Polytone Best Era - Opinions and experiences of guitar players and musicians

[casa2301]

Hi everybody

In the market we can find models from different eras..

Beyond the differences of 12 '' or 15 '' speakers, and reverb/non-reverb models,

I would like to know opinions of guitar players and musicians with experience in Polytone amplifiers ...


For you, what is the best era of the Polytone amplifier, in terms of sound and construction:

1 series: early 70's silver/grey grill cloth,

2 series: mid-last 70's baffle no grill cloth

3 series: early/mid 80's , black foam grill diamond design, black diamond tolex

4 series: mid/last 80's: black grill not foam, black grained tolex

5 series: 90's : blue grained telex,metal grill

Opinions based on mini brute models, I ,II, III, IV

Thank you very much for your opinions and experiences

[lawson-stone]

I have two 12" speaker Minibrute II from the 90's and both are excellent amps.

I also have 3, yes, 3, of the 10" speaker "Micro" or "Baby" brutes. Two are open-back, one is closed back, and they are very fine little amps as well.

[delo054]

I have an 80s minibrute with a 15" speaker that is about the best I can ask for as a giggable jazz amp. I play other amplifiers from time to time, but I always return to the minibrute. I really appreciate the limited controls and reliability. Whatever I plug into it sounds like it should.

I also own a 70s polytone 103, it too has a 15" speaker, and is essentially two minibrutes in one box. I don't use it quite as often as it's super heavy and tonally it's got more of an upper midrange quality where my minibrute has a lower midrange quality. Most of which I believe comes from the speaker enclosures. (this amp is for sale if anyone may be interested)

[Herbie]

I have a Mini Brute IV from late 70s-early 80s. Foam grille, furry tolex and The Evil Red Knob (distortion, it is).

I love it for its sound, simplicity and trustworthyness.

My first Pt was a 102 from same furry era. Speakers 12" plus 2 x 8". It had more knobs, so I wanted less and bought MBIV.

Very rare pieces here in Finland. I have never seen here the famous diamond tolex ones nor the metal grille ones from late 80s that have again too many knobs.

We have here in the forum 1-2 omnipotent beholders of Polytone wisdom, so I believe You will get these era-facts right quite soon!

[Soccerpoodle]

I have an early 80s Minibrute IV. I gig with both a Tele with a Classic 57 in the neck position, and a Jimmy Bruno Sadowsky.

I have had this amp for about 10 years. I went through three other Polytones and various other amps and will never sell this one. I had the speaker reconed, the reverb tank replaced and all the capacitors checked out and updated 10 years ago. I get compliments about this amp everytime I gig with it.

Not to heavy, easy to dial in great tone and super reliable.

[casa2301]

I have a Mini Brute IV from late 70s-early 80s. Foam grille, furry tolex and The Evil Red Knob (distortion, it is).

I love it for its sound, simplicity and trustworthyness.

My first Pt was a 102 from same furry era. Speakers 12" plus 2 x 8". It had more knobs, so I wanted less and bought MBIV.

Very rare pieces here in Finland. I have never seen here the famous diamond tolex ones nor the metal grille ones from late 80s that have again too many knobs.

We have here in the forum 1-2 omnipotent beholders of Polytone wisdom, so I believe You will get these era-facts right quite soon!

Hernie ,thank you very much for your interesting comments.

In Europe is not difficult get polytones, but prices are too high, I think.

But buying from US, on the web , we need convert into european 220 v., .....and pay for duty taxes !

I hope hear from those beholders of polytone wisdom!!

[vintagelove]

I have had a bunch. The best sounding (IMO, and many others), and most reliable are the diamond tolex ones with no mid control.

The BEST sounding one is an S15b with tweeters (which are just barely on in order to extend the freq response). These combined with the larger cabinet dimensions make for the most true sounding amp I own. It really lets each guitars voice shine. The downside is the amp is much bigger than the rest of the lineup.

mk4, probably my favorite. I call it poly perfect. It turn just about anything into a pretty good jazz tone. With the right guitar, it's THE Jazz tone.

baby brute, my second favorite, there is no better sounding small amp. While it doesn't turn a tele into a jazzbox in quite the same way as the mk4, it's still better at doing it than 95% of amps. Now that being said, the baby with an es175 has a tone that cannot be beat.

mk2, nice amp, decent power. Good tone, a nice option is to use an aluminum cone speaker to extend the high end a bit.




