Acoustic USA Launches With Revamped 360/361 Bass Rig

Acoustic USA 361 Bass RigA new branch of the Acoustic brand, called Acoustic USA, has launched with the unveiling of an updated version of the classic 360/361 rig.

The vintage head/cab combo was originally made famous by players like Jaco Pastorius, Larry Graham and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. Acoustic USA employed the help of former Acoustic President and bass amp guru Russ Alee to update the rig, which he designed in the ‘60s.

The 360 head starts with inputs for both active and passive basses and the input gain with a clip indicator. Next, the head includes a compression circuit and a growl overdrive circuit, both of which are footswitchable (footswitch included) for quick tone changes.

EQ controls include Bass and Treble knobs, as well as a Variamp EQ with switchable frequencies. The front mounted Mute switch coupled with the Tuner Out on the back allow for silent on-stage tuning, while the front mounted Headphone jack lets you easy jam and practice with yourself.

In addition to the effects loop and built-in D.I., the 360 has four preamp outputs, which the company explains can be used to power up to four 361 series powered cabinets simultaneously without issue. The Acoustic 361 yields up to 400 watts at 4 ohms with a frequency response of 38Hz-14kHz. The front loaded folded horn design includes an 18” speaker and a switchable titanium horn driver to provide “bottom end, punchy mids, and snappy highs.”

As the name implies, the Acoustic USA 360/361 is built in the U.S., and comes with a 3-year limited warranty. The rig is available now with an MSRP of $4,999.98. For more info, visit the new Acoustic USA website.

Acoustic USA 360/361 Bass Rig Specs:

360 Head Unit:

  • Pre-amplifier Gain – X40
  • Signal to Noise Ratio 104dB
  • Inputs 2x 1/4” jacks (passive & active)
  • Pre-amplifier Output – 4 x 1/4” jacks
  • Tuner Output – 1/4” jack
  • D.I. Recording Output – XLR jack
  • Headphone Output – stereo 1/4” jack
  • Effects Loop – 2 x 1/4” jacks
  • Footswitch Jack – 1/4” stereo jack
  • Size – 6”H x 24.5” W x 12”D
  • Shipping Weight – 25 pounds

361 Powered Cabinet:

  • Power Output – 400 watts @ 4 Ohms
  • Frequency Response – 38Hz-14kHz @ 3dB
  • Sensitivity 103dB @ 1w/1m
  • Input – 1/4” jack
  • Controls – HF Speaker On/Off Switch
  • Speakers – 2 (1 x bass driver & 1 x HF speaker)
  • Speaker Specs – Custom Eminence 18” Cast Frame
  • HF Speaker Specs – Titanium Horn Driver w/2” Coil
  • Crossover Specs – 1.4kHz HP Filter 18dB/octave
  • Cabinet Design – Front Loaded Folded Horn
  • Size – 48”H x 24.5”W x 18”D
  • Shipping Weight – 145 pounds

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Leave a Reply to Thomas Cancel reply

  1. Mr. Bill

    WOW! Gigged all the way thru the 70s and into the 80s with my beloved 360. And when I was on the road, it was my rider amp. Punchy, precise bass was the perfect antidote to the WHOOOM of SVTs (which I still can’t stand). There was a reason John Paul Jones and Jaco Pastorious used 360s…

    Almost as breathtaking as being able to buy one of these again is the price!!! MSRP of $5000!!! Ouch!!!

  2. Thomas

    I have the modern day Acoustic rig (B200H Head and B410 Cab) which I believe to be good value for the money. I cannot say the same about this however… Not only is this RIDICULOUSLY expensive by any standard but it also seems highly impractical. Lugging around a cabinet that weighs 145 lbs is neigh on impossible. I don’t care how good it may sound. I can’t ever see myself getting anything that heavy.

  3. Eric

    I love the sound of Acoustic heads and cabs, but I’ll have to agree with others. Way too heavy, and honestly extremely overpriced.

  4. [email protected] Here. Pres. “acoustic” USA

    Hi guys. Here’s the real deal. All we did was build the Worlds Greatest Bass Amp. It took over 8 years…… hard to believe … but, it did.

    No, I am not selling here. It’s true. The amp is Nuts.

