Author Topic: Acoustic Amp (Read 162 times)

mike1762 · « **on:** October 26, 2008, 05:16:30 AM »

I was trying out cabinets for my Porta Flex yesterday and started messing around with the Acoustic B200H hooked up to an Acoustic B115/B410 stack. It sounded incredible!!! Even more so with a price of around $900 for the whole thing. The head is solid state (I've never really been a tube guy for bass amps anyway) and only 200W, but it was moving some air . It's as close as I have heard to my personal all time favorite rig that consisted of a Sunn Coliseum 300 with an Acoustic 408 4x15 cabinet (the Sunn melted down on me right in the middle of a tour... I use the term tour loosely... and I had to sell the 408 in order to buy a replacement head/cabinet). I bought the B115, but I'm thinking about springing for the rest of it. Any opinions on this rig???

poor_nigel · « **Reply #1 on:** October 26, 2008, 09:45:28 AM »

Acoustic Amps are back. What a surprise. They went out of business in the 80's, and I just read they opened their doors under a new name (Acoustic Amplification) last year. The head is pretty light weight, putting out 200 Watts at 4 ohms. It is a combo head put into a cabinet. Both cabs listed are 8 ohms, so it would be running them under a proper load for the head, though the head would probably be straining a lot to push both cabinets.

Note that I know little about these and have never even heard any. I am very familar with old Acoustics, but I do not assume one can compare the new line with the old line. Otherwise, I would go for new tech. If you like the sound and they fit your gigging needs, that is what really counts. They do have a three year warranty.

bkbass · « **Reply #2 on:** October 26, 2008, 11:03:46 AM »

They're made in China and they're only to be found at Guitar Center......

57basstra · « **Reply #3 on:** October 26, 2008, 11:06:33 AM »

not really a hijack, but more a comment on the Sunn and not the main topic of Acoustic amps: I still have my Sunn Coliseum with two 18 inch speakers (also have a Sunn Scoop cabinet with 2x15.) That was my rig in the day and you can see the bottom portion of the stack (and the scoop) in my pic posted with my profile. Talk about thunder! I still fire them up and even run them in the background with my GK RB700 and Ampeg Tube. I like the wall of sound sound -- even if I am too old and lazy to move all of the rig from my house. I purchased the Sunn stack and head from the original owner -- in the early 1980s after my Peavey rig was stolen -- who at the time was the bass player for Jerry Lee Lewis. The guy showed me pics of it on stage with himself and The Killer.

I've played some of the older Acoustic amps and I always liked them.

mike1762 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 26, 2008, 01:40:46 PM »

I think the tone controls on the Acoustic are very similar to the Sunn. Not enough Bass players around to keep Sunn in business I guess. I was never able (until I tried out the Acoustic) to EASILY emulate the sound of my Sunn rig. I got fairly close using a preamp (brand?), 31 band EQ, and a 2x15 enclosure but it took a LOT of tweaking. That was when I realized how much it sucked being a struggling musician... I couldn't even afford the tools I needed to do my job!!! The best part of the above story is how I finished out the tour... I stuck my practice amp (a 12 watt Marshall 1x10) in a road case and miked the BACK of it. We recorded some of the shows and it actually sounded good, but I had ZERO stage volume. Thomas is right: the B200 is the same head that they have in their largest combo amp. They do have a 600 watt version (B600H) however.

poor_nigel · « **Reply #5 on:** October 26, 2008, 01:59:12 PM »

Beware. That 600 watts is at 2 ohms. To be honest, I like it when companies rate their stuff consistently (Pick one way and stick to it), and even better when they fully disclose the spects - It wouild be nice to know if the 600 was RMS, Cointinuous, or Peak. Alternate idea - You can buy an old Acoustic 370 or Sunn head on eBay and then have a shop (Owned by a friend is best!) replace its old caps for a great 'vintage solid-state' sound head that should last many more years. Note that replacing the caps can be a bit pricy on some of the old heads we used to abuse the hell out of. But, you get what you pay for, and wattage would not be a problem.

mike1762 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 26, 2008, 04:35:26 PM »

Thanks for pointing that out. That sort of advertising/labeling is kind of deceptive to say the least!!! I may actually still have the Coliseum 300 stowed away in my parent's basement. I took it to 2 different repair shops back in the mid 80's. Both just told me it couldn't be fixed; therefore, I have no idea what really happened to it.

