Acoustic Control Corporation 370

First some history.

Early on Fender had their Bassman model with 4 ten inch speakers which time has shown to be a great guitar amp but only a so-so bass amp. Then came Fender Showman amps with one or two 15's that were better but still not perfect. Ampeg made the now famous Portaflex series of bass amps that created the famous Motown sound. Two hundred watt 8-12 guitar stacks became the norm for large scale concert use and bass amp designers worked hard to keep up.

SUNN and Ampeg launch the next generation of bass amps. The SUNN 2000S was listed as 120 watts. Many believe these amps were putting out more than that. The 2000s pushing SUNN's JBL loaded and ported 2-15 cabinets were one of the best available bass amps at the time. Ampeg had their 300 watt all tube SVT pushing an 8-10 and was also right at the top of the list for high power bass amps. Marshall got into the act with the 200 watt Major series. All these amps were great amps and are to this day some of the most respected and sought after amps. However,due to their front loaded designs they still lacked the ability to project to the far end of the huge concert halls that many groups were performing in.

Enter the newcomer from Van Nuys, California. The Acoustic Control Corporation. They were able to design a bass cabinet that could fill large concert halls with bass in abundance. The cabs were folded horn W-bin cabinets that used the new 18 inch speaker from Cerwin Vega. The cabinets would start to unload 20 or 30 feet away and just gained volume the farther they went. The first big rig from Acoustic was the 361 series, the amp made famous by Led Zepplin, Jaco, and others. It used a model 360 preamp head which had variamp (tone control), fuzz, and a tuning tone built in and used model 361 folded 18 bottoms with 200 watts of power with the amp in the cabinet. The more cabs you added the more power. These cabinets were so good at what they did that usually just two could fill a large hall with just minimal PA support. Four cabinets with the 360 head was 800 watts of huge bass power and projection. Tone was all bottom and low mids, forget about highs, those cabinets were never designed to get high end. The word got out and soon the 361 was being used by pro players everywhere.

Acoustic Control not wanting to sit back and enjoy their success with the 360, released the second gereration of their monster rigs. These were the Acoustic 371 series. Rumor was that Acoustic was having higher than normal failure rates on the 360 heads and powered cabinets due to vibration. Acoustic applied major changes in the 371 series. Gone was the preamp head along with the variamp, fuzz, and tuner. In it's place we have a more conventional head with standard tone controls, brite switch and a nice 5 band graphic EC. Power was all in the head with ratings of roughly 275 watts with a single cabinet (4 ohm) and 365 watts with two cabs (2 ohm). Big RCA 2n3055 output transistors powered these heads. Two cabs were the max with this rig. They coupled the new head with the new 301 cabinet, which for all intents and purposes is the 361 cabinet but without the power amp built in. These were very powerful rigs. The 301 cabinets carried warning stickers on the back of the cabinet stating the cabinet could exceed 120 DB within 10 feet of the enclosure. I can attest from using these cabs over the years that you don't want to be sticking your ears anywhere near one of these cabinets!

Concert PA's got more efficient and groups were able to mic and go direct with the bass to fill large halls. It was the end of the road for the Acoustic Control 360 and 370 series monster bass rigs. Bassist's were starting to apply bi-amp systems with preamps, crossovers, and stereo power amps combined with cabinets to get full range tone at concert volumes. DI outputs were added to power amps and preamps and the bassist could now go direct.

The 370 with two 301 cabinets was

Huge powerful bass tone that will get you through any gig. Somewhat noisy due to the 34 year old design, but still quite suited for stage use. Five band graphic EQ gives you plenty of tonal options.

Acoustic Control has long since ceased operations so forget about warranty service. Parts are still available and any decent tech can service these 370 amps. This one is still strong after 34 years. So make no mistake, Acoustic's are rugged and reliable amps.

GC recently bought the Acoustic name and new models are in production which are mostly entry level units.

Acoustic Control gone. Their customer service when they were still in business was second to none.

A great classic amp! Don't hesitate to get one if you find a good deal on any Acoustic amp.

