• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Acoustic 200

Buster Brown

Buster Brown

Feb 4, 2008
3,217
1,123
The Plains of Kansas back from Colorado!!
#1
Saw (and heard) one in GC today.....all I can say is WOW!!!

Acoustic is coming back in a big way......

According to the guy at GC, unfortunately at this time they are not building the good old 18 cabs. They are however, waiting to get the 4X10 cabs and the 1X15 cabs.

The 200 watt head literally blew me away. I had it cranked up (it's Monday - no stairway to heaven kids there...all in school) so I could actually "audition" one. I played it through the SVT 8X10 Cab and it was all my "old ears" could take... How is it that Acoustic KNOWS what 200 watts is, while so many other amp builders fudge their power claims? This bad boy SCREAMS!!!

Get ready for an "old friends" return. For me it has been about 30 years too long!!
 
#3
Any pictures of one? Did you play through it yourself and if so, with what bass? What are the controls? Anything other than the name that sets it apart from other amps in that size and power range?
 
#4
No pics of the one at GC but imagine, if you are old enough to remember them, the old Acoustic 140.....VERY similar.

Yes, I played through it. One of the new American Standard J Basses and it ROCKED.....as I stated in the original post, 220 watts through that amp was LOUD!!!

Overall, it very much resembles the "old" acoustic heads but, as I said, they haven't gotten any of the cabs in yet, but they are expecting a 4X10 cab and a 1X15 cab. At this time, according to the guys here at this GC, there are no plans to carry cabs such as the old 360/371 type.....

hope this helps a little. If you have the opportunity to hit your local GC, I'm sure that they are getting them in by now...
 
#5
Invalid Link Removed

The photo on this page is incorrect as the handle is on the left side and there are four small rubber feet on the right hand side for easy transport. It was a proto, no production units available until now.

If you go to this link and download the manual (over 10MB) it will answer many of your technical questions.

There is also a combo version and B410 and B115 companion cabinets.
 
#9
I like it. Not too heavy, not too pricey, good features. I wish the cabs were 4 ohms instead of 8 ( or the head could do 2 ohm) I can see picking one of these up to replace my 140 head over my 106 bottom w/ 2 new eminence 15's! Takes me back to my mis-spent youth (in contrast to my mis-spent middle-age!)
 
#12
Stacknobuser said:
Invalid Link Removed

The photo on this page is incorrect as the handle is on the left side and there are four small rubber feet on the right hand side for easy transport. It was a proto, no production units available until now.

If you go to this link and download the manual (over 10MB) it will answer many of your technical questions.

There is also a combo version and B410 and B115 companion cabinets.
Click to expand...

Any idea of the weight of this head?
 
#14
we just set them all up in our store yesterday... the b100 and 200 combos, and the b200h with the 4x10 and 1x15... holy crap.

i was able to easily dial in a round "vintagey" rock tone, a killer slap tone, a Chris Squire "Roundabout" tone, etc. it was definitely turning heads. i think we'll sell them quickly, especially at those price points!
 
#18
After seeing this (and being a former Acoustic owner in 1990-1991), I had to go try this head. So I took my lunch and went to GC.

I plugged the head into a SVT115E, and then separately tried it with a SVT410 using a new Am Std Jazz Bass. This thing truly does ROCK. It's built like a friggin tank, and there is nothing 'cheap' about it. Sounds killer, EXTREMELY useable controls that really make a difference on the sound, and it drove each of those cabs, in turn, very strongly. Sounded excellent, and the cabs sounded happy given what they are capable of handling. Two thumbs up, especially at 250 clams!

Now, given that in the same bass room at GC, if I turned up a GK 700 or 1001 halfway like I did with this Acoustic, I would have imploded my organs...but the point is that the Acoustic drove very nicely at that level and was very serviceably loud, no breakup with sweet tone. But for sheer power, no, a GK 700 or 1001 will bury it.
 
#19
Slaphappy said:
After seeing this (and being a former Acoustic owner in 1990-1991), I had to go try this head. So I took my lunch and went to GC.

I plugged the head into a SVT115E, and then separately tried it with a SVT410 using a new Am Std Jazz Bass. This thing truly does ROCK. It's built like a friggin tank, and there is nothing 'cheap' about it. Sounds killer, EXTREMELY useable controls that really make a difference on the sound, and it drove each of those cabs, in turn, very strongly. Sounded excellent, and the cabs sounded happy given what they are capable of handling. Two thumbs up, especially at 250 clams!

Now, given that in the same bass room at GC, if I turned up a GK 700 or 1001 halfway like I did with this Acoustic, I would have imploded my organs...but the point is that the Acoustic drove very nicely at that level and was very serviceably loud, no breakup with sweet tone. But for sheer power, no, a GK 700 or 1001 will bury it.
Click to expand...


Yep! My impressions also. However, for the price.....

I, too, owned and played Acoustic throughout the late 60s,- early 70s and it was, for a brief moment, like walking back into the past.....very pleasantly so!!

For the money you can't go wrong. NOW, if we can only convince them to "re-build" the 371.........:hyper:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back