Polytone Mini Brute II - A Good Choice for Jazz?

[lawson-stone]

I own 2 of the 90's era II's and just love them. Solid, great sounding amps. Not yet with that new sonic circuit thing, 3 band EQ. But still that sound.

[Greentone]

Lawson,

I like those 90s Polytones that pre-date the Sonic Circuit. I don't have any experience with the Sonic Circuit amps.

PS: the clips of you with the MBII sound great--I like the one where you compare the 165 and 175.

[artcore]

I have the old, I think its an MB I...( the 15inch speaker)....nice with an Ibanez artcore....but not good at all with my semi-hollow soloway....so its been collecting dust.......the fact that it was designed as a base amp may be the reason....it didn't sound right with the soloway....

[mad dog]

Green:

Count me in. This one is my first, a MB II Not sure of the vintage. Guessing early 80s. Could that foam front be a repro?



Only had it a short time, and already I'm quite impressed. It's warm, yet not muddy or flat. The distortion red knob is useless to me, but that red mids knob is very useful for fine tuning the sound. Seems to love P-90s, especially good with the Heritage H525. The clean is not quite pristine, flavored a bit. Hard to describe ... it just sounds so good. I went back and forth yesterday between the MB II and a favorite tube amp, the Gries 20 (an excellent take on the BF deluxe reverb formula). Yes, there is a difference with tubes. A certain depth and spaciousness to the sound, extra dimension somehow. But this is the first SS amp that in its own way sounded just as good to me as a really good tube amp. It's a real pleasure to listen to!
MD

[Greentone]

Your amp is from around 1985 and looks right. I bet it sounds great!

[lawson-stone]

Lawson,

I like those 90s Polytones that pre-date the Sonic Circuit. I don't have any experience with the Sonic Circuit amps.

PS: the clips of you with the MBII sound great--I like the one where you compare the 165 and 175.

Hey thanks. For what it's worth, here are my 3 archtops with Classic 57 pickups, playing the same solo, through the MBII. Epiphone ES175 Premium, Gibson VOS 1959 ES175, and L5ces. The amp is mic'd with a Bluebird microphone.

[jazzmus]

Greentone, what a nice discovery, you might recall i raved about the 12", mine was a diamond tolex, black panel, no reverb, 160W, gigged a ton with it (with a 175) some 15 years ago but i hauled that amp around for a couple of years, loved it and never understood how come the 12" seem very underrated on this site/forum.
Another model that seem to often fly below radar is the mega brute (8"), played one of thoose a fair bit too at rehearsels and they sound amazingly towards older MB´s, less boxy, subtly more open/agressive and in your face sounding than a baby brute yet still defenitly it sports the core polytone sound and lovely balance fatness wise from hi to lo e.

[rio]

I have an old diamond tolex foam cover minibrute with a 15" speaker. Before that I had a blue tolex 15" that I used until it died - about 7 years of use which was disappointing. I used both for both guitar and bass. The previous one is far enough back that it is hard to remember except that it was a hell of an amp. Sounded great with both bass and guitar. The newer to me older to the earth diamond tolex also sounds great but in a different way. It has the old school jazz guitar sound down and has been through A LOT since I got it about 11 years ago and I don't know it's history before that. I've gotten many compliments on the sound regarding the traditional jazz guitar sound. Although it was a long time ago I don't remember the difference ultimately being that large between the two except that my current one is a little more old school sounding, which might be just because I have put it through so much abuse. I don't use it much nowadays since I have amps that I prefer over it but I will still never sell it.


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[Max405]

Lawson,
Really great video bud. Well done my friend.
GT,
i have a question, Are Polytones typically noisy amps? Mine is very noisy. It has that solid state high power hum to it. And if you tip toe past it, you can hear the Reverb springs rattle. Maybe my Princeton has spoiled me.
Joe D

[Greentone]

No, they are quiet when working right. Sounds like the reverb tank is loose.

[vintagelove]

If anyone has it laying around, an aluminum cone speaker sounds great in these.

I love me some polytone!!!

[Greentone]

I had a JBL 8" speaker in my Baby Brute for a bit. It sounded superb. I got the original speaker checked out--it was fine. I put it back in. It's in there now. Truthfully, I'm not so sure that the JBL doesn't sound better. I just have a bias in favor of the Eminence OEM speaker. I do have the JBL on hand though. It might go back in.

Problem is, I'm enjoying the MB II too much to go get the Baby out of storage. (Wifey doesn't like a lot of amps on display--I don't blame her.)

