end of love with my polytone

**gianluca** · 09-27-2012, 06:08 AM

I own a polytone minibrute II (no sonic circuit) since 1990 and I'm thinking to sell it because I'm no more satisfied with its tone.
maybe my taste has changed.
or maybe I use the wrong setup for the tone I'm after.
that's the help I'm asking you: hold the MB with the right setup or sell it and buy a different amp.

My guitar is a gibson L-5 ces 012 TI flat strings
and my favourite tones are george benson's and wes's tone: big archtop with a little acoustic flavour.
of course, I'm not trying to duplicate exactly their tone but just to be close enough.
I'd like more acoustic flavour out to my L5.

I find the MB too middy: I can't have any brightness from it; the amp's "treble" knob acts only as an hi-mid frequencies volume: the 1st E and the B string have always the same dark sound: you can only increase or lower their volume; not the tone.

at the moment, I get the best MB "acoustic" tone with this set up:
master volume all way up;
bass - all way down
mid - all way down
treble - nine o'clock (3)
volume CH 1 - as needed
boost selector - on "boost" (some time on "cut" but it's not a big difference)

I also own a fender twin reverb that sounds fine to me.
Not exactly an acoustic tone (it is a bit more "electric"), but I like it very much.

I'm looking for my favourite tone from a lighter amp.

Please consider that the most amps I read on this forum, like evans, henricksen, acoustic image, ampeg, etc, are not available for a try where I live: I can find only some fender, roland, laney, line 6, vox, marshall, hiwatt, hueghes & kettner, jet city and few others.

yesterday i tried a roland cube 80XL but it sounded too "digital" to me: not natural at all. even if very loud, cheap and light weight...

thanks for any advice

**jorgemg1984** · 09-27-2012, 06:55 AM

You might consider a speaker change...

**FrankyNoTone** · 09-27-2012, 07:10 AM

Or a pick change...

**gianluca** · 09-27-2012, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

You might consider a speaker change...

hi jorge, yes you already told me that but it would make start a new series of problems: which speaker? how choose it? where try it? will it fit the MB? will be this process reversible? and so on...

I prefer a different amp...

**Jonathan0996** · 09-27-2012, 07:43 AM

It sounds like you're interested in a more tube-like tone in a lightweight amp. Not a lot of great choices there, but you might consider Evans. Also, oddly enough, you might consider a Peavey Bandit. Both companies make relatively light weight solid state amps that are more tube-like than a Polytone.

Depending on the situations you play in, you might also consider a smaller, lighter tube amp like a Fender Deluxe Reverb. However, at 22 watts, I wouldn't count on it to cut through a loud rhythm section. It's great for solo/duo gigs though.

**jorgemg1984** · 09-27-2012, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by gianluca

hi jorge, yes you already told me that but it would make start a new series of problems: which speaker? how choose it? where try it? will it fit the MB? will be this process reversible? and so on...

I prefer a different amp...

I understand. Modding can be time consuming, expensive and frustating. Only thing I can tell you is a sonic circuit polytone with the stock speaker or with a new jensen one were a night and day difference in sound.

Your Twin should be able to put you in benson / wes territory... again, having access to a good tech and trying some minor mods to the voicing of the amp could be of great help.

Third option: eq pedal. This is probably the wisest one if you don't have access to so many good amps...

**gianluca** · 09-27-2012, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

...
Third option: eq pedal. This is probably the wisest one if you don't have access to so many good amps...

I thought to an eq pedal but, tell me if I'm wrong, I suppose it affects the guitar tone, the signal that comes in the ampli input.
and the guitar tone is not an issue.

may be I shoud try to put the eq pedal through the FX LOOP OUTBOARD input and output... mmmhhh... I'll try...

**Bill C** · 09-27-2012, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by Jonathan0996

It sounds like you're interested in a more tube-like tone in a lightweight amp. Not a lot of great choices there, but you might consider Evans. Also, oddly enough, you might consider a Peavey Bandit. Both companies make relatively light weight solid state amps that are more tube-like than a Polytone.

The current Evans range has to my ears a less "middy" sound than a pre sonic circuit MegaBrute I used to own and the preamp offers a lot of sound sculpting possibilities imo. Neo speakers and SS, so lightish weight as Jonathan says.

**Jonathan0996** · 09-27-2012, 08:20 AM

One more suggestion...

You might consider trying out a Fender Mustang III. It's not quite a Twin Reverb, but it's a lot lighter and has similar EQ. It has a Celestion speaker, which is probably a little brighter than what's in the Polytone. At 100 watts, it should have plenty of clean power and you might like the sound.

**SamBooka** · 09-27-2012, 08:32 AM

You might consider an owner change

Err.. italy is too far for shipping .. nevermind

**Keira Witherkay** · 09-27-2012, 08:35 AM

Get an eq pedal , or even loan one and try it, it may fix all your problems, quick /easy/cheap solution

**gianluca** · 09-27-2012, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

You might consider a speaker change...

about your suggestion, do you believe is it possible to try the polytone pre-amp with the fender twin's jensen speakers?

remember that I don't understand anything about electronics, but can I connect the polytone preamp out put to fender's speakers using a simple jack-jack cable?

