Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

Rich_S

Rich_S

HomeGrownToneBrewologist
I see the new Acoustic bass amps are now prominently displayed in everyone's local Guitar Center. Another of those classic 70's primo brand names, being re-used on new gear. Acoustic is one of those classics that was just THE stuff to have in the 70's: Jaco, John Paul Jones, Randy Bachman, and Terry Kath were just a few of the top-ranked players who used them (and let's not forget Suzy Quattro - she had an endorsement deal, too.)

Acoustic's latest full-page magazine ad is pretty bad-a$$, with this monster sitting next to one of John Paul Jones' Zep-era stacks:

601086jpg.jpg


So, has anybody played any of this stuff, or heard about its quality? Does it live up to the Acoustic reputation of old, or is it just another respected old name, leveraged and applied to modern gear of borderline quality?
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

They are now made somewhere in Asia from what I've heard.
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

The name is owned by guitar center now and they are made overseas. They sound "ok" for the price I guess...the cabs rattle a lot.

They have a 3 year warranty.
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

Why did I put this in the Sound Room? That was dumb.
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

My band had 'the pleasure' of playing through an SVt4 and 2x 8x10 acoustic bass cabs at one of our shows. It was the venue's house rig + sounded absolutely terrible.
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

They seemed all right in a short shakedown I gave two of the 200 wt area amps. The look is right, not so sure about the sound. I had never used the bass before and being on the floor of GC it was hard to tell. Last I heard Samick owned the brand name but I wouldn't doubt GC owning it these days. Iw ouldn't mind giving them a shot, the price was very reasonable but who knows what is inside them?

I am a big fan of old Acoustic bass amps. My main rig for years was an Acoustic B320 into a 2x15 Acoustic bottom. I wish I never parted ways with that amp it was great. I ran active pups, passive pups, long and medium scale basses, played Punk, Metal, Blues and everything I threw at it was easy to dial in, it was ultra-reliable too.
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

Back in 1975 I bought a new Acoustic 270 head. The amp was ok but it was my first experience of someone trying to rip me off. I was 18 years old and gave the owner of the shop $600.00 cash to order me one. He one month later gave me a used amp for a new one.

A different music store tipped me off when I brought it in and asked why it did not put out the 375 watts RMS it was advertised to have.

Making a long story short, I got a new one from Acoustic Inc. and Acoustic Inc. pulled his franchise.
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

My first guitar amp was an Acoustic T60. These were very much like a Boogie, 2x 6L6, cascadable tube preamp, reverb, graphic on some versions...ect. There may have been some legal wrangling over this, but I'm not sure. It was good reliable amp.

I don't know much about the new line up but I might be interested in a SS bass head to have on hand if they are any good.
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

I bought two of the new Acoustic AB50 bass amps. These have a 10" speaker and a tweeter in a ported wedge enclosure and are advertised as an acoustic bass amp. I bought them to use with my Alesis SR-16 drum machine set up in stereo, and they work great for that. Fifty watts and fairly portable--they're easy to set up for practice or a small coffee house gig, and they provide a lot of low end thump to the bass drum. Guitar Center also markets a similar drum monitor under the Simmonds name, but the AB50 was about half the price of the Simmonds.

I've also used them for amplifying my Precision Bass "Lyte" and my Fishman-equipped acoustic guitars--all with good results.

Can't speak for the rest of the line, but the AB50 is a sweet little workhorse of an amp at a very good price. I would recommend it highly for anyone needing a small utility amp, and especially for those using a drum machine.

Bill
 
Re: Anybody had some hands-on with the new Acoustic amps?

ive seen a couple hardcore bands come through atlanta playing them. sounded real thick. im sure that was more than just the cab though. i forget the head he used
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top