The eBay - Polytone thread

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

It's not a Polytone, but it is a 1x15" combo, the Roland JC-80:

Roland JC-80 on eBay



EDIT: Relisted from $350 to $300, and then relisted again at $275: http://cgi.ebay.com/Roland-JC-80-Jaz...em3cb2c0 8217. Free shipping, too.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Another Polytone oddball:



The "Polytone Mini Brute Plus Two II" A 12" combo with two 6" extension speakers.

Polytone Mini Brute Plus Two II - eBay (item 280586993548 end time Nov-16-10 03:22:43 PST)

[hurricanebob]

I will *never* sell my Mini Brute II. Never, ever, ever.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Polytone 12 inch Guitar Speaker - New! - eBay (item 280587698715 end time Nov-17-10 14:14:18 PST)

I always thought Polytones had "no name" speakers in them made by various speaker manufacturers (Eminence?). Never saw one with "Polytone" written on it, and so boldly. Neat!

[Dad3353]

Good evening, BigDaddy...
I'm surprised you missed this one, recently for sale. No buyers, though (wonder why..?)

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Where do you think they got this replacement grille? Off a BBQ?

[lindydanny]

Hey! I wondered where the radiator guard to my go-cart went!!!

~DB

[727lawrence]

Howdy folks. I just picked up a MB IV w/15" speaker, foam grill, all black, with the infamous red knob. Serial number 16087. Anyone have an idea when this would have been manufactured? Thanks!

[Hurricane Ramon]

Originally Posted by 727lawrence

Howdy folks. I just picked up a MB IV w/15" speaker, foam grill, all black, with the infamous red knob. Serial number 16087. Anyone have an idea when this would have been manufactured? Thanks!

========================
Lawrence , wassssup man :

Post a pic . It will give us ( me at least ) an idea to work with . Polytone made quite an assortment of really interesting designs over the years with no real rhyme or reason from this point years later looking back .

What's under the hood is the constant as far as amps go more or less . I have seen the same single channel strip on many amps with little difference over all save the drivers and their sizes . Newer amps are different in appearance from the older ones like what you see posted here .

The appearance at first glance will tell you a lot . The actual electronics do have differences as far as schematics are concerned that show the significant differences .

I have one odd ball 3 channel with approximately 100 watts , this one has no speaker on the amp , it comes with two cabinets with each one having one each of the following : 1X10" & a 1X8"

but

as I said only after looking at a schematic will you know more or less what's really under the hood .

I will kill for this one I will heh heh , it's sound is FAT for a solid state pre amp / amp . With it I can do solo shows really nicely with a small foot print on stage as well as the amount of gear I need to haul to a gig .

It handles my vocal with a Shure Bros. PE 585 Unisphere A high hz mic -

Shure Bros. 520D Harp Bullet mic for my Blues harps

& my electric guitar that I plug into first with my Digitech GNX4 that also has a lo hz XLR mic input w/phantom so I can really mic my acoustic nylon or my steel string Dreadnought or add another vocal .

The GNX4 also adds looping to the set up as well as guitar FX - stomps - amp & cabinet modeling and any backing tracks I want and record to @ two channels and up to 8 in digital beauty .

Easy man :

Hurricane Ramon

[727lawrence]

Hi Ramon. Ok, I took some quick pics, not great, but will give you an idea. I'm not a traditional jazz player, but there is much about jazz that I do like. This amp, for being touted as a jazz amp, really surprised me. Now, I do front it with a Keeley compressor, which adds considerable sparkle to the sound. However, for a solid state amp this thing has outstanding harmonic content. Plus, when I open up my Hermida Zendrive to go for that Robben Ford Dumble tone - whoa. Amazing tone. Best amp I have ever owned, and I've owned many. So, any idea of it's age?

[Hurricane Ramon]

Originally Posted by 727lawrence

Hi Ramon. Ok, I took some quick pics, not great, but will give you an idea. I'm not a traditional jazz player, but there is much about jazz that I do like. This amp, for being touted as a jazz amp, really surprised me. Now, I do front it with a Keeley compressor, which adds considerable sparkle to the sound. However, for a solid state amp this thing has outstanding harmonic content. Plus, when I open up my Hermida Zendrive to go for that Robben Ford Dumble tone - whoa. Amazing tone. Best amp I have ever owned, and I've owned many. So, any idea of it's age?

================================================== =======


Lawrence :

Looks like an late 80s or maybe an early 90s to me . That amp if I am correct puts out close to 100 watts tops and maybe 75 watts at a lower powerful rating .

I am eye balling this with what I have seen since the 70s when I worked in an audio repair and service center . I saw many great tube amps as well as great solid state amps there over the 7 years I spent learning how they worked and how to fix them .

Yeah when hook to a really good processor it roars with authority huh !

Good find man on that amp Lawrence , what did you pay for it ? I found mine ( or better stated my wife found it for me ) at a thrift store ( we used to call them junk stores or second hand stores ) for only $18.00 heh heh heh I love it heh heh heh .

I dig Robben Ford and his whole family of musicians .

Hope you have a ball with yours as I am having a great time on mine .

