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Acoustic 360

#21
Jazz_bass2664 said:
its installed in the back of the trapezoid shaped thingy. the drawings posted here are the plans i used to build it. ...
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I guess I didn't phrase my question clearly. How do you access the speaker?

I'm curious because I've seen three different ways to do it... The (powered) Acoustic 360 cabinet I had required that the whole speaker subenclosure be removed (there are three bolts on each side of those cabinets for the purpose). The speaker was front loaded into the subenclosure.

The (non-powered) Acoustic 301s that I've owned had an access panel on the back to allow the Vega speaker to be front loaded into the subenclosure.

The other variation of the 301 that I've seen required removal one of the grilles and removal a panel on the upper angled portion of the subenclosure. I suppose the speaker had to be rear loaded in that configuration.

I'm just curious how you're doing it...
 
#22
BillyB_from_LZ said:
I guess I didn't phrase my question clearly. How do you access the speaker?

I'm curious because I've seen three different ways to do it... .
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The answer lies in the Keele W Horn plans:
Invalid Link Removed
This was the last of the JBL W horns, which are what Acoustic, C-V and others copied. The JBL versions worked much better, though. The Acoustic version, for instance, cut the horn length by a third, so it only went to 70Hz, versus the 50Hz of the JBL. Note the designer recommendation that the JBL be crossed over to mids at 300Hz. That recommendation was ignored by Acoustic. :rollno:
For electric bass it could be crossed over as high as 1kHz with a good result. But the design is literally twice the size necessary to achieve the same output with modern drivers.
 
#26
svtb15 said:
Hey Jaco became a legend with that cab config.... who here can claim that?
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+1 That rig was a great yin and yang to that 'digging in at the bridge with the bridge pickup favored in passive mode' thing. Sometimes a very bright, thin input combined with a relatively deep and woofy amp can yin yang and create magic.

Most of the time, not.:)

Don Oatman of Low Down Sound has a collection of vintage cabs, including the passive 18 folded horn Acoustic cab from the 70's. He added a crossover and a couple mid drivers and tweeters on a small crosspiece behind the grill cloth on top of the 'blue' mid section. You couldn't really see it, and when we all played through that cab, we were like 'I don't remember that cab sounding so good'! Hah... we couldn't see the additions. It sounded darn good, even with relatively low wattage.
 
#28
svtb15 said:
Hey Jaco became a legend with that cab config.... who here can claim that?
Click to expand...

You must undertand that when the 360 came along, it was one of the only bass amps that sounded good (as in clean and punchy) at high volume in large venues. Two 360s could kill small children at 10 feet. Lack of other viable options (yes, there was the SVT) at that point in time made it a logical choice for many players who could afford them (Around $1000 in 1971 dollars). Jaco would have become legendary using a Sears Silvertone bass and amp.
 
#30
svtb15 said:
So true, but ill bet there are people here that will consider that pure speculation.:D

Yup im old enough to remember the 360s unveiling at Sam Ash in NYC.. waaaaaay back in time
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They were something in their day. When most of us old timers got used to all those SVT and fridges, and then heard the low end and relatively 'clean' tone of the Acoustic amps (more the 370 version for me, since I really started hearing live music in the early 70's), it really was a revelation. Now, a good 310 or a couple of those 3012LF loaded 112's can get you to virtually the same place.
 
#32
I never owned one.. way back i was using a crown amp and an early F2b through AFB audio scoop cabs with JBL lens.. im talking mid 70s... didnt get to try an SVT till i was downsizing...:eek: sad but true.:D
Now im REAAALLL happy with my 112s and IEMs an occasional 810 on my larger gigs...
But that 360 has a certain tone that when EQed and messed with still has a tone that many could still enjoy... It really is not a bass heavy rig.. it could be. but to me it rolled off early compared to many things today...




KJung said:
They were something in their day. When most of us old timers got used to all those SVT and fridges, and then heard the low end and relatively 'clean' tone of the Acoustic amps (more the 370 version for me, since I really started hearing live music in the early 70's), it really was a revelation. Now, a good 310 or a couple of those 3012LF loaded 112's can get you to virtually the same place.
Click to expand...
 
#33
svtb15 said:
I never owned one.. way back i was using a crown amp and an early F2b through AFB audio scoop cabs with JBL lens.. im talking mid 70s... didnt get to try an SVT till i was downsizing...:eek: sad but true.:D
Click to expand...

By the time I had the money for something good in the later 70's, the Acoustic stuff was kind of old news. Still amazing at the time.

I also was a 'Alembic/Furmin pre into Crown or BGW and JBL' guy back in the day, like most of us back then searching for a reasonably clean, wide, tone. Much easier today!
 
#34
Had a square back SVT. Had a 360 bought new. Had a V4B cab.
The Shiz if not driven to distortion was the Sunn 2000s.
I drowned out two 100 watt Marshall stacks two drummers and a poor bassist using one Fender Bassman with my 360. I turned it up to 8 and hello!

For the builder guy. The 18" in the 360 cab was in that plug front loaded and the whole plug triangle thingy came out as the bolts came through each side. The 370s didn't have that.
 
#35
billfitzmaurice said:
And Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam using hickory shafted clubs. :hyper:
Talent is neither restricted or defined by equipment. Nor will using a 360 and fretless JBass make you sound like Jaco.
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I'm going to respectfully disagree.

No, most won't play as musically as Jaco - that was in his mind, heart, and hands.

But a decent passive Fender J plugged into a healthy 360 will absolutely nail that sound. I played that for a number of years. GREAT rig, no matter what technical deficiencies you may find with it. The combination of that bass and that amp is a fantastic musical instrument. If we still had a station wagon in the family, I would still have that amp.

IMO
 
#36
bucephylus said:
I'm going to respectfully disagree.

No, most won't play as musically as Jaco - that was in his mind, heart, and hands.

But a decent passive Fender J plugged into a healthy 360 will absolutely nail that sound. I played that for a number of years. GREAT rig, no matter what technical deficiencies you may find with it. The combination of that bass and that amp is a fantastic musical instrument. If we still had a station wagon in the family, I would still have that amp.

IMO
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Now there are a lot of bassists out there who don't sound like "themselves" anyway whatever gear they use.
 
#39
KJung said:
They were something in their day...the low end and relatively 'clean' tone of the Acoustic amps...was a revelation. Now, a good 310 or a couple of those 3012LF loaded 112's can get you to virtually the same place.
Click to expand...

+1

Those who didn't live through the bad old bass cab days assume they missed out on the fun. :scowl:
We had fun, but not with the cabs. :smug:
 
#40
chadds said:
Now there are a lot of bassists out there who don't sound like "themselves" anyway whatever gear they use.
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Well, really gear is such a small part of that anyhow. I think Marcus Miller really summed it up when he said that a player has to spend a certain amount of time to get a decent sound together, but then you have to move on to work on the music. Ultimately your "sound" is really the accumulation of wisdom earned over the years of experience. IMO.
 

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