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tmoney61092
Senior Member
Username: tmoney61092

Post Number: 852
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Friday, January 25, 2013 - 6:37 pm:   Edit Post

the amp we've all been wanting has been reissued, with upgrades like active/passive inputes and such this would be an increidble amp

http://www.acousticbassusa.com/products/360-361.html

except for the $5,000 price tag :-(

~Taylor
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2767
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Friday, January 25, 2013 - 6:47 pm:   Edit Post

I once had the original preamp top . Honestly __ I was not really impressed with it's sonic ability . I traded it for some other gear. The original unit had the top as the preamp and the speaker cabinet also had a power amp enclosed as I recall.
dadabass2001
Senior Member
Username: dadabass2001

Post Number: 1712
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013 - 3:21 am:   Edit Post

I had an old Ampeg SBT (transistor rather than tube) amp from 1973 that was the same design concept - preamp head and and 120 watt amp built into each 2-15 cabinet. Here I am with my recently sold Starfire (part of the same equipment upgrade I made in 1973 at Faber Music in Dubuque).
old SBT shot

I sold mine to a friend in Chicago back in 2003.
The Stones had an endorsement deal with Ampeg in 71-72, so Bill Wyman played through two cabs and Keith played trough 2 SVT cabs.

Mike
murray
Intermediate Member
Username: murray

Post Number: 142
Registered: 7-2007
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013 - 5:01 am:   Edit Post

I also had an Acoustic 360 amp in the 60/70s with a 2x15" cabinet, having traded in my Fender Bassman rig. I don't remember the Acoustic being any better or worse than the Fender and subsequent HH set up. I traded the Acoustic in for my first Trace Elliot rig at Monkey Business in Romford. After a long line of Trace amps (grappling with the 12 band equaliser) I finished with them. MarkBass didn't really do it but my EBS rig and GenzBenz/Bergantino do, as I have said before. Maybe the past needs to be left there - they were all good enough amps at the time but things move on (and get more transportable). Are we being persuaded to revisit the past with all the issues of forgetting the bad bits and embellishing the good bits? Am I too cynical? Glynn Murray
keith_h
Senior Member
Username: keith_h

Post Number: 1841
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013 - 5:39 am:   Edit Post

I look at age bringing wisdom and part of that is no longer dragging two Acoustic 301's around. Add the weight of the 361's amp and all I can say is, "Goodbye back".

Keith
bigredbass
Senior Member
Username: bigredbass

Post Number: 1955
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013 - 7:04 am:   Edit Post

First SVT's, now this, what's next, a re-issue Fender PS400?

These things were a big deal back in the day (and I'm old enough to have been around the first time. . . .) as it was one of the first big bass amps, where you actually had a chance of keeping up with that nitwit with a Twin or Dual Showman onstage. They sounded lumpy then (I love where it says they're updated, with an 18 and a horn: C'mon, Man . . . .) and they'll sound lumpy now. And I'm too old too go back into the furniture moving business. Back then, you really needed a pickup truck to gig with this.

My other question is how does this 'Acoustic USA' co-exist with the other Chinese-made Acoustic that sells a completely different line thru Guitar Center and other places?

By and large, bass amps and cabs have moved on quite a bit since those days, I just don't sense a big market for vintage amps for bass. On the other hand, all I see in lots of videos is guys playing P Basses thru SVT's, so what the hell do I know?

J o e y
slawie
Senior Member
Username: slawie

Post Number: 463
Registered: 8-2002
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013 - 1:51 pm:   Edit Post

Been there done that. My Acoustic rig and I parted ways in the 80's when I was a much younger man and still capable of lugging it around. It was loud I will grant that but most of the time my bass sounded like I was hitting a blanket with a stick. All thud and difficult to dial in a tone I liked.

I am now older and hopefully wiser so I use modern light weight gear. My current stuff sounds far superior to what was on offer back in the day and I load in with one trip.

The Acoustic should appeal to folks who sit at home and collect gear. Unless you have roadies, I would doubt very much that a working bass player would consider it as a viable working rig.
The $5000.00 price tag is also bragging rights for wankers.

