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John Paul Jones and Acoustic 360

#81
There is Acoustic USA company that soon will be releasing a new 21st century model 361,designed by Russ Allee; Acoustic Control Corp's VP of engineering and founder of A.M.P.The man is the "godfather of bass amplification". It will be coming soon, as I have heard there will be the 361 reissue with 21st century refinements( it will also have the famous 18"folded horn (361pp) and there is a smaller Mini 360 with a 15 folded horn neodymium speakers...
There is all kinds of talk over athe Unofficial Acoustic Control Corp wiki site about these new Acoustics..You should check them out.
Link Removed The USA Acoustics are soon to be on the way...
:bassist:
CuzLocust
 
#82
macmrkt said:
We plan on covering the launch. I've been following it closely for over 5 years. Basically, this is Russ Allee's slight update on a classic. And for those not aware of Russ, we're planning a comprehensive story on him too. Suffice to say, most of the progress in bass amps today can be traced to Russ. And he had carte blanche to make the new USA Acoustic.
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That's more or less the point - IMO. When speaking to George, he spoke VERY highly of Russ. And why not!?!? Indeed, this guy is to bass amplification what Leo Fender was to the bass.

Make no mistale about it. I am THRILLED to see this thing coming to fruition! It will blow my mind to see those monsters sitting on stages (and they will be), but again, my only concern is going to be the bottom line. I fear that the price is going to put many guys out of the running.

However, I WILL sell my Ampeg stuff in an "attempt" to afford the new gear. As stated previously, after hearing the vintage 370 (I had forgotten just how SWEET the head is/was) I am convinced that I want to go "down that road" once again!!
 
#83
Buster Brown said:
That's more or less the point - IMO. When speaking to George, he spoke VERY highly of Russ. And why not!?!? Indeed, this guy is to bass amplification what Leo Fender was to the bass.
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Easy there, Buster Brown (believe it or not, that's what my mom used to say to me when I was little and got too hyper) ;) The title of the father of bass amplification goes to one Everett Hull, my friend. He invented the first upright bass pickup as well as put out the first dedicated bass amp that bassists actually liked in 1948. And of course, there's the B-15. Sorry, but Russ Allee was a bit late to the party. Now he did make the first solid state bass amp that was any good, but Everett Hull predates him by about 25 years.
 
#85
JimmyM said:
Easy there, Buster Brown (believe it or not, that's what my mom used to say to me when I was little and got too hyper) ;) The title of the father of bass amplification goes to one Everett Hull, my friend. He invented the first upright bass pickup as well as put out the first dedicated bass amp that bassists actually liked in 1948. And of course, there's the B-15. Sorry, but Russ Allee was a bit late to the party. Now he did make the first solid state bass amp that was any good, but Everett Hull predates him by about 25 years.
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Again....this here keyboard thingy has a mind of it's own....:D

What I MEANT to say was that Russ, being the brains behind the Acoustic 360 series, was to ACOUSTIC what Leo Fender was to the Bass that bears his name....

See...that's what happens to you when you get old......*as he dozes off........*
 
#86
Buster Brown said:
Again....this here keyboard thingy has a mind of it's own....:D

What I MEANT to say was that Russ, being the brains behind the Acoustic 360 series, was to ACOUSTIC what Leo Fender was to the Bass that bears his name....

See...that's what happens to you when you get old......*as he dozes off........*
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LOL! Funny post, bro! Hey, don't get me wrong...I totally respect Russ Allee for making the first usable solid state bass amp. He's definitely a pioneer in that respect.
 
#87
All of this talk and I am sitting here with my 1976 Acoustic 370 head setting behind me totally useless since I can't seem to get it fixed. It still hs tons of power but it distorts and breaks ups. Nothing like that 370 sound as far as I like it. My new B600H has a great clean bottom end but it seems to lack the punch of the 370 since it does not have a bright switch like the 370 and I liked the graphic E.Q. set up on the 370 better too. However, the one new cool feature on the B600H is the gain and volume control combination to adjust if you want an overdrive tube like sound that is very nice to provide a clean yet slightly warm or dirty effect.
 