I'm looking for a on-off switch for the 370.I installed a red light switch.It fit's tight-finally don't power up
Does anyone have a site where i can buy the original switch-acoustic 370.-thanks-jacko

nice and simple,sounds great even if you knock your usual tone settings out of place...TONS of power; I play loud-ass rock in a power trio where I hold the riff down and I've never had it above 3, even onstage...I use an Alembic Distallate with a tech21 bass di(the one with the drive control) for dirt driving a gallien-krueger 4x10 and verlage 15" cabs...I've had other bass players stand in front of the barrage going"you've got the coolest bass tone EVER!!!!" high praise considering I really am a ham-fisted beast...it's the amp...

see above...I've never been able to turn it up loud enough to hear it's own distortion,but it's just a wonderful amp that can take everything you throw at it...it's been used for multi-band gigs where it's been used for 8-10 hours straight without complaint,and doesn't even warm your beer up that much....

utterly dependable!! never even a hiccup...the only thing that shows it's age is that the built-in light in the power switch flickers(after 30? years)that's ok...when you look inside,almost NOTHING these days is built as well; well laid out,well heat-sinked and easy to fix...almost the solid-state equivalent of an old Hiwatt...joy.

company is long gone...maybe they're next for a rise from the grave? a fine fraternity of fans, though (and well deserved) so easy to get the repair info needed,if EVER needed...

I've only been playing bass for about 3 years,but was playing guitar in bands for 10 years before,so as a true gear pig,I have lots of amps and guitars...normally I would have gone for a tube bass amp but the 370 basically kicked ass and was too good to pass up,even as I was still mostly playing guitar at the time(told ya I was a gear pig...)glad I got it though, as a good bass amp is hard to find...I like simple amps, and this amp is all I need...except maybe another one!!

Just like everybody else said, not a lot of bells and whistles, but plenty of options for dialing in the sound you want. It's a really even sounding amp, so as long as you are able to play the bass with dynamics (that's when you use your hands to make it louder or softer...not just beat the crap out of it) you're actually probably in a better place than if you had a bunch of compression and limiting and all that. I really think that compressors take a lot of the personality out of your sound, and a lot of subtlety out of your music. Like others have said before me, the EQ really is awesome on this, I love to play cheap knock-off basses (old Japs and newer Korean and Chinese) and I could always dial in a good sound for whatever bass I'm playing in whatever band in whatever kind of room I'm in.
I'd love to have a big ol' cab to run it thru, but I'm not 17 anymore , nor do I own a truck, so, my amps tend to never go up past about 2 or 3. I ran this amp thru a Peavey 1x15 cab with a black widow for years, and never ever had a problem with it. You do wanna check your ohm situation out, though, cause you don't want to fry this gem of an amp or melt whatever cab you run it thru. It has a TON of power, and unless you're using a big Ampeg or Sunn cab or something like that, you need to be careful.

One really cool feature that nobody else has touched upon is the accessory outlet located in the back of this amp. This is such a cool feature...so stupid that they don't put these in amps anymore. At one time I was in a pretty experimental band and had a power strip plugged into it with a bunch of pedals, a mixer, and an AM radio, and for a long time, my studio was in the very large attic of a very old house and there was only one outlet up there and a lot of space to cover. The 370 had a really long power cord on it (another cool feature) and I would stretch this out with the amp about halfway across the room, and then would plug a power strip into the back of the 370, and then all the recording gear, deck, board, outboard pre-amps, probabbly even a Fender Twin from time to time into that. Electrically, not a very sound move (coulda burnt the house down!) but, hey, I did it, and the amp just kept on getiin' it. Try that with your SWR Workin' Man amp and see what happens!

If I think about how to describe this amp's sound without the usual cliche terms, 2 words come to my mind. First, electric. This amp will make sure you will be playing ELECTRIC bass, even if you ran an upright thru it (which might be a really cool idea...but then again, maybe not). And I mean that in a good way. It sounds very lively and full. It's even and clean whether it's turned down or up (of course you need a good cab to keep it clean if your gonna turn it up past about 3) and if you know your bass and how to tweak the knobs and sliders, you could potentially get all of those cool, agressive rock sounds (Geezer, Squire, Jack Bruce, Noel Redding, Pappalardi, Lemmy, etc. etc.) and, believe it or not, this amp would sound great in genres other than loud rock, you just may end up sounding more like Larry Graham than Les Claypool...which is cool when you realise there would probabbly be no Les Claypool without Larry Graham. And Ballsy. If you play this amp, you, by default will grow a massive pair by default, cause this amp has big, heavy balls. Just like a good set of cymbals, it will make your band sound better. I promise. I think too many guitar and bass players make the mistake of spending way too much money on an expensive guitar or bass, and wonder why it sounds like crap cause they play on a crap amp.

