Late 1960s Acoustic 360 Bass Amplifier with 361 Speaker Cabinet

The Acoustic 360 may be the most heard, least acknowledged amp in music history. John Paul Jones used a pair of them with Led Zeppelin; Dave Brown played one at Woodstock with Santana; John McVie used them in the early days of Fleetwood Mac; and it was the amp of choice for legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius. The 360 was designed for Acoustic in 1967 by Harvey Gerst and Russ Allee, two engineers who felt the world needed a bass amp that could compete in volume with the Marshall stacks that rock guitarists were using in ever growing numbers. The 360 was loud but thanks to the well designed 361 speaker cabinet, that featured a single 18-inch speaker and a large folded horn, it had a wonderful tone and a very musical sound. The 360 has the usual volume, bass and treble controls along with a built-in fuzz tone and a 5-position Variamp section that allows you to adjust set frequencies. Because the Acoustic 360 is so big and loud, it isn’t particularly well suited to home use or small club gigs but if you have the space, they are a bargain. This example has the nicks, dings and scuffs that suggest a life lived on the road, but it’s structurally very sound and the fine folks at Elderly Instruments will let you have it for only $995.

The wheels and handles make this large box much easier to move around than you would expect. I bet roadies loved them back in the day.