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The other problem is people say that Little Jazz give some form of distorted sound (clipping?) when you play chords. Have you ever experienced or heard that?
Originally Posted by John A.
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07-07-2026 04:04 PM
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I said something to that effect, but I want to be clear than I'm not sure about it. It may have been an accurate reproduction of something I don't like about my guitar. Or my imagination, or something. It might have been a certain compression when you turn it all the way up. It doesn't obviously distort, but I thought I heard something. Originally Posted by shamil
I've posted before about hating my tone in the first set and liking it in the second, with nothing changed but my perception.
I ended up using a powered speaker with a bunch of processing. Too complicated but sounds good to me. And, very flexible.
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Let me qualify this by saying I don't own a LJ, but have played through a friend of mine's quite a bit, and he does gigs with it frequently with trios and quartets. I haven't heard it distort. Any amp will distort if you turn it up loud enough, though. Originally Posted by shamil
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Shamil, JGO has almost 100,000 registered members. (Not all are among us anymore, I'm afraid.) A small but vocal bunch has managed to keep their Polytones alive. Not forever, I'm afraid. The future's not there.
I alone have sold 1,000 cabs. DV Mark must have delivered a serious multiple of Little Jazzes in over a decade - that's what keeps the brand alive. I have no clue about Henriksen's annual volumes, but they also have be a multiple of existing Polytones. Many here swear by Quilter. Fender's Tone Masters get great reviews. Then there's Raezer's Edge, Milkman, Evans, Fuchs, Mango and other boutique makers. Plus the entire tube amp universe. Plus the growing modeling/IR/NAM/whatchamacallit herd. I'm dealing with pro musicians all the time, and some are using amps I'd call weird, even crappy. My own experience spans over 20 micro amps, and I get a decent jazz tone from each of them. The speaker matters more.
Finally, if you look at the amps that some jazz guitar greats have been using over their careers, they've been all over the place. Polytone is not even a common denominator. Get one if you want one. But you don't need one.
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A key part of Jonathan Kreisberg's tone is that he uses a very old digital delay (I believe it's a Lexicon LXP-1 with modded/updated firmware) which has the effect of rounding the high frequencies. Ben Monder uses a similar delay with a similar result. You will also hear something similar in older Pat Metheny tones. With Rosenwinkel, who knows? There's about 100 pedals between his guitar and his amp. Originally Posted by shamil
You and a lot of other people are idealizing the Polytone sound. It was designed to approximate the sound of a Fender Twin Reverb in a small package; it was originally an accordion amplifier but Joe Pass asked them to build a guitar amp. Even among Polytone aficionados, there are camps and subdivisions of what a "good" Polytone tone is. With their famous inconsistency, one can sound very different from another from the same year. Finally, many but not all of these amps are 40-50 years old and are trouble looking for a place to happen. Polytones can sound great, they can also sound awful.
As for your sonic goal, well of course that's your goal. Mine too- I've written the same thing several times over the years as if this was somehow unique, only to laugh at myself- virtually no one has ever said "I want a honky, nasal jazz tone with harsh highs, farty lows and no midrange." What you're describing is what pretty much everyone wants. The only difference is whether you want overdrive with that or just clean tones. Most amps will give you at least 95%, it's the last 5% that is the source of argument. That 5% is something few will hear once the band starts playing because the nuances get washed out by the other instruments.
My advice is never leave an amp at a club for your use. It *will* walk away and you will end up donating a series of amplifiers because you will keep turning up for gigs and it won't be there. Any club that regularly hosts music should have a house amplifier available. Get an amp that is small enough for you to conveniently take to and from the gig. The small Henriksens are a great choice for jazz; my own rig is a TOOB Metro BG+ cab (6.5" driver) with a DV Mark EG 250 Raw Dawg head and it sounds as good or better than any other amp I have used in 45 years. Altogether it's about the size of a basketball and weighs 10-12 lbs.
METRO 6.5BG - Toob Speakers
DV “RAW DAWG” EG Eric Gales signature – DVMark
My other amps are a homebuilt-by-me tweed Deluxe copy (which is the next best sounding amp I've ever played), a 1974 Fender Pro Reverb, a Polytone Baby Taurus, and an Acoustic Image Clarus 2r through a Raezer's Edge 12" cab. The Polytone is probably the amp I like the least out of that bunch, but it is very portable. It has developed a sympathetic vibration that I cannot track down and will need to go to a tech to hopefully fix; all amplifiers develop problems sooner or later and this one is old enough that the problems are now.
Oh, I also have a Roland Cube 60 COSM amp which lives at the home of my bass player for rehearsals. I bought it used for $200 probably 15 years ago, it's been utterly reliable. It's not the greatest sounding amp sitting 5 feet away from it in my living room- a wee bit sterile compared to the Deluxe and EG250/TOOB- but on gigs it sounds perfectly fine. Reliable, portable and you can find them used pretty cheaply.
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May I ask which score you were using? Originally Posted by Little Jay
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The one I found in my iReal! Originally Posted by Aiq
I have no clue how accurate this score is, I have not studied this song.
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I played many a Polytone, and find them pretty dull in general. Henriksen is a huge Improvement over the poly, IMO.
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After reading all your replies and listening to the sound clips, I’ve pretty much narrowed my choice down to the Henriksen JazzAmp and the DV Mark Little Jazz.
At this point, I’m leaning toward the Henriksen because, based on your comments, it seems to be the amp that comes closest to the classic Polytone sound, which is exactly what I’m after.
The only thing that still concerns me is the fan noise in the older JazzAmp 110/112 models.
How realistic is it to replace the original cooling fan with a quieter one? Has anyone here actually done it? If so, which fan did you use, and did it solve the noise issue without causing any cooling problems?
