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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
They were absolutely in production, but I don't know how many got produced before Guitar Center changed management and precluded the use of the Acoustic name. If you can find one, they are beasts.
So guitar center screwed things up as usual?
Dang ole guitar center. Do you know if the reissues were made in USA? The only Acoustics they have now are little D-class heads made in China. They just don’t seem like real amps to me.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
The Acoustic USA 360s were built in Pennsylvania. They are night and day different from the Guitar Center amps.
Just to be clear, there's three Acoustic 360's? Acoustic Control Corp (original), Acoustic USA, and GC Acoustic?
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Yes.
[edit] No. Guitar Center never made a 360 stack. They made some amps that looked a bit like a 360 stack or more like a 370/301 stack, but they never made the real thing, which has a folded horn and a single big driver.
I had meant that there were three versions of Acoustic that put out amps.
[edit] No. Guitar Center never made a 360 stack. They made some amps that looked a bit like a 360 stack or more like a 370/301 stack, but they never made the real thing, which has a folded horn and a single big driver.
I had meant that there were three versions of Acoustic that put out amps.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
No they absolutely weren't. George Grexa started down the path of making a 360 update/reissue before GC claimed the rights to the name. Russ Allee, who was involved in designing the original and the Acoustic 320 and 408 stack also was involved with the new one. For a variety of reasons, it took forever for the project to get momentum, get UL listings, and get into production. By then, GC owned the Acoustic name, and ironically, Acoustic USA had to get rights to use it from them. When Bain finished running GC into the ditch and turned it over to their creditors in some kind of equity deal, the new management chose not to renew the name license. I may have a little of this garbled, but you get the idea. I'm not sure what George is up to these days. He had some health issues. He had the kind of ornery personality that it takes to do something as crazy as an updated 360, but that orneriness also may have got in the way of making it as successful as it might have been. You can't have one without the other, so it's just one of those quirky things that happen every so often, to our benefit as bass players. Assuming you can actually find one.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I know, I bought one new back in the day. Had to be 1972??
I honestly don't remember but I think it was more like $1100??
That was a lot of money back then!
Yea, adjusted they were something like $8K in those days. Crazy if you ask me. But when you got JPJ, Jaco, Larry Graham playing it AND make a crazy appearance in time magazine, you can stir up lots a business. Don't see it making a comeback though.
Unfortunately, with all the new technology, big bass amps are harder to justify now. Really sad, because the 360 was the real deal.
Just for perspective on cost, my first big Amp was a Sunn Model T sitting atop a 415 cab, which had the drivers mounted in a cross fire V baffle. It was an awesome rig and every bit as loud as the 360. IIRC, my out the door cost was just a bit more than half the 360. That was 1974.