    ERIC & THOMAS. it moves really easy. It’s worth the move.

    MR. BILL. You get it…….. Very cool.

    Now back in 1968 Longgggggggggggggggg time ago.

    The 360 was $1,299.00 plus tax. Fair Trade laws.

    None of this fake 20% 30% 40% 50% 80% off crap.

    $1,299.00 plus tax. Period.

    Now $5,000.00 for the new one. Cheap.

    If you go to google and type in money conversion.

    $1,299.00 is over $8,000.00 today.

    In 1968 Minumin wage was under $2.00.

    So $5,000 is a miracle. We were stuck at $6,500.00 for several years. Mr. Mark Jamieson and myself worked like pigs to get it to $5,000.00.

    Ps. we didn’t cheapen it. We just beat up our suppliers.

    Our Rule was “MAKE IT GREAT”. I never cared about the cost.

    My Name is on this thing.

    When they close the lid on my coffin. I did it right.

    We were 18 and we got our 1968 360. So, cut more grass, weeded more, borrow from Grand ma. etc. You get the point.

    Over the yrs, I would got scared over the price.
    I called Harver Gerst, founding ACC guy. And I asked him……… Hey, Were you guys expensive.

    Harvey said, Oh George…… We were the most expensive amplifiers out there. LOL. Thanks Harvey I slept better that night.

    I told Harvey, Cool….. We’re still the most expensive amps out there.

    But, when your building Russ Allee’s Killer New 360/361.

    What the heck. Make it Great.

    It’s the price of a dead used van. I’ve told people for years. Sell you orl crap off. and Get on the list.

    All it is, is a bass amp. As Steve Marks said. No one was ever sorry for buying the Best.

    We are proud of this amp. It is beautiful and will knock you on your ass. It Rocks and Funks and you can play it like a Cello. The men behind this are so skilled I can’t convay it to you. Serious skilled people. Truly, life times are involved here.

    Want it …….. Buy it… if not. Cool

    But, we made it for all of you guys.

    In the end………. It’s all about MUSIC. This thing is a tool. Go practice. Then plug it in and you will freak out.

    Back to JPJ or Jaco. They had the the right amp.

    As some of you know…… We are honored to have FLEA as our 1st endorsee.

    He bought 12 complete units. WOW.

    He’s a killer player…… Even if you don’t like the Peppers. Flea personally called me and loves the amps. Best Amp I ever Played.

    Guess what…….. He’s right.

    So everyone…… Live Long. Have Good health and prosper.

    Later George Grexa 1-(724)-589-5440

    PS. I got to her (4) 361 powered cabs today.
    I’m 58 years old, I wanted to hear 4 since I was 17 yrs old. Well Hell we had 3 empty outputs not plugged in….. LOL.

    Ok I’ll share this.
    Joe Cusick our cab builder Has a setting he likes. and It was a bit large and boomy. So I turned the trebel up. I stood back 8 feet. Then I got the Idea I wanted to see what it could do. Again I wanted to do this since I was 17.

    The Pre-amp was on 1 1/2 half. Keep in mind 4 400 watts powered cabs.( Now that’s “acoustic” Watts mind you. Hey, I’m stupid.

    So, I touched the Volume knob….. Swear to God. Half a knotch.

    In a half of a second I had my hands covering my ears. After 10 seconds I turned down. My ears rang for 4 hrs. I immideatley apologised to the 2 guys in the room. I still feel bad. I had no idea it would rip our heads off. Hey I’m educated.

    I told Mark Jamieson about it. he laughed at me. He said that’s the new Russ Allee 360. four powered bottoms, uwith that new amp, that’s 1,600 watts.

    I felt stupid…… Later……. George

    Seriously, I just touched it. Flea must be having a ball…..

    • In the early 70’s the 360/361 & some of the Sunn single scoop folded horns inspired me to build 4 of my own, all single scoop, two with 300 watt Vega 18’s & two with 100 watt EV 15’s + EV 8HD horns. The $375 Sunn 2000s amp head & ~$700 raw speakers were ~85% of the cost. The plywood, tolex, corners, handles, feet, glue & screws were cheap & my labor was free. They worked great in my college rock bands. I build them all for my bass, but since I only had one 2000s and the band needed PA cabs more than a 4-bin bass rig, the EV cabs were used mostly for PA on gigs. I sold them all after college for $200-$250 each because I figured I would never need that much output again.