Ok, check this out. I bought this off a guy for like 130 quid around 1998 and for all the years I had it, the amp chassis was missing some bolts that held it to the casing, and was constantly rattling around in it's shell. Plus the power cord was all frayed up where it went into the amp and I used this thing for a ton of gigs, indoor and outdoor (this amp was made for outdoor festival gigs, it sounds awesome outside and I have made it echo off of the ridges of the Appalachian mountains on many an outdoor party gig back in Va and WVA), hell, it probably even sat out in the rain once or twice when I was too drunk to think to take it in off the porch after a long nights jamming. I also used it for a ton of home recordings and I found it to be very versatile with a variety of basses and a variety of players. And my studio at the time was in the attic, so it was subjected to 100+ degree heat in summer and below freezing temps in winter.

Find a cool dude that's trying to make a living by being a competent tech, treat him good, pay him adequatly, and there you have it...the best customer support you could ever ask for! There is nothing he won't be able to do to this amp to make it sound great again should you for some reason mess it up. The components are simple and quality and the design is logical.

Even though this amp is solid state, if it's part of a proper rig, it will give you the kind of sound and vibe that the sharks on Ebay, boutique builders, and worshippers at the church of the SVT want you to spend 2000 bucks and another fortune in tubes and maintainance for. Old Acoustics and Sunns and Peaveys and Earth amps are the amps they don't want you to know about. Soo...if you're lucky enough to have one of these amps fall into your lap, take care of it, cherish it, and should you for some insane reason decide to sell it, make sure to find a good home for it and give somebody who will appreciate and use it a good deal on it. I see the prices of all of these amps I just mentioned going up these days and it's not cool...these are the real working man's amps and need to stay that way.

Features for this amp have already been stated, but I would like to comment on the 5 band eq: Any of the "aural enhancers" or "low end boost" or "sub tone" features that are added to modern amps already exist in this 5 band eq. Read up on your sonic response for an electric (or upright) bass and you will see the point in a graphic eq. For this amp the 50hz slider knob is an aproximit estimation for the "boost" or "cut" of around that frequence range. This alows you to "pump" or kill" sub frequiences. If you feel you tone is too "muddy" then lower this controll. The rest of these controls work in kind for various sounds of the instrument. To throughly modernize a bass amplifier you would need a 32 or even 64 band eq to seriously advance tonal control and that would be a serious pain in the ass.

A/B this amp with all of the tone controls set at 12oclock or at zero and then do the same with another amp. If any amplifier does not sound near perfect, with little tweaking, (i belive that this is the best setting for an STV Classic, Orange AD200, Hiwatt 200, or a Sunn 2000s). Used trough an ampeg 4X10 or 8x10 or an Orange 15 or Sunn 2x15. Very pleased. (never tried through the acoustic 301 mate for this amp though)

Despite my love of this amps sound, I have blown mine twice with regular (tour) usage.

out of business

For Sound: It goes head to head with any of the hiwatt, orange, ampeg, aguilar or sunn amps out there

For Price it kills them.

As everybody else has said, a basic amp: vol/bass/mid/treble with a bright switch and a graphic EQ. One thing to note about the graphic: the frequency bands are all in the low and low mid EQ range. It allows fine tuning of the low frequency tone. Newer bass amps have a lot more bells and whistles, but the 370 has all you need to dial in a good tone and control the level. The only feature it could really use is a balanced direct out. Those didn't really come into vogue until after this amp went out of production.

For what I play (basic rock and pop), this thing cannot be beat. Have you ever had the experience of plugging into an amp, playing, and hearing exactly the sound you had always imagined in your head? I had that with this amp. The EQ makes a wide variety of tones possible, but even just set flat this thing sounds fantastic.

It's a brick. An anvil.

For a company like Acoustic, which has been out of business for decades, I think this category needs to be interpreted a little differently. Obviously nobody is going to get warranty service from them. But as far as vintage equipment like this goes, the relevant questions should be, can you get information about it, and can you get it repaired if it breaks? There is an active and very helpful community of Acoustic users on-line, and just about any question anybody might have can probably be answered quickly. Schematics and manuals are available for download. And these amps are remarkably straightforward inside; any tech worth his soldering iron should be able to fix anything that might go wrong easily. So support from the factory is nonexistent, but support from the user community is very good. I've bought several other Acoustic amps, too, based in part on the comfort level that provides.

