Finally got my Acoustic 136

[iriegnome]

My very first amp ever! A 1973 Acoustic 136. Been searching for one for a very long time and I finally found one! Offer was accepted and now I am on the wait! With the holidays coming quickly, not sure how long I will have to wait. I am in WI and it is coming from PA. So I am excitedly waiting.. Pics as soon as it arrives!

 

[JimmyM]

My first decent amp as well.

 

[RSBBass]

Congratulations. Play it in good health and a strong back.

 

[spufman]

Back then, I had a Kustom 200 with 2x15. My friend's 136 was SO MUCH better in every way, great 'little' amp. Enjoy!

 

[StereoPlayer]

Very nice!

 

[iriegnome]

I originally had traded mine for a Peavey Series 400 Bass head and a Peavey 2x15. This beauty will be in my bass room for a practice combo. She won’t move very far after it arrives

 

[jshinal]

Nice, I always wanted one of those. I had the competing Ampeg instead, but I loved how the 136 sounded.

 

[iriegnome]

It arrived today! First impression is it doesn’t have wheels! Second, damn it is way heavier that I remember! Overall all it looks great. Waiting for it to acclimate to plug it in and play it! I will pull it apart and see if I can get an idea of the year as well

 

[Hundred proof]

Same as the 140 head … I have 2 of them

 

[iriegnome]

A 1973 and it is in fantastic condition. Looks like it has been refreshed though

 

[nicksorenson]

I have a 126 (similar but with eq and a few more knobs). I like the looks of the 136. My 126 plays and sounds pretty nice. Got to love vintage Acoustic stuff.

 

[StereoPlayer]

A 1973 and it is in fantastic condition. Looks like it has been refreshed though

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So nice!

 

[Analogeezer]

When you look at how thick those circuit boards are and how wide the traces on the boards are (you could practically drive on them!) you realize why with these old amps you rarely hear of issues with the boards, it's always the other stuff.

Lots of reasons (cost, environmental, technology of the day) you cannot make circuit boards like that anymore but they are a beauty to behold aren't they?

Analogeezer

 

[agedhorse]

The PCBs are exactly the same thickness as what we use today, the laminate is not as good as the current FR-4/4+ material and the trace width is however wide the designer intends.

 

[Jim C]

Is it my imagination or do many of the older Acoustics have a really low component count?

 

[iriegnome]

Yes. They were pretty simple, powerful, and most importantly reliable

 

[agedhorse]

Is it my imagination or do many of the older Acoustics have a really low component count?

Yes, they were very simple amps with a limited feature set compared with today's amps. They were also comparatively large which provides lots of room to spread things out.

 

[JimmyM]

Yep, that's the beast. I'd probably appreciate mine a lot more today than I did back in the day. I became a major tube snob pretty early on

 

[Joe Felice]

I am using my 136 head tonight! I cut it free from the cab and had it professionally rebuilt and covered a few years ago. Basically, it's a 140 with a different badge. I use the head to work my Tech21 2112 preamp using both channels(deep/drive). Plenty loud for most gigs. I have a huge 2 channel Crown amp to drive a stack, but I use this on smaller stages with either the 15" or the 4x10 from the previously mentioned stack. I have even used it with my 12" cab and it works like a charm.