Easy Blood Brother of The Blues

Hurricane Ramon

[727lawrence]

Wow, $18? I think you did a wee bit better than I did. I bought mine from a old-time jazzer who knew what he had. $325. Best deal on an amp I ever found though. I love it.

[Hurricane Ramon]

Originally Posted by 727lawrence

Wow, $18? I think you did a wee bit better than I did. I bought mine from a old-time jazzer who knew what he had. $325. Best deal on an amp I ever found though. I love it.

================================================== ====

Lawrence :

That is not a bad price to pay for what you bought . Considering what a new amp with a similar sound would cost you , more than likely you would have to shell out quite a lot more to match that Polytone's sound .

Seems lately I have been a real lucky SOB , I just got a Kustom Tube 12 w/12 watts of ripping power ( heh heh it's tiny ) , it's a cool sounding ss amp with a single 12AX7 in the pre amp section .

I use it at home to practice with . One 8" driver and lots of cool vibes for $14.00 at the same thrift store .

I took it to a few jam sessions and was happy with the over all results when hooking my Digitech GNX4 to it . It can't keep up with amps with over 40 watts though .

I am in Palm Springs southern California . Where do you hail from , the UK ?

Easy man :

Hurricane Ramon

[JULAS]

Hi, i'am new here. I'd like to ask about this two-speaker polytone that i bought on ebay. Does anybody could tell me what the model is and when the produced that kind of polytone or any other info. all "buttons" - don't know the words - controllers maybe :P are the same in mini brute V. It would be nice if somebody give me an email adress to polytone because ones that i found on the net are fake.....

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/809/93997075.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/403/82098307.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/40253279.jpg/

[Hurricane Ramon]

Originally Posted by JULAS

Hi, i'am new here. I'd like to ask about this two-speaker polytone that i bought on ebay. Does anybody could tell me what the model is and when the produced that kind of polytone or any other info. all "buttons" - don't know the words - controllers maybe :P are the same in mini brute V. It would be nice if somebody give me an email adress to polytone because ones that i found on the net are fake.....

================================================== ========
Howdy Julas :

Second one on the Goolge search page I found after typing " Polytone "

http://www.polytoneamps.com/

You won't get to much help there , there are not " Net " types at all , they are however dedicated to making one great reliable sounding guitar player friendly amp though . They don't have a " date " system at all and more than likely won't respond to requests like that or they say when responding that they can't help since they don't keep those records .

Aside from that they are as they say a company of musicians making musical amplifiers for musicians and that's got to be good . The company was founded by a musician ( see the history of the company there on that link I posted ) for the sake of musicians .

Looks late 80s to me but looks also almost new too so maybe I am wrong .

The reverb foot switch jack maybe shows a later design that I don't think came out till the 80s or as early as the late 70s . The one I have posted pics of is an early 70s and you will note it's got no foot switch jack on it .

It's got to be in the 75 to 100 watt range . Really nice looking to as far as condition is concerned . What'd you pay for it ?

Easy hope this helped you a tad .

Hurricane Ramon

[va3ux]

Reviewing this thread I see several comments about the "dreaded red knob model". What's the deal with that ? Are those ones to be avoided ?

Any other models or production years that are "avoids" ?

[Hurricane Ramon]

Originally Posted by va3ux

Reviewing this thread I see several comments about the "dreaded red knob model". What's the deal with that ? Are those ones to be avoided ?

Any other models or production years that are "avoids" ?

=============================================

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm gonna have to review some pages here on this . I dunno !

HR

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Originally Posted by va3ux

Reviewing this thread I see several comments about the "dreaded red knob model". What's the deal with that ? Are those ones to be avoided ?

Any other models or production years that are "avoids" ?

It's just that some models have a red gain knob for distortion and it sounded awful. Keep it at 0 and the amp was excellent.

[cjm]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

...distortion...sounded awful...

Hmmm. Perhaps that is a good working definition of distortion in general.

[bborzell]

Well, I've had it for nearly 40 years and one day it might end up on eBay; but not today.



After a recone of the 15" driver, I gave up on trying to recreate the original foam driver covers and went with a real protective grill. If my cat gets to that speaker, it will have to be by spraying.

[Hurricane Ramon]

Originally Posted by bborzell

Well, I've had it for nearly 40 years and one day it might end up on eBay; but not today.

After a recone of the 15" driver, I gave up on trying to recreate the original foam driver covers and went with a real protective grill. If my cat gets to that speaker, it will have to be by spraying.

======================================

Cherry Man

What do you plug into it ?

Easy man :

Hurricane Ramon

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by Hurricane Ramon

======================================

Cherry Man

What do you plug into it ?

Easy man :

Hurricane Ramon

Thanks. It still sees my Ric 4001 bass from time to time. But, lately I have been playing anything with resonance though it; Godin Kingpin, Cort Triggs, Cort M-Custom and a Taylor GS Mini. It is basically a great acoustic amp.

Haven't tried the Dano yet...

[UncleChuck]

Does anyone know the year of a Polytone Mini Teeny Brute by the serial number? The one I have is a P-5260. Thank you.