[AlohaJoe]

I bought my MBII used on CL 8-10 yrs ago. I know nothing about its age or history but it sounds great to me and has always been a dependable gigger. There's a number of amps around here but the Polytone and the Princeton get all the work.

Does anybody know what year this one would be?

[Herbie]

AlohaJoe: I have a Baby Brute (for sale, BTW!) from same era and experts rated it to be from early 90's.

MadDog: looks like an original grille foam, just worn out a bit. My MBIV has similar.

I have a 15" Mini Brute IV too and I like it more than 8" – or with 10" cab. The smaller speakers feel hard somehow, they don't have that deep oomph that bigger speakers have.

Maybe I have to build a 12" cab too for my Polytone, they are so rare here in Northern EU.

Am I cynical if I think that jazz guitarists love 8" combos just because they are easier to carry?

[Greentone]

Aloha Joe,

I'd wager that the MB II of yours is circa '87-'89. Those red-line black panel Polytones with the Tolex/black grill cloth (I have an '86 Baby Brute like that) sound great! The Eminence speaker is a really good driver.

[AlohaJoe]

Thanks, and thanks to Herbie too. The grill cover is long gone, but there's a sturdy grille there. The metal corners are black, but the panel looks just like Mad Dog's MBII.

The "distortion" sucks, but the reverb is good! I understand there have been issues with the reverb not working but I've had no problems and in moderation it sounds great.

[Greentone]

Oh, yeah. The distortion. It does distort the sound as the label advertises, but I never met anyone who would use it.

[kevmoga]

I just picked up a diamond tolex MB II for a nice price on the local craigslist. Great condition, but smelled like it lived in a bar for a few years. Finally exorcized the stink by soaking the foam grill cloth with a pet urine odor eliminator, that seemed to be where the odor had settled. Great amp, but one thing that hit me was how precise it was compared to my tube amps. Not very forgiving in that it seems to reveal my shortcomings in technique a little more transparently. Sounds good with my bass, too, at moderate to lower volumes. Definitely a keeper.

[mad dog]

Interesting comments Kev. It strikes me as precise yes, but not in the almost clinical way some other SS amps come across. Muscle under warmth instead. Sort of the way the venerable low power tweed twin feels, with two rectifiers. Some give there, but not like less powerful, saggier tweeds. Fast response with a soft edge.

That's a pretty odd comparison, but somehow apt. The MB II has a little give, just enough. More feel than sound. Perhaps some of that comes in how I play it ... with pretty low gain clean boost (TIM) up front, and a flexible reverb pedal that imparts a touch of its own warmth (CB Topanga). Not sure if it would please me as much just plugging straight in. That's OK, I like how it sounds this way.
MD

[kevmoga]

Agreed, not clinical at all and definitely warmer than other SS I've tried. Just more precise than tubes to my ear - keeps me honest LOL! I'm using a Strymon Flint rather than the built in reverb, although that doesn't sound all that bad to me. I have not mustered the gumption to even touch the fabled distortion knob, guess I've read too much about that feature.

[Greentone]

I agree with kevmoga that the MBII is a revealing amp...but not starkly so, the way that some SS amps can be. When I've played through AI/RE rigs--which are superb rigs, by the way--I always have to be conscious of how precise my playing needs to be. The AI/RE is VERY, VERY accurate.

I agree with mad dog that the MBII has a bit of give--a tube-like property--that encourages me to just let go.

[wzpgsr]

I don't have the real thing, but I bought Dr. Bonkers's Polytone impulse responses and like how they sound when fed a clean, flat preamp sound.

[Greentone]

wzpgsr,

Dr. Bonkers' Impulse Response files are based upon a digital scan of the sound of a Polytone MiniBrute II, so you have "the sound."

From what I've read the files sound great and record well.

I used to do a lot of digital music stuff when I got way into computer keyboard synthesis, but not so much anymore. In fact, I have gone all the way back to outboard rack gear with my keyboards, these days. The computer-based stuff sounds great, mind you. I just decided to turn Luddite and backtrack.

I also unplugged all of my pedals from my guitar rig at about the same time. These days, it's guitar to cord to amp. No attitude about it, mind you, just simplification.

[AlohaJoe]

These days, it's guitar to cord to amp. No attitude about it, mind you, just simplification.

I love my pedals, but the Poly sounds good to me without. I feel the same way about my '64 PR and hey, fewer knobs... setup is a breeze. Plug and go!

[Max405]

GT, All this Polytone talk has gotten me curious. I want to open my amp and investigate the loose Reverb tank. But while in there, can you recommend some tweaks that can can make myself that will reduce the hum that I get?
JD