Sorry for the rant but lets get on with the 21st century and leave nostalgia where it should be - in the past.

slawie
terryc
Senior Member
Username: terryc

Post Number: 2056
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 4:47 am:   Edit Post

Rose tinted glasses are very popular these days!!
rami
Senior Member
Username: rami

Post Number: 1017
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 7:17 am:   Edit Post

I think they're banking on the nostalgia market. Specifically it's connection to Jaco. The trend these days seems more towards smaller, lighter with lots of power. I'd bet that if Jaco were around today, he would probably have moved on too.
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2771
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 11:57 am:   Edit Post

I have often wondered what Jaco would like if he were here with us now.
rami
Senior Member
Username: rami

Post Number: 1018
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 12:12 pm:   Edit Post

I'm sure that there would no shortage of companies ready to back truckloads of money at his front door for his endorsement. I still think he'd be into the Fender Jazz Bass. As for amps, he probably would have experimented, or just have gone with the highest bidder.
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2772
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 12:39 pm:   Edit Post

Yes he liked Fenders, he walked in on me at my gig in the early 80's and commented positively on my Fender Bass at the time. I will never forget that about that recollection .
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61

Post Number: 754
Registered: 2-2011
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 2:38 pm:   Edit Post

Wow Wolf! Talk about an honor!! Were you more excited or intimidated by Jaco's presence?
tmoney61092
Senior Member
Username: tmoney61092

Post Number: 853
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 3:02 pm:   Edit Post

I'm pretty sure I remember reading the Jaco was using Hartke cabinets that had aluminum come speakers the last few years of his life because he loved the brighter sound sound so maybe he could've stayed with them.

~Taylor
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2773
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 3:15 pm:   Edit Post

Hi Rusty , I was excited , he had a really positive vibe about him.
A friend of mine who is a drummer who was playing with Jaco at the time knew I was playing there and told me that he would drop by with a friend to check things out. That friend was Jaco. I offered him my bass and handed it to him . A few years ago that same drummer and I recollected that event.
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2774
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 3:35 pm:   Edit Post

Taylor , yes , here you go;
http://www.jacopastorius.com/features/hartke.html
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61

Post Number: 755
Registered: 2-2011
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 5:24 pm:   Edit Post

What a great story Wolf! Every bass player's fantasy come true! Were you playing a Jazz Bass at the time, or P Bass? Did you get any pictures with Jaco?
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2775
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 5:35 pm:   Edit Post

Rusty, no pics , It was the early 1980's and I did not carry a camera around with me very often back then. I had my P Bass.
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61

Post Number: 756
Registered: 2-2011
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 6:02 pm:   Edit Post

Bummer! At least you got Jaco's fingerprints on your bass!
peoplechipper
Advanced Member
Username: peoplechipper

Post Number: 325
Registered: 2-2009
Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 10:18 pm:   Edit Post

I've been using an Acoustic 370 head for about 7 years now; it is killer and SO reliable I could probably play it in a rainstorm and not worry...it has many times run for 10 hours straight without any problems...I bought a backup(okay, it was free...)but it will likely never be needed. The cabs however are crazy; they made some nutty stuff...a former bandmate had a 4x15 cab, folded horn; kinda like an Ampeg 8x10 but taller and deeper...when we went to a minivan, it had to go...
Taylor, have you ever watched a Hartke cab die? the cab that bass player got after the Acoustic did; clearly those aluminum cones have a finite lifespan; I watched his cab go from one little crack in one cone to three shattered speakers in one practice...Tony.
rami
Senior Member
Username: rami

Post Number: 1019
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2013 - 9:06 am:   Edit Post

If I could have been so lucky to meet Jaco. He's my all time Bass Idol. But this past summmer I was VERY privileged to have met Ron Carter at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2776
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2013 - 4:50 pm:   Edit Post

I met Ron Carter at a show in San Francisco . He autographed the program guide for me. It was an awesome show. He was leading a 9 bass ensemble. He had his little acoustic piccolo bass. It was quite an innovative ensemble. Saturday May 18th 1996 ,Herbst Theatre ; I still have the ticket stubs !

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