Acoustic Control Corporation was a manufacturer of instrument amplifiers, founded by Steve Marks and based in Van Nuys, California. Its original location was a shack on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Most of the amplifiers produced by ACC were solid-state, but a few models later in production were valve amps. The company is remembered in particular for its Acoustic 361 bass stack, consisting of an Acoustic 360 bass pre-amplifier and one or two Acoustic 361 W-bins, each featuring a built-in 200-watt RMS power amplifier and a rear-facing 18" Cerwin-Vega loudspeaker. Acoustic also produced the "Black Widow" electric guitar and electric bass 1972 - 1975. The guitars and basses were based on designs used by Paul Barth for his Bartell guitars and basses. The majority of the guitars were built in Japan although Semi Moseley claimed to have built the last 200 guitars. One user associated with this guitar was jazz guitaristLarry Coryell who had an endorsement deal. Jimmy Nolen of James Brown's band was also a "Black Widow" user. Robby Krieger of The Doors was the most high-profile early user of the Acoustic 260 head and 201 cabinet—the first models ever produced by ACC. Krieger's Acoustic amps were a major public-relations boost for the fledgling company. Acoustic Control Corporation went out of business in the 1980s, then returned under the name True Tone Audio as a manufacturer of P.A. amplifiers. Latter-day employee and designer Steve Rabe went on to establish specialistbass amplifier manufacturer SWR in 1984, then Raven Labs in 1998. Acoustic returned in 2007 under the name Acoustic Amplification, starting with the models B20 and AB50. In 2011 another branch of Acoustic, Acoustic USA founded by George Grexa and manufactured by The G.P.G. Co, launched a new version of the 360/361 bass amplifier as well as various speaker cabinets and a power amplifier. The new re-designed version of the historic Acoustic 360/361 has immediately featured bassists like Flea, Antonio Iorio and many others.
