Polytone - what do I have?

exarctly · #1 07-31-2011, 04:43 PM

When I was young and I heard that Polytone were popular with some jazz guitarists I bought the first one that I saw for sale in a newspaper ad.
There is one that I play in a studio where I teach. It is really old and it still sounds great...

But the one that I have. I have no idea what year it is from and if it is worth trying to fix up. The speaker is pretty blown. It is a 90 watt model called a "102" but it will not go to many high volumes anymore.
I am hoping this is all I would need to replace is the speaker to fix it up.

Furthermore, the amp has Vibrato or tremolo or whatever, and on the netting/grill there are these polytonal chord symbols. I think one says C7lD and the other C7lF# kind of cheesy if you ask me to put polytonal chord symbols on the face.

Anyway, I have never seen one like it and I am not sure I remember how good it really was the years that I used it. These days I think I would prefer a tube amp, yet, I do love the other Polytone that I play at work.

Lastly, this amp has always been a little scary electronically. That is, I often feel like I have been shocked by it and that the plug may need to be replaced or re figured out electronically. Sometimes if I am playing and standing by a mic I would feel these mildly strong like electronic shocks. The plug only has two out of the three prongs on it, meaning it is missing the thick one that goes outside and between the skinny two that plug into the wall. Maybe this helps date it or explain the electrical issue. Sorry my terminology is so poor. I am certainly no electrician.

I bought this thing maybe 12 years ago off of a guy who may have played it a long time before I got it.

Is it a good amp for polytone compared to what they make in other eras or are making now? Should I try to fix it up?

exarctly · #2 07-31-2011, 04:51 PM

So mainly I am looking to know if any one has anything positive or negative to say about this model or can help me figure the year. The serial number is 18224 if that helps.
The netting on front may have to be ripped off if I am able to replace the speaker. It seems to only have one, but maybe there are the two smaller ones that some of the 102s seem to have.

hot ford coupe · #3 07-31-2011, 05:39 PM

It's the feelings of the electric shocks that give me concern to worry. I had that experience with an amp and I sort of didn't like it. (go figure). It almost sounds like it's a loss but not knowing PolyTones that much, I can't be sure. If it were me, rather than try to fix it, I'd get something new. Just my opinion.

exarctly · #4 07-31-2011, 05:42 PM

You might be right. But this is not my only amp or what I am thinking of making my main go to amp. But I can't help but wonder if maybe I would end up using it a lot more once I got it back to form. What if I have a gem and don't realize it.
More info...I do not think it has any of those red octave knobs on top of/around the other volume knobs that I see on other polytones. I am not even sure what those octave things do anyway, as I never hear a difference when I have them on or not on the other polytone I play at work.

barrymclark · #5 07-31-2011, 05:44 PM

You just need to give it to me.

hot ford coupe · #6 07-31-2011, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exarctly

You might be right. But this is not my only amp or what I am thinking of making my main go to amp. But I can't help but wonder if maybe I would end up using it a lot more once I got it back to form. What if I have a gem and don't realize it.
More info...I do not think it has any of those red octave knobs on top of/around the other volume knobs that I see on other polytones. I am not even sure what those octave things do anyway, as I never hear a difference when I have them on or not on the other polytone I play at work.

I know what you mean about possibly having a gem. I'm also not an electrician and I don't know all of the points you'd have to check for a defective connection but how much do you trust your technician to find it to make the amp safe. Here's something that happened to me. I had a 57 L5CES with replaced pickups that I know is safe. I went and bought a 54 Fender DeLuxe amd and a 62 Fender reverb unit. I plugged it all up together and started to play it. It sounded fantastic. Then I went to turn it off and ZZZZAAAAPPPP!!!! As soon as I touched the toggle switch, my eyes spun around like a slot machine. I know I had a couple of great pieces, gems in fact, but I couldn't never trust them again not to zap me. I wasn't even sure it wouldn't kill me at some point. Gems or not, they had to go back. Where the problem was I do not know but I wasn't going to take a chance.

