger-jointed pine with lots of choices for covering. I chose the 1 x 12 combo with wine-leather covering and gold piping. The craftsmanship on the amp covering is superb. All corners and seams are just right. There is a large padded carrying strap and large, rubber feet. The back panels of the amp are also nicely covered and the inside wood of the cab is painted. The .090" aluminum chassis has flawless welded seams and is white powder-coated for durability. I am using a Celestion Alnico Blue 12?, 8 ohm, 15 watt speaker.

The circuit is PTP hand-wired to military specs with silver-plated Teflon wire using high quality resistors and capacitors. The transformers are awesome and rated at twice the output power (18 watts at onset of clipping into 4, 8, or 16 ohms) of the amp so you can use the attenuator all the time without any problems. The built-in power attenuator has 0dB, -3dB, -6dB, -9dB, -12dB positions, as well as a REC position for low volume recording. Pretty handy when using the speaker-emulating balanced XLR out. The spring reverb uses 3 knobs with dwell, tone and reverb controls. You can get different reverb tanks. I chose the normal, medium delay, Fender style tank. When you turn the reverb knob off there is no reverb at all. None. No leakage. This is very important to people that want an unvarnished Marhall tone. Me, I like a little reverb.

Controls and connections: On the front are four input jacks, a high-level and low-level for each channel. Volume 1 (bright), Volume 2 (dark), Bass, Mid, Treble, Dwell, Tone, Reverb, Presence (global negative feedback), and variable Attenuator. There is a Plexi/Ali front panel switch to reconfigure the preamp section to early "Plexi" style (think Fender Bassman sounds) or the later aluminum, or "Ali" style preamp. You cannot footswitch between the two preamp types. There is no effects loop but, as you?ll see later, there?s a great solution using the two channels and four input jacks. There are chicken head knobs that look good against the powder-white chassis. The settings are not numbered but the chicken head knobs provide an easy reference on stage.

On the rear are the AC mains input (detachable cord), impedance selector switch for 4, 8, or 16 ohm operation, two 1/4" speaker jacks in parallel, XLR output with ground lift switch, reverb footswitch jack and locking mil-style bias and balance pots and three tip jacks for easy bias setting with a multimeter without having to remove the chassis from the cabinet. Nice touch. The recommended bias setting for the EL84?s is 28 millivolts. Note that the cathode resistor method is used. You can find a detailed description of this on the Aiken website at: www.aikenamps.com along with lots of technical information, product information, and amp and cabinet photos (including two of my amp with the wine-leather and gold piping).

Right from the get-go I was pleased with the sound of this amp. First impressions are usually pretty telling, and strumming that first guitar chord through the amp put a smile on my face. Since then I have found it very easy to get great sounds with either the Plexi or Ali preamp styles, although they are quite different. This amp is a departure for me in that I typically go for a Fender sound. I bought this amp to breakout a bit sonically and go for a Marshallesque tone. It?s in there. With the Ali preamp you can get a rip-snortin? sound with Volume 1 on 10, Volume 2 off, Treble 4, Mid 0 ? 1, Bass 4 ? 5, three reverb controls set to taste (Dwell 2, Tone 3, Reverb 4), Presence 4, and Attenuator wherever you need it. With my Celestion Alnico Blue 15 watt speaker I always leave the attenuator on at least ?3db for speaker protection unless I plug in my 2 x 10 cab (Weber C10Q?s with doped surrounds) or my 2 x 12 cab (Tone King 33?s). Neither cab sounds as great as the Celestion Alnico Blue speaker though (all the publicity is true).

Using a Strat and these settings you can play an entire gig without touching the amp. No lie. With the guitar volume set on 5 you can play clean. Move the volume to 6 and hit the strings a little harder and it starts to growl. Keep moving up the volume scale and it gets crunchier and crunchier until you are listening to a non master-volume Marshall lead tone, albeit at a lower volume and not coming out of a 4 x 12 cab. Not quite the same, but very, very nice. With the attenuator you can have this sound at lowish volumes too. A nice touch is to jumper channel 1 to channel 2 with a short guitar cord. This lets you add-in the bassier sound of channel 2 using volume 2. It adds some nice low-end to the cleanish Strat sounds, perhaps similar to what you might expect out of a P-90 pickup. Note that the both preamp settings work when using either channel 1 or channel 2. Add in the jumpering and you?ve got a nice selection of tones for your base sonic pallete.

Using a Hamer Duotone guitar with Seymour Duncan ?59 and JB?s, the humbuckers push this amp a little bit further on up the road. The extra kick from the humbuckers adds just enough extra output to really get the amp to singing and sustaining. Although you?ll see in a later section of this review that I experiment with pedals with good results, I?ve found I don?t want or need them when playing at home or on stage. Whether using single coils or humbuckers, the amp?s lead tones are plenty meaty, and ever so variable from the volume control of the guitar.

The Plexi preamp style adds a lot of flexibility to this amp. I find that I don?t need to use the jumpered volume 2 setting when using the Plexi preamp since the amp sounds so fat and juicy when played cleanish on the Plexi setting. Being a Fender style amp player most of my life, I really like the ability to get a Bassman sound happening out of the Aiken Invader. With a little dollop of reverb I find I don?t miss my Princeton Reverb clean sounds, and for any of you who have read the review of my restored Princeton Reverb, you know this is saying a lot. With the Plexi preamp, I like to leave the volume around 4 ? 5. It?s plenty loud, and in typical Fender combo fashion, when you push it harder, the low end starts to get a little mushy. This doesn?t happen with the Ali preamp though, so if you?re going for power tube distortion, switch to the Ali setting.

Regarding the attenuator, at ?3db and ?6db it sounds just about as rippin? as on ?0db. At ?9db, boosting the presence control up a notch or two puts back in some of the sparkle. At -12db the lead sound is a bit diminished, but at a quarter of the non-attenuated volume, this isn?t surprising. At this ?12db setting it sounds like the amp is only putting out about 4 watts but you can still get your guitar to sustain and feedback. Remember, this attenuator works after the amp and before the speaker so you?ve still got all y

No problems at all. Built with top-quality components. The switches, jacks, and pots all feel as solid as can be. This amp will last a lifetime with proper care and maintenance.

First class all the way. The amp comes shipped via Federal Express in a large, well-cushioned, metal flight case. You get to keep and try the amp for a week with no obligation. Then you just call up Fedex and they come pickup the empty flight case at your house using the pre-addressed, pre-paid shipping manifest that was shipped with the amp. Simple and hassle free. By the way, if anything fails besides tubes and the speaker, Randall says he?ll fix it at his cost if you pay the shipping. I asked him how he could do this and he said that because of the build quality, he doesn?t expect many failures. Nice warranty!

Randall Aiken is very attentive to his customers before, during and after the amp buying experience. He is a patient listener, asks probing questions, maintains good voice and email communications, plus he has a fun sense of humor. I base this not just on my own experience, but also on communications I?ve had with Tom, another recent customer. In case you are wondering, I?ve never met Randall Aiken. I?m just a pleased-as-punch customer that took the time to write this review because of my enthusiasm for this amp.

From my first satisfying strum to last night?s gig, everything about this amp pleases the senses. It sounds great, is very flexible, has a unique set of features, looks cool as all get-out, and is made by a fellow that loves tube amps and has the electronics knowledge to put out a unique product in a crowded boutique amp market. That takes vision and guts. With excellent features, attractive appearanc and above all, great tones, I think we?ll be talking about Aiken amps for a good long while. Buy one. You?ll be glad you did.