#88
Richland123 said:
...the one new cool feature on the B600H is the gain and volume control combination to adjust if you want an overdrive tube like sound that is very nice to provide a clean yet slightly warm or dirty effect.
Click to expand...

Why do tubes get all the good overdrive sound credit? Even going back to all the great and revolutionary guitar players - they all used SS fuzz boxes and overdrive pedals first in their chain.
Bass players use Brassmasters and other effects, and had to crank to keep up. SS became popular because it was cheap, reliable, and loud. Good old SS overdrive is probably what most are thinking of in the good old overdriven sound of yesteryear.
 
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#90
seamonkey said:
Why do tubes get all the good overdrive sound credit? Even going back to all the great and revolutionary guitar players - they all used SS fuzz boxes and overdrive pedals first in their chain.
Bass players use Brassmasters and other effects, and had to crank to keep up. SS became popular because it was cheap, reliable, and loud. Good old SS overdrive is probably what most are thinking of in the good old overdriven sound of yesteryear.
Click to expand...

I don't know that I agree with that... I was just listening to an old recording where the guitar player was clearly using solid state gear and it *sounded* like it! Ick.

You are correct that almost all pedals were SS until fairly recently... And to many, they didn't sound so good.

Either way, I have to think that in the case of Zep/Yes/Who, a good part of "The sound" was from the engineer who did the final mixdown of the records. When I was a kid, *everyone* wanted to get Jimmy Page's sound and no one could figure out who to do it - - which rather suggests that even Jimmy couldn't get his own sound without an engineer in the booth...
 
#91
seamonkey said:
Why do tubes get all the good overdrive sound credit? Even going back to all the great and revolutionary guitar players - they all used SS fuzz boxes and overdrive pedals first in their chain.
Bass players use Brassmasters and other effects, and had to crank to keep up. SS became popular because it was cheap, reliable, and loud. Good old SS overdrive is probably what most are thinking of in the good old overdriven sound of yesteryear.
Click to expand...
Not really. SS overdrive through a tube amp, maybe. I know a lot of those English guys like Tonebenders. But just as many if not more just turned small tube amps up all the way to get that sound, a la B-String's example with the Champ.
 
#92
BigOldHarry said:
I don't know that I agree with that... I was just listening to an old recording where the guitar player was clearly using solid state gear and it *sounded* like it! Ick.

You are correct that almost all pedals were SS until fairly recently... And to many, they didn't sound so good.

Either way, I have to think that in the case of Zep/Yes/Who, a good part of "The sound" was from the engineer who did the final mixdown of the records. When I was a kid, *everyone* wanted to get Jimmy Page's sound and no one could figure out who to do it - - which rather suggests that even Jimmy couldn't get his own sound without an engineer in the booth...
Click to expand...

How do you know it was SS amp you were listening to?

Also, old recordings means old mics, consoles, tape (and it's characteristics), ... many variables. Who knows what you're hearing for "Ick"

I do have to hand it to the recording engineers of yesteryear who had an ear for the technology of the time and could really bring out the best of it.

There are plenty engineers these days that are able to do the same with the modern gear.
 
#93
B-string said:
Actually the sweetest overdrive tones came from the Fender Champ, SE 6V6 Class A into an 8" speaker cranked wide open in the recording studio. Just sayin' thats were the SS pedals came in to play, trying to emulate that sound?
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That's one theory, there are plenty of others:
Link Removed

But when you see old concert footage of Hendrik or SRV or ... - there's fuzz boxes by their feet.
 
#94
Richland123 said:
All of this talk and I am sitting here with my 1976 Acoustic 370 head setting behind me totally useless since I can't seem to get it fixed. It still hs tons of power but it distorts and breaks ups. Nothing like that 370 sound as far as I like it. My new B600H has a great clean bottom end but it seems to lack the punch of the 370 since it does not have a bright switch like the 370 and I liked the graphic E.Q. set up on the 370 better too. However, the one new cool feature on the B600H is the gain and volume control combination to adjust if you want an overdrive tube like sound that is very nice to provide a clean yet slightly warm or dirty effect.
Click to expand...