Back in the day, this amp was a legitimate alternative to the Ampeg SVT---just about anything an SVT can do, a 370 can do as well or better, at about half the weight! A new 371 rig (370 and 301 speaker cabinet) cost MORE than a new SVT and 810 rig, and major artists payed it willingly. Led Zeppelin used them. These things are at home and in their element on coliseum stages. I am amazed that today you can buy one of these for a fifth the cost of an SVT of the same vintage. If you play rock, a 370 will definitely give you whatever you need.

I have an Acoustic 370 Head and an Acoustic 408 cabinet. I've owned it since 1978, almost thirty years. It's been retired to my music room for about five years now, but I fire it up every once in a while.

Nothing special feature-wise. Remember when things were simple and loud?

It still sounds great. I used it for blues, hard rock and classic rock, always a great sound. I played a Fender Telecaster bass thru it for many years, then a Jazz bass. Always kicked butt. At the time of purchase we were playing very loud music and this thing cut thru the mix with ease. Later I play thru it with a no so loud band and it still sounded nice.

Never had a problem despite many hours of use!

Never a need for customer support...too late now anyway.

The Acousitc is just too big for my needs now. I've even thought about selling it. I could probably get more for it now than what I paid in 1978 as it still looks new despite years of use. This thing could still be used anywhere!

JR

This amp smokes!! I first heard a 370 when I was in high school back in 1978, and was impressed with its power and clarity. After trying (and being disappointed by) more "modern" amps that promise but did not deliver, I took a chance on a used, refurbished 370. I was not disappointed. Features are very basic, so I basically decided to use this amp as a slave with an Aguilar preamp...WOW! The previous owner replaced the two-prong plug with a grounded plug (recommended) and had every connection re-soldered. This amp is built right!

The 370 sounds full, clean and punchy when using the proper EQ/bass/speaker combination. I run the head into two Earcandy cabs, and along with the Aguilar preamp, I can't imagine ever needing a different live setup for my purposes. The amp makes a little noise, and is best suited for rock or other high-volume styles. I would not use the 370 in a recording situation unless you think it's cool to have the amp noise added in! But for live performance, thsi amp kicks butt!

Built to last, don't anticipate any reliability issues (unlike others I've tried).

N/A

I've been playing a looong time, and can't think of an amp that I would rather own other than one or two handmade units I can't afford. An excellent value. If these amps were made today with some extra features such as a compressor and balanced out, they would dominate the market.

Made in the mid to late 70's I bought this amp on ebay. It smelled like a bar when I got it. It has volume, trebel, mid and bass pots along with a graphic eq. It also has a "bright" switch that I don't use either. A 110v receptacle in the back of the amp is handy to plug in an effects unit. No effects loop, two speaker outs, (can carry a two ohm load) two "monitor" outs wich I use for my DI box. Two inputs (no active/passive).

I use a Lakland Skyline, Steinberger Spirit and a Fender P/J with active EMG's all 5 strings and all work fine with this amp, but I have noticed that the amp seems to prefer passive basses. It has a hard hit when it's turned on and the voice coil looks like it's going to jump out of the speaker basket! The amp is a little noisy, but I haven't had any complaints from the sound engineer on noise through the system. I play only Christian rock/ gospel and it works great for that style of music. I own several amps, one of them being the legendary Ampeg SVT II, (the older all tube version) and let me tell you brother that I can actually get the Ampeg growl from the Acoustic quite easily. I think the real beauty of this amp is how easy it is to dial in a great tone. When I use this amp I don't use my Pod floor XT, I don't need it!! When I play concerts I use this amp because the tone is more than fine and it weighs about half of the SVT. When I use the 370 with my 4-10 Ampeg cabinet it's just FANTASTIC! Highly Recomended!

These units are well made, but everything wears out eventually. I have found amp techs that can easily work on these . Once I did something stupid and blew a circut , but it was my fault. these amps are very well made and are truly great buys.

None-Gone

I'm old and have been playing a long time. I've owned Supro Thunderbolts when they were new, Kustom amps with the wraped naugahude and have you ever heard of a West Grande? Anyway, this is truly a fine amp and I highly recomend it. Plenty of power, easy to dial in tones, Just plug in and play. I've often thought about buying the 701 - 18" folded horn that goes with it, but I don't think I want to haul around a big cab. Maybe an acoustic 360...