      Fast forward to now, transistors are cheap, building materials are not high since the real estate
      crash, high power raw speakers carry inflated list prices but, like everything else that competes in a global economy that is far different than 1968 (which includes virtually all music equipment), street prices don’t reflect much of the inflation since 1968. So to me $5000 sounds expensive, and maybe what the market will bear in order to meet low intended production numbers, but may simply be another typically inflated starting point for retailers to discount in 30-50% off sales, because a brand name 400 watt RMS transistor head today is typically street priced about the same as my 120 watt RMS 2000s tube head was in ~1970, I doubt if wholesale prices to manufacturers on large orders of of raw speakers are multiples (probably not more than 50%) higher than they were back then. That pretty much leaves labor & shipping costs to explain to me why the new rig street price would be more than half of it’s $5000 list
      price.

      The ~$1200 I spent in the early 70’s for a Sunn 2000S head + four single scoop folded-horn cabs that looked manufactured (obviously original in dimensions & not bootleg copies of Sunn cabs), likely would have list priced at close to $3000 had they all been factory made by
      Sunn. If I had paid manufacturer prices on raw speakers and the music store’s cost on the 2000s amp, my cost would have been more like $750, only a quarter of my estimated $3000
      list price.

      So a $5000 list price today for an amp & folded horn cab sounds to me like a $2500 street price that probably cost less to manufacture than the $750-$1200 my amp & FOUR folded horn cabs cost in the early 70’s, with plenty of room for profit even at street prices.

    • Gee Phil

      George,
      I am so glad you guys are still around. Yes the price might be higher than other amps but I believe it’s worth it. Still made in the USA and not overseas like Acoustic Amplification sold by MF and GC. I did have a couple Acoustic B115s and an Acoustic B600H head and they sounded great but as soon as I can save up enough I’m coming to you guys. Your company has been a great legacy in the music world and I must say CONGRATULATIONS. Yes, Flea, John McVie, Jaco, John Paul Jones, Larry Graham and others have had it right. Keep up the great work.

    • Tom Barr

      Thank you, that’s commitment to the amp and speaker. This was my first amp back in 1984. The fuzz was insane. Question, does the old Fuzz sound like the new Growl ? Adding compression is awesome. I’d be interested in the amp/pre amp if it is avail. Let me know.

  5. LarryNJ

    George-
    Congratulations!
    I’ve followed the saga, and the comments of the nay-sayers. (where are their amps??)

    Good on you, they look the the real deal.
    All the best with production and sales.

  6. Timo Kettunen

    I LIKE THAT!

  7. For many years, I ran Sunn, Ampeg and Marshall setups with a variety of basses including Fender Precision, Gibson Ripper, Rickenbacher, etc. Today, Unchained Grace (Jazz/Funk Gospel) is running an Acoustic B600H/B115/B410 setup hooked up with a Fender Precision and the new Marcus Miller Fender Signature Jazz with the Swarovsky electronics. This package is absolutely incredible! The opportunities with the Acoustic rig coupled with the MM Jazz is beyond off the chain with absolutely no effects pedals used or needed. While I would indeed look into the new 360/361 powerhouse, what I can tell you is that this changes everything for the up and coming project (“Where the Prophets Crossed”).

  8. where can i get record with one o rent in London?

  9. I own two of these. They are by far the greatest and loudest sounding bass amps in the world. Absolutely magnificent.

  10. How does the output of this amp compare to others? I have a 350 watt fender and this amp is 400 watts, obviously this one will be louder but by how much?

    • Lyrical Lumber

      You won’t believe how much louder it is…….

      • Brian

        From 1969 thru 1975, I played my Gibson Thunderbird thru my Acoustic 360/361. When we gigged with another act whose bassist had one too, we’d share, splitting the stage with the two headed monster. The only word I can think of for the sound is “thunderous” – I still dream about that deep, deep sound. Someday, I’ll get another 360 – I’ve never had another rig that came close.

  11. In search of the revamped acoustic 360 bass head.just thehead and thw price.

  12. Stan Greve

    THULE PYSCHIC WITCH