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Acoustic USA News

#184
I'm sure their NAMM booth is impressive.

Hardly the first promising upcoming product that never really came to anything. Another thing I like about Genz Benz.. they don't say "this new product is coming out" until there's actually a new product ready to come out. Prototypes and cool ideas are fun, but something real is nicer. Not directed at a hobbyist product made as one off that's so cool everybody wants one, like JGR's.
 
#187
Looks next to impossible to get a chance to try one of these out anywhere. Too bad.

Until they sort out their marketing and distribution all the money and time spent on development and getting it to market will be wasted, IMO.

As to the $5000 price tag, there seems to be no way to verify if this is the correct price or if a discount is available, short of calling George (I'm not calling because I'm not in the market for one). Why it continues to be a mystery is way beyond me, but what do I know?

There is another recent thread running here about them, but they always peter out because there simply are not enough people who have heard one to add much useful info.

The Acoustic USA forum has run out of steam, too, not much to learn from there.
 
#189
craig.p said:
A guy I'm starting a band with was out at NAMM all week, and I asked him to look George up and say hi for me, but he just emailed me and said the Acoustic brand was nowhere to be found. I'm assuming that means both the China and the U.S. efforts.
Click to expand...

Here's my "final" take on this whole 360/361 thing: YES the amps exist. They ARE in production and CAN be ordered.

In MY opinion and only MY opinion: Until Acoustic USA takes the "secrecy" from their lexicon and allows the amps to be reviewed in the "normal" channels such as Bass Gear and Bass Player - where the results are there for ALL to see, they are pissing in the wind. Going on and on about how GREAT the product is, without backing it up is as pointless as arguing about whose bass is better.....

Until they begin to act as though they are an actual "builder" and begin making their products available at trade shows (NAMM) for the dealers and public across the country to see, they are pissing in the wind.

Until they decide to quit acting as though there are "Top Secret" details that only THEY can know, i.e., "MSRP" and actual "PRICE" they are pissing in the wind.

These are just a couple of observations that make sense to me. Hell, I would LOVE to try one out!! However, if they think for one minute that I am going to fly to THEIR place (at MY expense), pay some ridiculous price for their amp and then pay FREIGHT to have it shipped to MY place, then they are, indeed, pissing in the wind. There are FAR too many reputable amp builders out there today to get caught up in that......:D
 
#190
Buster Brown said:
These are just a couple of observations that make sense to me. Hell, I would LOVE to try one out!! However, if they think for one minute that I am going to fly to THEIR place (at MY expense), pay some ridiculous price for their amp and then pay FREIGHT to have it shipped to MY place, then they are, indeed, pissing in the wind. There are FAR too many reputable amp builders out there today to get caught up in that......:D
Click to expand...

I totally don't get it either! Apparently there is a dealer in LA, see the Acoustic USA Facebook page:

Tracy Paxton FYI< These are available in Los Angeles, if anyone is interested contact me.
October 20, 2011 at 10:49am
 
#191
I may be wrong here (which wouldn't surprise anyone who knows me :p ) but I don't think that site actually HAS any on hand....looks like you must order them.

Here's the other problem I have...a 410 for $1,399? a 115 for $1,199? a 210 for $1,000.99?? Guess I won't be grabbing any of those.....:scowl:

I can almost understand a 360/361 for $5,000 (not really, but what the hell) but DAMN!!!!!

I guess I can justify $25.00 for a T-Shirt....but damn.....:D
 
#192
Can anyone confirm they are not at NAMM at all? That's just nuts, they are really missing a trick here. It's the absence of hard info in the midst of so much hype that has fueled so much speculation and rumour mongering.

The thing is there could be so much goodwill surrounding this brand, who amongst us doesn't want a project like this to succeed if the product is a good one?
 
#194
I don't know that NAMM matters that much.
So much vaporware is announced that never makes it to real product.
Or it takes years to actually ship.

Actual production and distribution is what really matters.
Right now Acoustic USA are boutique amps - built on order.
And IMHO - this is the market they should focus on and forget their web site with the photoshop photos of everything they could possibly build.
 
#195
For once, I agree with seamonkey ;) NAMM shows look like fun, and I'm sure a lot of business is transacted there, but you build something that people want and it doesn't matter if it's at the NAMM show or not...they'll buy it.
 
#196
NAMM is a way to set up distribution and get your gear heard by industry people and musicians as well. I know trade shows are expensive and distracting, but properly timed they can be an important part of a product or brand launch.

I agree if you make a good product that fills a niche it will sell, but only if enough people hear it in the first place, which isn't happening here.

edited to add: If I was marketing these rigs I'd get a loaner into the hands of Fams. He probably did as much to promote the old Acoustic as anyone in the '70s, and I defy anyone to find another player who used them to better effect. I just found this clip last night (unbelievably good sound quality), and was mesmerized all over again by Aston Barret's '70s tone. He really uses the rig like an instrument, uncanny how balances punch and heavy lows, and just enough articulation to hear how he shapes every note. He doesn't use this rig any more, gets less of a Jamerson like thump these days in exchange for more growl and a bit more articulation, letting better modern FOH do some of the work the old Acoustics did. If the new stuff is as good as promised I'd bet he's be delighted to have a go, he still mentions the Acoustic sound in interviews.

Here is the clip, play it loud through some decent speakers or headphones, and tell me this is not some of the greatest bass playing ever recorded, and one of the tightest bands to ever take a stage. I can't listen to four bars without getting newly schooled in terms of timing, feel, tone, melody, and supporting a vocalist and tying up the instruments. It's also a clue as to why the bass doesn't often lock in with the kick drum in so much reggae- if played properly the bass has as much power as the kick and functions as a bass drum as well:



Sorry for the extreme high-jack, wanted to bring some joy and Acoustic love to an otherwise bleak thread.
 

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