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It seems you believe in what you want to believe in. There's reasons why original Henriksens haven't reached a cult status. I had an early Convertible in 2007, i.e. Jazzamp head with reverb plus a 10" cab. The amp was noisy over and above fan nose; whenever turned on, there was a marked mechanical buzz which gradually diminished when the amp reached its operating temperature. At that time I had limited experience with other amps, but a Fender Super Champ XD subsequently beat the Henriksen in tone and versatility. Some people here claim the Jazzamps were undepowered - that's subjective of course.
What Henriksen was up to from ca. 2009 to 2015 is difficult to judge from my neck of the Taiga. I think the company was on the brink of extinction at some point. Its current reputation rests on the Blus and Buds, exemplary customer service and, as I believe, Peter Henriksen's jovial personality. The serviceability of the early Jazz Amps is nevertheless a question mark. (DV Mark doesn't get high marks for service. LJ's speaker is glued in place, suggesting it's not meant to be replaced. OTOH, many Class D amps today proclaim: "no serviceable parts inside.")
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I have a Polytone 103 and a Blu 10 and have had a Jazz Amp 112. To my ear, the Polytone colors the tone more and the Blu is very transparent. I don't recall the Jazz Amp sounding profoundly different than the Blu. I'm wondering why you're after an older Henriksen with a fan vs a Blu/Bud unless for budget considerations.
I'm also playing around with the Polytone NAM that Guy mentioned. I think it sounds very good.
Finally, the Raezer's Edge eclipse is specifically marketed as based on the mini brute so could be worth considering.
I certainly wouldn't leave any of these at a venue.
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Reach out to Peter Henriksen directly and he can advise. If you are talking about the first generation JazzAmp, I had the 12 and used to just disconnect the fan myself. Later, sent it back and Bud & Peter removed it completely and sealed up the fan hole. I got the impression it was largely unnecessary, as the passive cooling of the unit was quite sufficient. Originally Posted by shamil
Let us know specifically which model you are shopping for, however.
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I’m glad Raezer’s Edge have been mentioned. I have a Luna 200 combo, and I really like it, but I wasn’t going for a particular tone, just trying to find mine.
They’ve since come out with this that seems right up your alley:
https://raezers-edge.com/product-category/eclipse/
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[QUOTE=shamil;1475134]After reading all your replies and listening to the sound clips, I’ve pretty much narrowed my choice down to the Henriksen JazzAmp and the DV Mark Little Jazz.
JazzAmp?Nah.Had one many years ago,nothing common with a Polytone,broke down very soon,don't miss it at all.
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Having had vintage amps (i.e., amps made a long time ago, not recently built versions of an older amp design) I don't particularly miss them. Stuff wears out, electronics age, maintenance increasingly becomes an issue. If I was in the amp market today, I would not be looking for an amp more than five years old. The Henriksen Bud 10 or Blu 10 would be worth a look over an older model IMHO if one wants to be in the Polytone ballpark.
I had not heard about the Eclipse amp before. That could be interesting.
We haven't talked about it, but the Mini Brute pedal (Brute EQ) which replicates the Polytone preamp design can be used with most amps to achieve that tonality. A search of the forum for "Polytone pedal" will turn up quite a few threads and also some other options for achieving that sound.
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I have had two original Jazz amp heads
One black face original failed around 2016 and the failed component was replaced free of charge including shipping to Australia
The other blue face head part of a convertible set up with a 10 inch cab with an Eminence Beta 10a speaker is still going fine as of this morning. I have never had noise problems with it.
But….. Get something new. That is all.
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So I'm an old Polytone guy but thought I'd dip my toe in the water and take a look at the Henriksen website. Also, I've just been taking a look at a JGOL thread from 2025 where one of the members suggested that the Henriksen amps serve the purpose of a personal monitor and are line - outed to FOH. Is the the case?
ps the 10" speaker models are sold out. They must be more popular than the 6.5".
pps does one need a two channel amp?
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If you want a dedicated amp that is voiced similar to a Polytone, first, maybe you should consider trying a Mamo amp, they are easier to get from Mossley, Lancashire, UK which is near Manchester. Originally Posted by garybaldy
Mambo Amp LINK
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You don't, until you realize you do. Originally Posted by garybaldy
1. If you use a combination magnetic pickup and Piezo, it's perfect.
2. If you play gigs with backing tracks, you can have your phone or MP3 connected to the other channel. Also your break music
3. Your vocalist PA is on the blink? Just plug in mic and keep the set going
4. Some random guy wants to sit in? Tell him sorry, your amp only has one channel.
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5. When you do want a stellar player to sit in, that second channel is quite useful. Originally Posted by mikeSF
6. Often, when something goes wrong with a 2 channel amp, one of the channels keeps working. Redundant systems are a good thing.
7. On the Henriksen Bud/Blu amps, the two channel Bud amps bring some extra tone shaping features along with the second channel.
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Can anything not replace a Polytone.
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It seems no other amp sounds exactly like a Polytone so if you like and want the Polytone sound, nothing can replace it. Originally Posted by Strat-itis
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Every decade or so, my old Polytone Baby Brute needs some relatively inexpensive minor service. I've have a bunch of Polytones over the past 45 years, and they've all been pretty good at being lightweight, reliable, and having plenty of headroom and volume. I bought this one new in the early 1980s. I use it at home. I also take it to gigs as a backup head (although I've only needed it once for that purpose). It sounds fine for amplifying jazz guitar, upright bass, and electric guitars and basses.
Last edited by Hammertone; 07-10-2026 at 05:54 PM.
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I am not going to ask you why your Polytone amp's name plate is upside down, because I'm sure there's a good reason for it. Originally Posted by Hammertone
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My DV Mark Jazz 12 sounds way better than my old Polytone, which I had 20 yrs...
Arnie...
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