I have a great deal of sympathy for you, my friend! However, I would urge you not to give up but continue looking for a GOOD amp tech that can fix the problem.

When my 370 arrived, I plugged her in and played for a couple of hours (the entire time walking down memory lane). I have now put the covers on my SVT4Pro in the road case and relegated it to the closet (for the near future).

The sound coming from this monster was literally, music to my ears. Now, I'm not going to equate it with a 69 SVT or anything like that, but it has a tone that I have not heard since the middle-late 70s...and I'm thrilled to death.

Additionally, I have made it my life's "mission", if you will, to afford one of the new 360s....come hell or high water.....let's see....the kids are grown - can't sell them...I DO however, have a Grandkid or 2.......:D:D:D:D I don't know if that will fetch the necessary 5 or 6 grand, though:bawl::bawl:

**As a quick edit** I have just became aware that the new amps have been sent to UL for testing. and "supposedily" are now looking at a release date of 5 weeks......fingers crossed!
 
#96
seamonkey said:
That's one theory, there are plenty of others:
Link Removed

But when you see old concert footage of Hendrik or SRV or ... - there's fuzz boxes by their feet.
Click to expand...

While there are other possibilties (like a bad TUBE console channel) even in the early '70's to mid 70's around the LA area studios still had their "dirty little secret" (old Champ practice amp) in use?

Some of those pedals were signal boosters to overdrive the first tube stage on the amp head.
 
#97
KJung said:
Things have gotten SO much better now. I can't imagine wanting to play through a 360 or 370 again.... muddy and gritty all at the same time.
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+2

I had my first bass rig a 360 and 2x15 cab.
Loud, distortion was gnarly, but things have become so much better sounding in virtually every way.

Buy a Decent new rig and tweak to match the sound, should not be that hard. I also owned a 450 which was a little better IME.

Tom
 
#98
Plantbrain said:
+2

I had my first bass rig a 360 and 2x15 cab.
Loud, distortion was gnarly, but things have become so much better sounding in virtually every way.

Buy a Decent new rig and tweak to match the sound, should not be that hard. I also owned a 450 which was a little better IME.

Tom
Click to expand...

You know, I understand the sentiment, I really do. I Do, however, respectfully disagree. I play through a great rig and I have played through great rigs (todays amps). There is absolutely nothing wrong with them. And, by any standard, they are really, really good.

It is MY experience (and I can only speak for myself) that they just (to me) seem to be "missing" something. Don't know what it is, but for my taste, just missing something.

If, and of course, that's a BIG if (and once UL gets done with the new Acoustic heads - it'll be anyone's guess) they retain any of that late 60s - 70s vibe - then I'm in. However, if they come out on the other end being rather "sterile", then I'll once again have to rethink the whole deal...
 
#99
Richland123 said:
All of this talk and I am sitting here with my 1976 Acoustic 370 head setting behind me totally useless since I can't seem to get it fixed. It still hs tons of power but it distorts and breaks ups. Nothing like that 370 sound as far as I like it. My new B600H has a great clean bottom end but it seems to lack the punch of the 370 since it does not have a bright switch like the 370 and I liked the graphic E.Q. set up on the 370 better too. However, the one new cool feature on the B600H is the gain and volume control combination to adjust if you want an overdrive tube like sound that is very nice to provide a clean yet slightly warm or dirty effect.
Click to expand...

The Acoustic Control Corp amps are not "Rocket Science" so any good tech should be able to repair them. If you will go to the Unofficial Acoustic Control Corp website and click on links you will find where to get the info you need to get your 370 repaired. There is a lot of good information on the Unofficial ACC website..
Link Removed
:bassist:
CuzLocust
 

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