2400wattman · « **Reply #7 on:** October 27, 2008, 12:02:46 AM »

Mike, I'd steer clear of that newer Acoustic stuff. Guitar Center merely revitalized the name and none of the former grandeur. Actually the ONLY amp that Get Hurt Center offers that's surprisingly worth a damn AND different is the Mark Bass brand. Those amps sound really really good, although pricey my money would go in that direction.

mike1762 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 27, 2008, 01:47:45 AM »

Thanks Adam. The rig really did sound good, but I am starting to get a little nervous about the brand. I hadn't caught on to the fact that this was GC capatilizing on an old trademark. The enclosure is solid enough and I still have some EVM-15s if the speaker starts farting. I don't know why I'm even looking at this stuff... I haven't played out in years. All I can possibly do is annoy the neighbors. I guess once you get GAS it never really goes away.

Have you checked out Mojo's Rock Shop (on Kingston Pike in Farragut)? Not much bass stuff, but lots of vintage guitars/amps. They have a luthier that does good work as well. He got my old 69 Mustang bass up and running (if anyone wants a REALLY short scale bass... check out a Mustang).

(Message edited by mike1762 on October 27, 2008)

2400wattman · « **Reply #9 on:** October 27, 2008, 09:17:31 AM »

I've never heard of Mojo's, but then again I only get out to Farragut to eat at a quaint little German restaurant with my wife.
The cabs do look decent and I'm not sold on them but I'm sure you could more than accomplish the goal of annoying your neighbors with them!

mike1762 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 27, 2008, 07:27:15 PM »

Linderhauf's? I love that place. Just don't be in a hurry!!! They cook 1 table at a time. Mojo's is in the Renessiance Shopping Center (next to Ott's). I live right around the corner from there.

bassman10096 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 29, 2008, 02:30:08 PM »

I haven't tried it yet, but the Chinese made Acoustic stuff at GC is getting a lot of kudos from folks who know what they are listening to - even more notably considering its extremely low price. How it will hold up is yet to be seen. Clearly GC bought rights to use the name and the mark and has capitalized on that. Maybe a good thing - maybe not.

What I find much more intriguing is that there is a company in the US who also has rights to use the Acoustic brand (how that relates to the GC deal, I don't know). But these guys are developing recreations and next generation models that correspond to the real Acoustic, vintage stuff - like the 361 and 370 (anybody remember those deadly folded horn 18's?). These are supposed to begin being released pretty soon - I don't know who'll distribute them (GC?).

I don't know if anybody has written about it here already (sorry if duplicating), but there is an Acoustic forum where some folks who are real Acoustic fans and the guys from the US Acoustic shop are talking about both the Chinese and US amps and cabs. The site is: http://unofficialacousticcontrolcorpmessageboard.yuku.com/directory.

Frankly, I'd love to try a brandy-new Acoustic 361 for old time's sake if nothing else. The US brand is also supposed to be releasing a folded horn 115 (rather than 118). Now, I know and have been told by lots of knowledgeable speaker and cab folks that folded horns are unnecessary with today's vastly improved drivers, but...they were so cool in the day. Oh well.

Bill

keith_h · « **Reply #12 on:** October 29, 2008, 04:21:46 PM »

Do I remember? I used to lug around a 370 head and two 301 bottoms as part of my rig. Definitely not something I want to do anymore as a hopefully wiser old man.

Keith

poor_nigel · « **Reply #13 on:** October 29, 2008, 06:27:19 PM »

I had a 370 head and two 301 bottoms in the 70s, along with an original Les Paul Bass, an EB4-L, a Thunderbird (Heavily into Gibson) and an unstoppable 60-something VW Bus, with 50th anniversary gold Kenworth logos on the doors. I loved it back then playing the tatter tour (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) back then, and I would haul those cabs anytime to go back to those days. I discovered Alembics in 1980, but had retired the Acoustic gear by then, for an Alembic preamp driving BGW power amps and various JBL and Gauss bottoms I made. The sound from the Thunderbird through the Acoustic was memorable! I think I had more fun in the 60's and 70's.
Note: Never married, no kids, and no regrets, either.

bkbass · « **Reply #14 on:** December 20, 2008, 04:10:47 PM »

Poor Nigel you are a man after my own heart. I had a 370 head two 301 bottoms and a 136 combo with a altec 421-8A. Also had a 470 head. I used several older model EBO's/EB3's newer model long scale EBO's modified with the Gibson treble pickups and wired in stereo. I had a EB1 which I used with a backline of SUNN 2x15's and several heads. I still have my 1972 Les Paul Triumph which I bought new and I still have my Gibson EB750. I currently own a original 136 combo with a Fane 15 and a model B120 combo. I had a 64 beetle, my drummer had the microbus. Whew! The memories, what a flashback! Thanks for sharing a parallel past. I have also heard rumor that a more pro version of Acoustic will soon be available, high current real power sections, DI balanced transformer, pro brand speakers, birch plywood and it's made in the U.S.