I bought this amp new around '73. I was undecided at the time on either the Ampeg SVT (tube) or Acoustic 370 (solid state). I went with the Acoustic thinking that solid state would be lower maintenance over the years. I have had only one minor problem that was easily repaired (slight distortion from a circuit going bad, and that was a couple of years ago). Other than that, this amp is going to my grave! This is basically a single channel, cut and boost EQ with a cut and boost (bass, mid, treb) tone controls. I have lost the manual over the years. I do not remember how much the cut and boost are on the controls. There is a "bright" switch which I never use. This amp has all the tone range anyone would ever need. I remember the amp came with a handout to set the EQ and tones to match the bass players at that time. It was kind of fun to try and dial in those tones, but I found my own. I generally cut on the mid (which also cuts on the volume). The amp is rated about 250 RMS @ 4 ohms, with about 360 RMS @ 2 ohms. Like I stated earlier, I lost the manual and the ratings are an estimate. I think a couple of the other reviews might be more accurate in this area. There are no features that I am not happy with. Everything is straight forward and easy to use. I have played in hard rock, blues, country, top 40, & traditional jazz bands. Plenty of tone, versatility, and power. I am unsure how the current sounds of todays styles would sound on this amp. I purchased this amp strictly on bass projection and the straight ahead rock playing at that time.

I have a '72 Guild Starfire II purchased almost new condition '73 with Guild humbucking pickups, flatwound strings. The speaker is an 18" 4 ohm Cerwin Vega purchased new shortly after purchasing the Acoustic 370. The cabinet was a Acoustic 301 reflex copy (pro made) but approx 6" deeper. This amp and cab combo projected! There was a warning of "will exceed 120 db" within X amount of feet (I don't remember the distance) and yes there were some loud evenings. On stage it was hard to tell what volume of sound was going out. At times I had to get advice from whoever was doing our sound. I don't remember being miced. I do not vary my sound much. I use the neck pickup almost exclusively, and I cut back on the mids on the amp. I like a low end sound. I will adjust the mids depending on the size of the room and volume on the amp. Over the years I have replaced the reflex cabinet with an "open" back 24" by 24" by 18" home made cab (just think of a standard Fender open back). I got tired of lugging the "fridge" around. This cabinet is ok at low volumes but I am not happy with the tone at higher volumes. I am researching a new cabinet style (anyone out there with any suggestions, please contact me), and maybe adding another 18" cab. The only distortion was when the volume and EQ cranked to the max. There was never ever any need to crank that high. I no longer play professionally, but I do like to get together for fun and jam sessions. I am an "older" player and stuck in the classic rock mode.

Very reliable, but I have not played out on a regular basis for about 10 years. I did have a minor repair a couple of years ago due to some minor circuit problem (slight distortion). The repair guy said that the original circuit was a little weak and was burning out. I do not recall the part or circuit that needed the work. I took the amp to a highly recommended local repair man who does guitar amp work. This is the only repair in over 30 years of ownership. When I played out on a regular basis, this was my only amp. I never had a backup. The amp never broke down. I did have a problem with a speaker. When I first purchased the amp, I was talked into going with a 15" JBL speaker in the reflex cabinet. It sounded great, but the speaker fried in the middle of the 2nd set. The speaker was repaired and used again. It got fried again! The next day, I returned the JBL for the 18" Cerwin Vega. The Guild Starfire, the Acoustic 370, and the 18" CV is a combo that cannot be beat. I am 100% happy with the choices I made.

The Acoustic 370 has a "life time" warranty, but what good does it do when Acoustic is no longer in business? I never had to deal with the company when they were still doing business. When I did have it repaired a couple of years ago, it was with no problem.

I have been playing off and on for 35+ years, have not owned any other amp since getting the 370. I would be heartbroken if it were lost, since it would be very difficult to replace. I love the tone and projection of volume, this is nothing that I dislike about it. As stated earlier, it was this or the Ampeg SVT and I am glad that I went with the Acoustic 370. There was nothing else on the market (other than Sun) that I was considering. There is nothing else that the amp needs. It is straight forward and uncomplicated. It is everything that I personnally would ever need in an amp. I am totally biased towards this amp. I am sure that there have been better (and much worse!) amps manufactured over the years, but this has been my baby (along with my Starfire! I have an older review under Guild for my bass). It is just too bad that Acoustic went out of business. Most of their products were quality. If you have any questions, you can contact me at my e-mail. I will try and respond as soon as I can.