exarctly · #7 08-01-2011, 02:33 AM

Wow. That is a crazy story. Glad you are okay. Maybe I will be more cautious. I thought maybe it was just a grounding issue. But the reason I wasn't entirely ready to give up on it yet was that none of the shocks were really bad. And usually only when I touched something else with electricity like a mic. And even then it was not as bad as you described.
In any case, I think I paid 100 dollars for it and got a lot of use out of it, so if I just get rid of it, no huge loss.

barrymclark · #8 08-01-2011, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exarctly

Wow. That is a crazy story. Glad you are okay. Maybe I will be more cautious. I thought maybe it was just a grounding issue. But the reason I wasn't entirely ready to give up on it yet was that none of the shocks were really bad. And usually only when I touched something else with electricity like a mic. And even then it was not as bad as you described.
In any case, I think I paid 100 dollars for it and got a lot of use out of it, so if I just get rid of it, no huge loss.

Like i said. Give it to me.

I love fixing things up.

SamBooka · #9 08-01-2011, 08:23 AM

questions for both of you.. two prong or 3 prong plug on the amp?

hot ford coupe · #10 08-01-2011, 09:04 AM

I must admit my equipment had 2 prong plugs which I'm sure contributed to the shocks.
The zap that I got was more than a little tickle and I'm sure my malfuction was a lot worse than yours, exarctly. That old Fender amp looked beat. It felt like sticking my finger in a light socket. If your amp can be fixed, getting it done will be a decision only you can make. I'd just hate to see you get hurt. I'm just an over-cautious old fart.

barrymclark · #11 08-01-2011, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exarctly

So mainly I am looking to know if any one has anything positive or negative to say about this model or can help me figure the year. The serial number is 18224 if that helps.
The netting on front may have to be ripped off if I am able to replace the speaker. It seems to only have one, but maybe there are the two smaller ones that some of the 102s seem to have.

My experience with these is they have a single 12 and two 8's. The 10x series of amps from what I have seen appear to be less popular due to their size. That being said, I am sure it does sound like a jazz dream when all is in running order.

I understand though that there my have been some models with only a single 12 speaker but have never seen one.

These are front loaded right? Are you meaning that foam covering or that mesh screen thing that is right on the speaker itself and actually cut to the size of the speaker?

The ones I have dealt with the speaker screws are exposed enough where I could back them out without issue. I just assumed they were all that way.

Now... BE CAREFUL! Depending on what is going on, amps can hold charges for awhile and you could get popped if your hand goes wandering into the wrong places. I got a light zing from an old Silvertone when I was fixing it up as I didn't watch where the tip of my screwdriver went. Obviously didn't kill me but I'd rather not repeat it. My arm hurt for awhile. I don't know what I touched... but I assume I discharged a cap.

barrymclark · #12 08-01-2011, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hot ford coupe

I must admit my equipment had 2 prong plugs which I'm sure contributed to the shocks.
The zap that I got was more than a little tickle and I'm sure my malfuction was a lot worse than yours, exarctly. That old Fender amp looked beat. It felt like sticking my finger in a light socket. If your amp can be fixed, getting it done will be a decision only you can make. I'd just hate to see you get hurt. I'm just an over-cautious old fart.

Nothing wrong with that. I got a good pop from a Silvertone when I was working on it. I really wish I had paid more attention.

exarctly · #13 08-01-2011, 10:57 AM

Yeah, the plug only has two prongs. Also, what I mean about the netting is that it seems to be almost sewn over the speaker. Meaning the only way I can see to get to the speaker would be to rip and tear it off. There could be two small speakers in there...but it really looks as if there is only one to me.
But maybe the netting is not allowing me to see through enough to find the others.

barrymclark · #14 08-01-2011, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exarctly

Yeah, the plug only has two prongs. Also, what I mean about the netting is that it seems to be almost sewn over the speaker. Meaning the only way I can see to get to the speaker would be to rip and tear it off. There could be two small speakers in there...but it really looks as if there is only one to me.
But maybe the netting is not allowing me to see through enough to find the others.

Did you try turning the plug over in the receptacle? That is normally the easy fix to getting shocked.

If you get shocked, unplug, turn the plug over and plug back in. If that doesn't do it.. then yeah... you got other problems.

What size are those smaller holes?

I am almost wondering if you have missing speakers.

Maybe provide a picture?

hot ford coupe · #15 08-01-2011, 09:57 PM

Ah, the mystery continues.