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New Acoustic Control Amp Range


Mykesbass
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[quote name='goblin' timestamp='1466460717' post='3076071']
I'm pretty sure these have been around a while now. From what I can tell, Chinese manufacture and not a patch on the original stuff.
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They are a low end house brand for Guitar Center in the US, have been for several years. For a time Guitar Center also licensed the name "Acoustic USA" to a boutique builder doing extremely expensive quasi-reissues of the old iconic ones: https://www.facebook.com/AcousticBassUSA/?_fb_noscript=1 . It seems unclear if they are actually still in business, I think.

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[quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1466466651' post='3076108']
For a time Guitar Center also licensed the name "Acoustic USA" to a boutique builder doing extremely expensive quasi-reissues of the old iconic ones: [url="https://www.facebook.com/AcousticBassUSA/?_fb_noscript=1"]https://www.facebook...?_fb_noscript=1[/url] . It seems unclear if they are actually still in business, I think.
[/quote]

Yes, this was the interesting looking bit (very small print at the top of the website), and yes, very little sign of it being available anywhere.

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[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1466541914' post='3076709']
Yes, this was the interesting looking bit (very small print at the top of the website), and yes, very little sign of it being available anywhere.
[/quote]

There was one at the Seattle Talkbass get-together a couple of years ago. I didn't play through it myself, but I thought it sounded pretty good, as one would hope it should for the $5K asking price. Flea used a couple of them for a brief while as well. A friend of mine looked into investing in the company but eventually thought better of it after visiting with the owner. If you do a search on "Vetchking" on Talkbass you should be able to find posts by the company principal. His posting style was rather, erm, exuberant.

I was once tasked with cleaning up the huge mess that the original company created for the stores I worked for when they went out of business without any provision for honoring all those lifetime warranties. The bass amps were mostly pretty solid, but the tube guitar amps were a whole different story.

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[quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1466556367' post='3076821']


There was one at the Seattle Talkbass get-together a couple of years ago. I didn't play through it myself, but I thought it sounded pretty good, as one would hope it should for the $5K asking price. Flea used a couple of them for a brief while as well. A friend of mine looked into investing in the company but eventually thought better of it after visiting with the owner. If you do a search on "Vetchking" on Talkbass you should be able to find posts by the company principal. His posting style was rather, erm, exuberant.

I was once tasked with cleaning up the huge mess that the original company created for the stores I worked for when they went out of business without any provision for honoring all those lifetime warranties. The bass amps were mostly pretty solid, but the tube guitar amps were a whole different story.
[/quote]
$5k wow! Puts Foderas in a whole new light. Will check out those Talk bass posts, thanks.

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[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1466579105' post='3076854']
$5k wow! Puts Foderas in a whole new light. Will check out those Talk bass posts, thanks.
[/quote]

I would guess/bet that most of the ones he actually sold commanded less than his full asking price. FWIW, I saw plenty of various brand basses priced at >$10K at NAMM this year.

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[quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1466602917' post='3077157']


I would guess/bet that most of the ones he actually sold commanded less than his full asking price. FWIW, I saw plenty of various brand basses priced at >$10K at NAMM this year.
[/quote]
I sort of understand the high end basses but how you justify those prices for an amp...

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$5,000 is about what the original 360 and 301 cab cost new in the early 1970s, when the original list price is adjusted for inflation. I've read good things about the repro amps and cabs over on the unofficial Acoustic Control forum, but the Guitar Center stuff is just badge engineering - sticking the Acoustic logo onto generic Chinese built amps. The guy who masterminded the repro stuff is a bit idiosyncratic, but it's pretty impressive how he got the rights and managed to get them into production. Sadly he's been inactive for a while, which I understand is down to serious health problems.

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