NAD: Vintage 100 Watt AIMS PA Head -- Freebie

[funkytoe]

I'm at the local landfill today, dumping my yard trimmings, when a older man is his 60's pulls up next to me. We smile at each other and go about our business.

Then, I hear something that sounds like tubes popping. I look over and he has just dumped a shoebox full of old tubes, breaking many of them. Normally, I would mind my own business. But, for some reason, I felt compelled to ask....

As we both continue to unload, he tells me that his father-in-law has just passed away and he is helping his wife clean out the father's home. Seems the man was an electronics "tinkerer" [his words] and the wife says it all has to go. He has kept the tools and bench, but is dumping everything that he did not need. I tell him its a shame about the tubes, as some older ones can be quite valuable.

Next out of the man's trunk is an old RCA radio. Before I can stop him, he throws it over the edge and it breaks.
I gasp, but the man just says he could not get it to work and did not care to take the time to have it fixed.

So, I ask him ... before he dumps anything else, can I take a look in his trunk? "Sure" he says.

Guess what was next for the dump? An old AIMS 100 watt PA head. The man says it does not work, as he could not get it to "play." I tell him that it needs to be connected to a speaker and has to have some microphone or other musical device connected to the input. He just looks at me and says, "You seem to know something about it. You want it? It's yours."

I try to pay him, but he won't accept any offer. Says he was going to dump it anyway.

Got home and cleaned it up (It was really dusty!). But, boy does she look great for a 40 year old head. Even has all the original RCA tubes -- 2 x 6550 for power tubes and 7 preamp tubes (1 x 12AX7, 1 x 12AT7 and 5 x 7025).

Would love to tell you how she sounds, but I have no cabs here at the house to test it. Only my SWR California Blonde.
Going to have to take her to the studio this week to give her a demo.

Anyway, no picture no Free amp. So, here you go.

[funkytoe]

How about one of the original RCA 6550 power tubes you say?

[JimmyM]

jeez, there are just some people you want to shake and make them realize what they have! how insane is that? certainly worked in your favor, but too bad you couldn't stop him before he dumped those tubes and the radio.

[Supa Scoopa]

Nice! Lets just hope he didnt blow the transformers by not plugging it into a speaker cab hey.

[funkytoe]

Originally Posted by Supa Scoopa

Nice! Lets just hope he didnt blow the transformers by not plugging it into a speaker cab hey.

That's the same thing I thought!

[funkytoe]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

jeez, there are just some people you want to shake and make them realize what they have! how insane is that? certainly worked in your favor, but too bad you couldn't stop him before he dumped those tubes and the radio.

I know Jimmy. This man who passed away cared enough about these tubes to keep them in a shoebox for who knows how long. May have been some really nice Amperex, GE, in there --who knows? Kind of makes me wonder why his family is so keen to destroy his collection. I sure hope my future son-in-law would speak up if my daughter ever told him to dump my stuff after I'm gone.

At least I can take care of the Old Man's AIMS head for him.

[JimmyM]

right on. that head ought to rock hard. seen a couple dudes on here with them who really like them for bass. i'm sure the old man is happy in the afterlife that you got there just in time.

the worst story i ever heard about someone wasting good electronics like that was what jerrold tiers said happened at slm/ampeg after they sold to loud. they had a huge collection of nos tubes, and jerrold said that the former head idiot of ampeg had them all dumped because of some sort of technicality with tax laws or something. what a dope! any ceo worth his salt would have sneaked them out and sold them on the sly!

[snowblinder]

I owned this same amp briefly. They sound very similar to an Ampeg V-4B, and are every bit as powerful. The AIMS actually has a little more clean headroom. These sound awesome for guitar too.

I've heard from tech friends who have repaired AIMS amps that they are a nightmare to work on.

These heads originally came with two 4x10 speaker columns. I wonder if the man who gave you the head has those lying around somewhere waiting to be thrown out.

[mikeddd]

Wow, talk about a SCORE! You were in the right place at the right time and the old man's smiling down right now.

[Meddle]

Reminds me of a story I heard (maybe on here?) about some guy who had heard about a house clearing from an old man who had kept stockpile of hundreds of NOS tubes, capacitors and general cool old circuitry. I think those all went to landfill before he had made the right connections as well.

[KramerBassFan]

I just love those knobs...

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by funkytoe

I know Jimmy. This man who passed away cared enough about these tubes to keep them in a shoebox for who knows how long. May have been some really nice Amperex, GE, in there --who knows? Kind of makes me wonder why his family is so keen to destroy his collection. I sure hope my future son-in-law would speak up if my daughter ever told him to dump my stuff after I'm gone.

Beauty is in the eye (and knowledge) of the beholder. Just as one man treasure is an others garbage.

[funkytoe]

Originally Posted by snowblinder

I owned this same amp briefly. They sound very similar to an Ampeg V-4B, and are every bit as powerful. The AIMS actually has a little more clean headroom. These sound awesome for guitar too.

I've heard from tech friends who have repaired AIMS amps that they are a nightmare to work on.

These heads originally came with two 4x10 speaker columns. I wonder if the man who gave you the head has those lying around somewhere waiting to be thrown out.

I've also seen them compared to V-4B's in several on-line posts. Can't wait to find out.

Can't imagine why these would be difficult to work on. When I had her opened up for cleaning, everything seemed fairly well laid out and intuitive. Maybe I'm missing something?

As for firing this beast back up -- I do not know how long she has been dormant. Should I be using a Variac or following some other protocol? BassmanPaul --maybe you can answer this? Anyone?

[KramerBassFan]

Couldn't hurt to use a variac on it if it hasn't been used in many years.

[funkytoe]

Just a quick update....

Plugged her into an 8 ohm 1x15 at low volume -- warmed up the tubes --- nice glow across all tubes -- bass plugged in ---standy switch turned off and... BUZZZZZZZZZZ. Looks like the RCA 6550's are shot. Both are flickering wildly when the standby switch is disengaged.

Decided I'm going to re-tube and recap while I'm at it. Since the amp was free, I'm thinking that this is still a reasonable investment to see what this old girl can sound like.

I was leaning toward JJ Tesla 6550's. But, doing the math, it looks like the plate voltage is in the 550 range. So, I'm tempted to go with the JJ KT-88. Any thoughts? I know lots of folks like the winged C, the Sovteks and the EH 6550. But, I'm really leaning toward the JJ's. Just curious if anyone has experience with both their 6550 and KT-88's.

Thanks.

[andybot2000]

I have the same head. Picked it up for free from my neighbor's curb. Mine needed a new power switch and tubes. I used the JJ KT88's and it sounds amazing. I removed the ground lift circuit too. Thinking about having a tech cascade all 4 channels together at some point!

[funkytoe]

Yep. I went with JJ KT88s in mine too. Nice choice

[sanfordandsonny]

I heard a story about how Leslie West before the model T came around would split into each channel of a sunn PA head and blast. But cascading.... Nice!

[the blast]

That thing is awesome looking!