Acoustic Control Corporation
 An Acoustic 370 amplifier head with aftermarket bass cabinets | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Musical instruments |
| Founded | Late 1960s |
| Founder | Steve Marks |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Products | Instrument amplifiers, electric guitars, electric basses |
Acoustic Control Corporation was an American manufacturer of solid-state instrument amplifiers, founded in Los Angeles in the late 1960s by Steve Marks with his father.[1][2] It is remembered for the Acoustic 360 bass preamplifier and matching 361 folded-horn cabinet, a loud solid-state bass stack used on large stages in the late 1960s and 1970s.[3][4][5] Independent accounts name Jaco Pastorius, John Paul Jones, John McVie and Larry Graham among its users.[3][4][6] From 1972 to about 1975 the company also sold Black Widow electric guitars and basses, its only instrument line.[1]
The Acoustic name was later used by other manufacturers. Those later brands are not documented in independent sources as a continuation of the Marks-era firm.[6][4]
History
[edit]According to the present Acoustic Control Corporation, Marks and his father started the company in a shack on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in the late 1960s.[2] Michael Wright, writing in Vintage Guitar, placed the firm in the late-1960s turn toward transistor instrument amplifiers and described its products as advanced solid-state designs for the period.[1] Auction records for period equipment identify the maker as Acoustic Control Corporation of Los Angeles.[7]
360 and 361
[edit]The company's best-known product was the Acoustic 360 bass stack: a 360 preamplifier paired with a 361 cabinet that used a single 18-inch speaker and a large folded horn.[3][5] Michael John Simmons of the Fretboard Journal wrote that Harvey Gerst and Russ Allee designed the 360 for Acoustic in 1967 because they wanted a bass amplifier loud enough to stand up to the Marshall stacks then coming into rock guitar use.[3] Premier Guitar likewise dated the 360 and matching 361 to the late 1960s and wrote that the solid-state rig had the point, clarity and grit to compete with Marshalls onstage.[5] The 360's controls included volume, bass and treble, a built-in fuzz circuit and a five-position Variamp section for selected frequencies.[3]
Simmons called the 360 "the most heard, least acknowledged amp in music history."[3] He wrote that Jones used a pair with Led Zeppelin, that Dave Brown of Santana played one at Woodstock, that McVie used the amps in the early days of Fleetwood Mac and that the 360 was Pastorius's amp of choice.[3] Dave Hunter in Guitar Player described the 361 as a touring staple from the early 1970s through much of the 1980s and named Pastorius, Jones, Graham and McVie among the bassists associated with it.[4] Premier Guitar wrote that Pastorius "sealed the forever stamp" on the 360's reputation.[5]
A 360 head and 361 cabinet used onstage by Jones with Led Zeppelin from 1969 to 1976 was catalogued by Christie's. The auction house wrote that stacks of that type appear in photographs from the Bath Festival on June 28, 1969, through 1976, including footage in the concert film The Song Remains the Same (1976), and that serial numbers for Jones's rigs were listed with the band's touring equipment in Beat Instrumental in April 1976.[7]
Black Widow
[edit]In 1972 Acoustic introduced the Black Widow electric guitar and matching bass, its only guitar designs.[1] Wright wrote that the instruments were likely designed in the United States and that most were built in Japan, though Semie Moseley of Mosrite said he built the last 200. The bodies were black double-cutaway solidbodies. The guitar had a 27-inch (69 cm) scale. The bass had a 31-inch (79 cm) scale. A snap-on red leather pad on the back was stitched with a black-widow motif.[1] Wright identified jazz guitarist Larry Coryell as the only well-known player to endorse the line. The guitar and bass still appeared in Acoustic's 1974 catalog and were gone by 1975. Wright wrote that Acoustic continued to make amplifiers and did not return to the guitar business.[1]
Later brands
[edit]Independent coverage of later Acoustic products treats them as revivals of the name rather than as a documented continuation of the original Los Angeles manufacturer.
In 2011 a company calling itself Acoustic USA announced a United States-made update of the 360/361. No Treble wrote that the vintage combination had been associated with Pastorius, Graham and Jones, and that Acoustic USA worked with Allee, a designer of the original 360 in the 1960s.[6] In July 2012 Premier Guitar reported that the GPG Co., operating as Acoustic USA, was launching the reissue.[8]
A separate Acoustic Amplification line of bass amplifiers and cabinets was marketed in the 2010s.[9] In 2023 Hunter reviewed effects pedals sold under the Acoustic Control Corporation name and restated the historic 361's reputation among touring bassists.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wright, Michael (July 1998). "Acoustic Black Widow". Vintage Guitar. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
- 1 2 "History". Acoustic Control Corporation. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Simmons, Michael John (November 2013). "Catch of the Day: Circa 1969 Acoustic 360/361 Bass Amplifier". Fretboard Journal. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Hunter, Dave (September 21, 2023). "Acoustic Control Gamma Effects Pedals Review". Guitar Player. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "One Control Blue 360 Review". Premier Guitar. June 13, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Johnson, Kevin (July 22, 2011). "Acoustic USA Launches With Revamped 360/361 Bass Rig". No Treble. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
- 1 2 "Led Zeppelin John Paul Jones". Christie's. July 10, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
- ↑ "Acoustic USA Introduces the Acoustic 360/361 Bass Amplifier". Premier Guitar. July 3, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
- ↑ "Acoustic Amplification Introduces Class-D/Neo Series Bass Amps and Cabinets". Premier Guitar. October 5, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2026.
External links
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