Info on Polytone Guitars?

[RoyaleT]

I recently saw a Polytone double cut, solid ash guitar on eBay with a Polytone amp.

I also know someone with a 15-16" hollow body jazz guitar by Polytone. I found a site with 1 or 2 ad reprints for their line from the 70's or 80's, but cannot find anything else. Does anyone here know of a source of information on these guitars?

Thanks.

[Hammertone]

I am a source of information on these guitars.
Here are a couple of pix of my Improv I and Improv II, resting comfortably on a Polytone 102 amp.
What would you like to know?

[jasaco]

Wow. I wasn't aware they ever made guitars. How do you like them, Hammertone? Well made? Sound good? Looks like nice wood...

[Doctor Jeff]

Those are absolutely awesome! Love the headstock!

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I have a vague recollection the "Polytone" guitars were made in Italy and imported by Polytone. Truth?

[Hammertone]

Polytone Guitars were made for five minutes @1980. I guess Tommy Gumina got it into his head or was talked into expanding his product line. He probably changed his mind shortly thereafter and killed the project, because there are almost none of them to be found.

These guitars are so goofy that I HAD to track them down, and believe me, it wasn't easy. For some reason, whoever owns the Contempo guitars thinks they are worth a billion dollars, so I never bothered with that one. I started looking for the semi and the hollow archtop in the late 1980s, after getting a copy of the tearsheet for them from Frank Quinn, a Montreal-based jazz guy who was the sole Canadian distributor for Polytone amps for years. I have only seen a couple of each in the past 25 years.

The line-up included the
- Improv I - 16" hollow, all-laminated jazzbox
- Improv II - 16" ES-3X5-style guitar
- Contempo guitar
- Contempo bass

All of these instruments were made in Japan. Only a couple of colour options were available for each, between black, natural and sunburst. The Contempo guitar was made by the same folks who made Rokkoman and Maya guitars (not Matsumoku) and a virtually identical solidbody can be found in their old catalogues with different inlay/headstock. The Contempo bass had a bolt-on neck - I have one in black and it is a REALLY nice bass, kind of heavy, clearly inspired (as is the guitar) by Alembic and by the Ibanez Artist series of the time.

The Improv II ES-3X5 style guitar is an excellent instrument. Gibson scale, decent proportions, high build quality consistent with other top-end Japanese-built guitars of the post-lawsuit era. It has an ES scale, maple neck, mahogany block, ebony board, Japanese pickups, brass nut and distinctive gold-plated brass hardware. I need to check the measurement at the nut - I think it's 1 3/4". Decent sized C-shaped neck (smaller than a typical Gibson Historic Les Paul neck), excellent fretwork. Rosewood knobs, rosewood pickguard, Japanese pickups.

The Improv I is essentially an ES-175 but shallower. ES scale, maple neck, hollow, ebony board, Japanese pickups, bone nut, bone insert on wooden bridge, and a very distinctive tailpiece. I need to check the measurement at the nut. Decent sized C-shaped neck (smaller than a typical Gibson Historic Les Paul neck), excellent fretwork. Rosewood knobs, rosewood pickguard, Japanese pickups.

I suspect that the instruments came from more than one factory but I haven't done enough research to verify that theory. The Improv 1 does hint a bit at the Ibanez GB-10, and I've read somewhere that the guitar may have been designed for Benson, but I don't have the source handy.

Build quality is essentially the same as, say, an Ibanez GB-10, GB-20 or AS200AV (the Scofield guitar). They play great, they sound great, it's all good. I have too much gear, so I don't play them that much anymore and will probably sell them in the next little while. I think they should be kept together as a pair.

[BigMikeinNJ]

​the solid body reminds me of some examples of El Maya guitars I've seen discussed on the Ibanez forums. That German carved edge, that odd half circle on the bottom, really very well built, lots of gold plated brass hardware, very similar. Don't remember if it was Maksumoto or Terada factory origin. Have a go searching El Maya on the Ibanez Collectors World forum.

[RoyaleT]

I'm a little late getting back, but do appreciate the information, Hammertone. Just the kind of stuff I was looking to find, Thank you.

[rloochie]

Hi are do you still have these guitars? I have an Improve II and would be interested in an Improve I

[Hammertone]

I was in the bunker and finally unearthed these guitars. More pix to come.

[Klatu]

Really good looking instruments. I'm especially fond of the inventive tailpiece on the archtop.

[jasaco]

https://reverb.com/item/181406-polyt...QryhoCwfbw_wcB

[wildschwein]

https://reverb.com/item/181406-polyt...QryhoCwfbw_wcB

That's a nice looking guitar.

[Hammertone]

Really good looking instruments. I'm especially fond of the inventive tailpiece on the archtop.

[Ralpha]

I have one of these guitars in good condition. Any idea of its value?

[h1pst3r88]

I sold mine for $600.

https://reverb.com/item/319244-polyt...box-rare-japan

[h1pst3r88]

Oops, mine wasn't a solid body. I recall when I was buying mine there was a solid body on ebay that I want to say was pretty pricey.

[Hammertone]

I sold mine for $600.
Polytone Improv I Archtop Jazzbox - RARE - Japan | Just a | Reverb

The guitars were actually available for two years, and came from different suppliers for each of those years. Interestingly, all four models (solid, semi, hollow, bass) are completely different instruments between the two years!
h1pst3r88, yours was the second version, exactly the same as another model from the (???) factory - I have pix somewhere. At 14 1/2" wide, it's small and very cool. I remember your ad. IMO you sold it for way too little $$$$ (despite the neck repair), but that's your perogative, and the market speaks. My two Polytone guitars have an asking price for sale or trade at [both sold], which IMO is fair value - of course, I am happy to entertain interest, offers and trade suggestions from forum members here.

[h1pst3r88]

I sold mine way too low, Hammertone, but I was moving onto something else (and all the something else's after).

But my Polytone was every bit the vintage Ibanez-type MIJ archtop-type guitar that we love (and for which we pay too much).

The Ibanez Howard Roberts sell for $1200-1300 (I have a Crestwood version) -- my old Polytone was at least equal to, and in ways personal to me (ebony fretboard), superior to the Ibanez/Crestwood... yet also had the appeal of some rarity.

I miss my Polytone!

Good luck ;-)