**jorgemg1984** · 09-27-2012, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by gianluca

I thought to an eq pedal but, tell me if I'm wrong, I suppose it affects the guitar tone, the signal that comes in the ampli input.
and the guitar tone is not an issue.

may be I shoud try to put the eq pedal through the FX LOOP OUTBOARD input and output... mmmhhh... I'll try...

If you cannot cut mids and add treble (as you wish), your solution is an eq pedal... it works great in front but you can try it in the fx loop if you like it more. Good ones will shape your sound but not change it...

**jorgemg1984** · 09-27-2012, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by gianluca

about your suggestion, do you believe is it possible to try the polytone pre-amp with the fender twin's jensen speakers?

remember that I don't understand anything about electronics, but can I connect the polytone preamp out put to fender's speakers using a simple jack-jack cable?

My electronics knowledge is limited but the answer is no (I think). The goal of the power amp is precisely taking things to "speaker level". The preamp signal is not enough to drive a speaker... someone correct if I am wrong please.

What I did when I had combos was to install a speaker out jack - the signal from the power amp - and a switch o disconnect the amp's internal speaker. This way I could try other amp's speakers (provided there was a jack for that) and not 1) hear the original speaker 2) run into impedance problems.

**Anandbhat** · 09-27-2012, 04:03 PM

I had a similar MB that I got rid of for pretty much the same reasons.
I really like my DRRI and SCXD.

**gianluca** · 09-27-2012, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

What I did when I had combos was to install a speaker out jack - the signal from the power amp - and a switch o disconnect the amp's internal speaker. This way I could try other amp's speakers (provided there was a jack for that) and not 1) hear the original speaker 2) run into impedance problems.

do you know if is it possible to hear the polytone amplified signal directly into the twin speaker (muting the polytone swpeaker) without installing anything?

the polytone has the external speaker output and an headphone output.
but I don't know if the fender twin has an input for speakers only...
I would like to make a try usign just a jack-jack cord...

**Jim Soloway** · 09-27-2012, 05:56 PM

My advise is to sell it. A Polytone has a very specific voice and you can't add frequencies that aren't there. If it's not working for you anymore then the only way that will change is if you change what makes you happy.

**jorgemg1984** · 09-27-2012, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by gianluca

do you know if is it possible to hear the polytone amplified signal directly into the twin speaker (muting the polytone swpeaker) without installing anything?

the polytone has the external speaker output and an headphone output.
but I don't know if the fender twin has an input for speakers only...
I would like to make a try usign just a jack-jack cord...

The external speaker output works for that. I don't think you can mute the poly's internal speaker without mods... And some Twins have speaker's inputs others not I think. So... without mods you can't do it.

Honestly the easiest solution would be removing the polytone speaker and putting one of the twin's there - assuming it fits and assuming it has the proper impedance (it should be 8 ohms which works fine with Polytones I think, although it will reduce some power).

Sorry but it seems like there's no easy solution...

**gianluca** · 09-27-2012, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Anandbhat

I had a similar MB that I got rid of for pretty much the same reasons.
I really like my DRRI and SCXD.

scxd?

**jorgemg1984** · 09-27-2012, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

My advise is to sell it. A Polytone has a very specific voice and you can't add frequencies that aren't there. If it's not working for you anymore then the only way that will change is if you change what makes you happy.

Jim that specific voice can be easily changed with a good eq pedal... with any amp really. And my experience and some of my friends experience is that mid-heavy "jazz amps" like the poly work much better with flatter speakers like an EV or a Jensen Tornado instead of the stock Beta or Beta-similar speaker.

Of course the OP could be wasting money on an amp that he will never like... that's the risk of modding.

**Jim Soloway** · 09-27-2012, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

Jim that specific voice can be easily changed with a good eq pedal... with any amp really. And my experience and some of my friends experience is that mid-heavy "jazz amps" like the poly work much better with flatter speakers like an EV or a Jensen Tornado instead of the stock Beta or Beta-similar speaker.

Of course the OP could be wasting money on an amp that he will never like... that's the risk of modding.

It can be changed but only within limits. I've owned a bunch of Polytones. It can be really tough to really move them out of their signature range and I'm not a fan of investing a lot of money and effort into an amp that not worth a lot and is by nature, hard to repair. I think it's a much better investment to simply find an amp that works for you in the first place.

**jorgemg1984** · 09-27-2012, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

It can be changed but only within limits. I've owned a bunch of Polytones. It can be really tough to really move them out of their signature range and I'm not a fan of investing a lot of money and effort into an amp that not worth a lot and is by nature, hard to repair. I think it's a much better investment to simply find an amp that works for you in the first place.

I understand your point Jim. But for us in Europe accessing amps is very hard - and to me good eq pedals basically saved my tone-quest. My henriksen would be unusable without them and sounds magical with them... Kurt Rosenwinkel gets some pretty sick sounds from his Polytone using a parametric eq - in fact I think a Polytone with everything at 5 is a "flat frequency" amp (like the Henriksen) and a good base to work on a tone if you have the tools and the knowledge. And in my experience a Poly is much softer and musical with a more guitaristic speaker - a friend of mine (gigs and records a lot) basically hated his pre-speaker change and now loves it. I played with his a lot and sounded quite better than the stock ones I had played before.

But I have plenty of friends who go your route - keep trying things until they find something that works as it is stock and never care about it anymore.

It's up to the OP to see which of the routes is easier / cheaper