New 360/361 Owner - How to Mic?

androo75

androo75

Oct 19, 2008
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#1
Hey all- super excited to have located a clean 1971 360/361 out of Florida, sans a little tolex peel on the bottom, it is in amazing shape, was well loved and actually has a great backstory.

My question is, what's the best microphone to capture this monster? I have it dialed in for my JBass with some worn in, dead round wounds - very JPJ/TSRTS-ish.

So would an RE-20 be acceptable? It will be running into a Neve pre - or is there a better vintage mic option?

Also, my downstairs setup is in the process of getting a full treatment for acoustics, any thoughts on walling off the 360/361 too minimize bleed/boomy issues. It's in that far corner on the right (pic).

I won't be playing louder than say, coffee house gig levels for recordings, my neighbors can hear it on 2!

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#3
Never mic'ed a bass horn before. The RE20 is a great mic, but it does not provide a lot of isolation. So IMHO it's going to depend on how close you wind up running the mic whether it's a good choice. With a bass horn, I suspect you might need a bit of difference for the various elements of the sound to integrate. So if you have to put some distance between the mic and cab, you might want to try something with a tighter polar pattern like a Sennheiser MD441.

I Googled "Jaco, 361, mic" and found this post: ? Jaco's Cabs

It says 25% RE20 and 75% DI. You will need to delay the DI back to the mic for best results.
 
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#4
androo75 said:
Hey all- super excited to have located a clean 1971 360/361 out of Florida, sans a little tolex peel on the bottom, it is in amazing shape, was well loved and actually has a great backstory.

My question is, what's the best microphone to capture this monster? I have it dialed in for my JBass with some worn in, dead round wounds - very JPJ/TSRTS-ish.

So would an RE-20 be acceptable? It will be running into a Neve pre - or is there a better vintage mic option?

Also, my downstairs setup is in the process of getting a full treatment for acoustics, any thoughts on walling off the 360/361 too minimize bleed/boomy issues. It's in that far corner on the right (pic).

I won't be playing louder than say, coffee house gig levels for recordings, my neighbors can hear it on 2!

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I get a tickle up my leg everytime I see a 360/361. I bought one brand new in the early '70s. Beastly unit! Sorry to say I never recorded with it other than with a SONY reel to reel and a Shure SM57 back in the day.
 
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#5
As a teenager I worked and saved every penny until around 1975 I had enough money to buy a used 360/361. I also sold my 146 2-15" amp and cabinet to put me over the top. I was in heaven, that was until I foolishly traded my 360/361 for a 370/301 a couple of years later. Not only was I not thrilled with the trade but I lost that amp in a house fire in 1977. I've not had an Acoustic amp since. I always felt the 361 combo was superior to the 371. But, that was a long time ago and I was just a kid.
 
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#8
Y
Spupilup said:
As a teenager I worked and saved every penny until around 1975 I had enough money to buy a used 360/361. I also sold my 146 2-15" amp and cabinet to put me over the top. I was in heaven, that was until I foolishly traded my 360/361 for a 370/301 a couple of years later. Not only was I not thrilled with the trade but I lost that amp in a house fire in 1977. I've not had an Acoustic amp since. I always felt the 361 combo was superior to the 371. But, that was a long time ago and I was just a kid.
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Yep, the 360 was pure sex. It had the look and it put out. It seemed anyone who was anyone played a 360 back in the day.
My friend and I both had one and we would loan each other our bottom 361 if available. Now, as you aficionados know, that was twice the amp and twice the speaker. Ya just had to have the means to move it all but the rewards were great and the look, intoxicating.
 
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#10
An E-V RE-20 into a Neve preamp would indeed be killer...but you'll want to do a lot of experimenting with mic distance to find the real "sweet spot" in your room where the mic captures the character and balance that you're trying to get out of that rig.

Good luck walling off the 360/361 to minimize bleed; two layers of sand-filled cinderblocks separated by 8" of air space oughtta do the trick...maybe. :)
 
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#11
Great score. I own one I am just about to start recording with mine for the first time . I am going to blend mic and di.
If it sounds real good I will post what I am using.

btw—. Loop your bass and play the loop through the system. Go stand at least forty feet away and be amazed how awesome it sounds. Dramatically different and better than when anywhere near the cab.
 
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#16
androo75 said:
I won't be playing louder than say, coffee house gig levels for recordings, my neighbors can hear it on 2!
Click to expand...

The RE-20 is a great mic and can pick up frequencies at varying distances from the cab. However, that powered cab isn't going to "breath" playing it on a low setting, and you won't get all the benefits of the variamp character settings.

I recommend either using a smaller power amp and cab combination (115, 212, 410) and mic'ing it in an isolated closet or enclosure. Mic placement and setting the EQ (including volume) is crucial when converting an analog signal.

The bread and butter of the Acoustic folded 218 is in a large venue or concert setting.
 
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#18
Thx for all of the responses, very helpful to understand the true nature and best use of this classic bass amp.

Surprisingly, it sounds great at lower volumes, at least to my ears- I have a 136 with the 18/ported cab, dead simple and the tone was really shaped by my playing technique, it just never had enough power for more demanding gigs.

There’s just something about these amps, no frills and seemingly pair great with a Jazz.

Recording wise, I’ll post some tests soon once I get the RE20 - I’ve never really found a full blown proper demo on YouTube.

I think with a heads up to the neighbors, I can probably open her up for a quick test drive.
 
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#20
Man! I would never try to use or record that thing in a small room. That speaker moves so much air that there is going to be a huge amount of low frequency sound bouncing around. It will be very mooshy and get into everything as well as there being tons of phase cancellations and hot spots. Use the head with a DI or another small speaker where you can control the output.
 
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