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John Paul Jones and Acoustic 360

M

mwhan

May 6, 2009
2
0
35
Windham, Ohio
#1
I'm looking at gearing up for a Zeppelin tribute band and as such would like to get JPJ's exact tone. Problem with that is he used the discontinued Acoustic 360 amp. These are pretty hard to get ahold of and in the time that has passed since they came out you have to think amp's have gotten alot better since JPJ used it.

What other amps would you suggest me to look at to get the Acoustic 360 sound, or am I screwed on that part and should just start looking for a vintage Acoustic amp on ebay?
 
#2
You can find those im sure they are out there, i played that John Paul Jones amp at SIR studios in LA his name is still on it (WOW) . I have a Acoustic 370 have'nt played it in a while but if you find one of these you can get a almost sound of the 360.
 
#4
It was the folded horn 1x18 acoustic cabinet that was responsible for that sound. I used to use an acoustic 301 folded horn cabinet with a Peavey head. The 301 didn't have the built in amp in the cabinet.

The Acoustic heads were notorious for faulty electronics. I say get a good folded horn cabinet and a good bass head and you will have the sound.
 
#8
+1 on that.
If you want to get down to the gnats arse of early/mid/mid-late Zep JPJ tone, use a Fender Jazz and a 70's type 1x18 "W" folded horn.
You can use an old acoustic 361 or 301 or a Cerwin Vega 1x18 or ... there were a few from back then. I believe most used the Vega 18" driver. The Cerwins and the Acoustics did.
I don't think the head is super critical, other than it not be super powerful (by today's standards). The 360 power amp was 200W. JPJ pushed his Acoustic 360/361 hard.
Nothing against the new Acoustics but I doubt they'll sound anything like the 360/361 unless they're using a 1x18 "W" box.

Ric5 said:
It was the folded horn 1x18 acoustic cabinet that was responsible for that sound. I used to use an acoustic 301 folded horn cabinet with a Peavey head. The 301 didn't have the built in amp in the cabinet.

The Acoustic heads were notorious for faulty electronics. I say get a good folded horn cabinet and a good bass head and you will have the sound.
Click to expand...
 
#10
Yes there are some of those amps flying around, but I REALLY don't think you need to try and duplicate the look exactly. The sound is close enough with almost anything big. Unless you really want the "LOOK" most people have no idea what JPJ played.

Now where there is a serious problem 3/4 of the songs played by ZEPP were not played on a bass, they were played on his bass pedals of his organ. Now try and duplicate that my boy....

I played in a tribute band myself 25 years ago and no idea until I actually saw The Song Remains the Same a few years ago. I was just devastated.

Have at it.

BOB
 
#11
Here's one on the 'bay, but be aware that the 360s were notoriously bad for rattlin the "amp" which was located in the cabinet to death:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-360-Aco...66:2|39:1|72:1205|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

I personally just grabbed a 370 a while back and am STILL amazed at how great these beasts are! Really takes me back a spell!

Good Luck!

Oh, and to the poster who claimed that ACC was known for "bad" electronics - well, just got my nearly 40 year old 370 back from my amp tech and he claims that it is in nearly flawless condition - not bad for "bad" electronics!
 
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#13
rbonner said:
Now where there is a serious problem 3/4 of the songs played by ZEPP were not played on a bass, they were played on his bass pedals of his organ. Now try and duplicate that my boy....
Click to expand...
Roll the tone knob(s) off on your bass, play an octave up through a non-clean octaver like the Boss OC-2 with only the low octave audible, and turn up to where your amp sustains the note without feeding back and creating another note ;)

I think you overestimate the amount of songs JPJ used bass pedals, though. In their concerts I have no doubt they're all over the place, since JPJ covered keyboards as well. But I think the 3/4 mark depended on the setlist for a given night. And on albums, most songs sound like electric bass to me with occasional pedals rounding things out.
 
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#15
JimmyM said:
Roll the tone knob(s) off on your bass, play an octave up through a non-clean octaver like the Boss OC-2 with only the low octave audible, and turn up to where your amp sustains the note without feeding back and creating another note ;)

I think you overestimate the amount of songs JPJ used bass pedals, though. In their concerts I have no doubt they're all over the place, since JPJ covered keyboards as well. But I think the 3/4 mark depended on the setlist for a given night. And on albums, most songs sound like electric bass to me with occasional pedals rounding things out.
Click to expand...

Yep...Like you, I thought that the numbers didn't make any sense either, BUT, considering I only saw them 3 times (and 2 of those times I wasn't completely "lucid" - Kids, don't try this at home!) I could very well have been mistaken....but I STILL think that it is too high....and it still seems like JPJ was (for the most part) on Bass - standing in front of an Acoustic Rig...
 
#18
billfitzmaurice said:
Run a Fender Jazz through a Neve console, monitored through BBC monitors. :)

Even on live alblums the sound you hear is seldom that of a mic'd amp and speaker.
Click to expand...

+1 I guess with a 'tribute band', it's a lot about the look though.

I've had the 'pleasure' of playing a number of old Acoustics that made it through Low Down Sound on consignment. I'll say again, our memories of how 'great' those rigs sounded is not quite reality. Things have gotten SO much better now. I can't imagine wanting to play through a 360 or 370 again.... muddy and gritty all at the same time.
 
#20
KJung said:
I'll say again, our memories of how 'great' those rigs sounded is not quite reality. Things have gotten SO much better now. I can't imagine wanting to play through a 360 or 370 again.... muddy and gritty all at the same time.
Click to expand...

Thank Yehoahva³ most recordings of the time were done with DI though non-backline signal chains, and not through the rigs of the time.
 

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