Polytone Mini Brute II - A Good Choice for Jazz?

[Stringswinger]

Rance has been fixing Polytones for decades, though not sure if he ships.

It's like owning old cars, or anything "vintage". If you don't have a good mechanic, and don't have the time or desire to tinker with it, you're just left with a "project" that kinda works. Because I absolutely love the sound and feel of it, I'll use the polytone as long as someone nearby can service it. My old Henriksen sounds pretty good, but might become a project given its age. A new henriksen 6" with an extension cab is probably the best modern answer for the Polytone (but $$$, and I haven't played one). Honestly, my DV little jazz does 90% of what I want from an amp, and it cost me $199 used. I keep it at work. DV did a great job of emulating the Polytone feel (if not exactly the sound) in a simple, light, and inexpensive box. We sold my mom's 1970 Pontiac, and now I drive a Camry. The Little Jazz is the Toyota Camry of jazz boxes. Even if you like tinkering with Polytones and Henriksens, you won't regret picking up a used one.

I have a Bud 6 and a Blu 10. I think the Blu 10 is very similar sounding to a Mini-brute 2. I bought my last mini-brute back in 2002 for $600 new. That is about $1200 in today's dollars, about what you would spend on a Blu 10. Henriksen amps are only expensive compared to the Chinese made offerings of today.

[vintagelove]

Anyone that services electronics can fix a polytone. There's next to nothing in there.

They will far outlive many of the modern amps which are not built to be repaired. All it takes is a service every what, 35 years? And they're good to go.

Ok, maybe every 10 years...