Acoustic Control Corporation 406 2x15 Cabinet

This is the Acoustic 406 speaker cabinet, a front loaded, ported 2x15" speaker system. Each speaker is in its own ported enclosure. Date of Manufacture unknown but @ 1980 +/- a few years. Prior to buying this cab (used)I ran 10"s (Ampeg 4x10, 6x10 and 8x10). I bought this cab to try out some 15" speakers for my 70's rock cover band. Tens are tight and punchy but I wanted some fatter tone (not muddy though). I purchased this from a friend, having played through it previouly, I knew I wanted it and its looks really good on stage. If the original drivers were emminence, they are gone. In their stead are 2 EV 15" speakers. It is a 4 ohm load, and unknown watt handling (I ran a 450W head into it for 2 gigs already). It is similar in shape to a newer SVT with slanted surfaces at top and bottom rear, Handle at top and wheels at the bottom make for easy rolling. It is probably about 90 lbs (lighter than my Ampeg 6x10) but not to heavy to get in to my SUV by myself.

My classic rock basses are P/Bass with SD SB-3 P/ups and DR High Beams, and a J/Bass with DiMarzio DP2 P/ups and DiAdario chrome round wounds. My greatest fear was losing too much high frequency response but I was really amazed at the bright top end my tone had. Most noticable was how loud this cab is. The sound level I was getting from this cab with pregain/ postgain settings of 5/3 required 6/4 with my Ampeg 6x10 SVT cab. I dont dislike the 10"'s but wanted to try something new. I also feared that the 15"s might give me a muddy, flabby tone but the tone was quite clean and clear with nice solid low end (even with my Lakland 5 string with active Barts). The cab had no rattles or other sonic defects. I really like the tone and it was kicking the sound mans *** and he wanted it turned down.

Its probably 30 years old and still kicking. Its all up to the speakers, I guess, and those can always be easily replaced.

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I am a 30+ year veteran of rock bass playing and have extensive experience in blues and somewhat in R&B, funk, and country. I run a Peavey 700 Max amp (450W @ 4 ohms). I have benn gigging with an Ampeg SVT 6x10 cab. I will be gigging with the acoustic from now on. I really love the tone and the look and I cant wait to really open it up somewhere and let it rip. If it were stolen, I doubt I could find another.

My Acoustic 406 is dated to 1980 based on the Eminence speaker codes and is four ohms with a 200 watt handling. It is ruggedly built and has held up to much abuse; I bought it used and it has tolex tears all over, especially on the bottom, and some rusty hardware. I cleaned it up though and it's pretty presentable. It is trapezoidal like an SVT and has large metal handles and wheels so it can be rolled like a dolly, plus it has an aluminum kick plate (which probably has saved this cab numerous times). The sealed input jack is a nice touch, but mine is shorting and requires replacement (the soddering is fine, jack is just worn out from use). If it weren't for the jack and the cabinet's weight, i'd give it a ten (but for a solid ply cabinet this size, what do you expect?)

I use mine with Fender Jazz and P basses through an Ampeg SVT-350 playing jazz and rock stuff. It sounds great and is very responsive to the amp's graphic eq. The central slat-port really projects the sub-bass, though the speakers have a hard time with the EQ boosted at 40 hz since the head puts out more wattage than the cab's RMS (though they do play that low), so I just set that frequency flat and it takes it fine, and still shakes the house (just don't turn the amp up above half). The speakers play a lot higher than most modern 15's do as well, so a tweeter isn't needed unless you play slap a lot or just like hissing noise. Very responsive.

It has been to hell and back and asks for more. After more than an hour's worth of cleaning, it came out rather nice looking despite the back side's huge scrathes and tolex tears. The wheels were a little sticky, so I squirted some 3-in-1 oil on their axles and spun the wheels at high speed by touching the side of a drill chuck to them and now they roll like new. Gig worthy and tough all the way, though you may want someone else to carry it for you.

Acoustic is no more, but there are sites out there dedicated to these amps that are helpful. It's a basic speaker cabinet, not too much to go wrong anyway. If you ever would want to replace a speaker, just remove the grille (velcroed on and has metal pull tabs) and undo the four clamps that hold the speaker, you could swap out both in under 15 minutes probably if the need ever arose.

I have been playing guitar for ten years and bass for about six and I also own some new bass cabs I loaded with Madison speakers, plus some old tucked and rolled Kustom amps and a bunch of old guitar amps and guitars/basses. If I had another option, I would want something a little lighter and higher wattage, but the sound is great and it's tough, plus for its size it's pretty manuverable (I might add some handles to the sides though). Basically, it's an ideal cabinet if you have a truck to move it.