Polytones being hard to repair are an Internet meme. If you get a diamond tolex one, there's hardly anything in there to begin with, so they are very simple to repair. They are also proven to last a good 30-40 years, buy one and take it to the shop, have it gone over by a tech for 150 and your good for another 20 years. Let's see how today's amps are doing in 30 years...

[casa2301]

Are there any sound differences between mini brutes late 70's foam grille, and early mid 80's diamond tolex?

I though both models shared the same circuit

[Engine Swap]

I like the mid-70s mini-brutes with the 15" speaker an 3 knobs. Dead simple and sounds great. Mine has the velvet covering.

[vintagelove]

Are there any sound differences between mini brutes late 70's foam grille, and early mid 80's diamond tolex?

I though both models shared the same circuit

Its quite likely they are the same.

[casa2301]

I'm watching this Poly MB IV on eBay.

Do you think about price and condition? It could be a good buy?




Vintage Polytone MiniBrute IV Bass or Guitar Amp Combo | eBay

[Franz 1997]

Polytones being hard to repair are an Internet meme. If you get a diamond tolex one, there's hardly anything in there to begin with, so they are very simple to repair. They are also proven to last a good 30-40 years, buy one and take it to the shop, have it gone over by a tech for 150 and your good for another 20 years. Let's see how today's amps are doing in 30 years...

Good post. Just to qualify this a bit, the 'hard to repair' thing might be because the diamond era ones, at least, use a particular chip that contains a splitter circuit, is hard to get though not impossible, and can't be readily subbed ( 'dead-bugged') with modern ICs like the other chips can.

So, not hard to repair, just harder than usual to get that particular part.

That said, no reason to be put off getting a diamond-era poly. Especially a baby, if you can find one. Love mine.

[vintagelove]

Good post. Just to qualify this a bit, the 'hard to repair' thing might be because the diamond era ones, at least, use a particular chip that contains a splitter circuit, is hard to get though not impossible, and can't be readily subbed ( 'dead-bugged') with modern ICs like the other chips can.

So, not hard to repair, just harder than usual to get that particular part.

That said, no reason to be put off getting a diamond-era poly. Especially a baby, if you can find one. Love mine.

Ive seen them subbed with modern chips (with a bit of "rigging"), I'd have to double check the details, but it's certainly doable. But why bother when you can buy the chip on eBay for 5 bucks.

[Herbie]

Forum member Greentone has a lot of knowledge on these. Try to google 'polytone greentone jazzguitar' and You find threads like this:

NAD Polytone Mini Brute IV

[Herbie]

I'm watching this Poly MB IV on eBay.

Do you think about price and condition? It could be a good buy?

Vintage Polytone MiniBrute IV Bass or Guitar Amp Combo | eBay

Not bad at all. The reverb is easy to fix. Try to bargain 250...

Really, these are cheap there in US!

[casa2301]

Forum member Greentone has a lot of knowledge on these. Try to google 'polytone greentone jazzguitar' and You find threads like this:

NAD Polytone Mini Brute IV

Herbie, thank you for link!!!! Plenty of information for me!!

Congrats to Greentone, wherever he is, and all forum members participating on that thread

Wonderful information about Polytones

[floatingpickup]

I have had a bunch. The best sounding (IMO, and many others), and most reliable are the diamond tolex ones with no mid control.

The BEST sounding one is an S15b with tweeters (which are just barely on in order to extend the freq response). These combined with the larger cabinet dimensions make for the most true sounding amp I own. It really lets each guitars voice shine. The downside is the amp is much bigger than the rest of the lineup.

mk4, probably my favorite. I call it poly perfect. It turn just about anything into a pretty good jazz tone. With the right guitar, it's THE Jazz tone.

baby brute, my second favorite, there is no better sounding small amp. While it doesn't turn a tele into a jazzbox in quite the same way as the mk4, it's still better at doing it than 95% of amps. Now that being said, the baby with an es175 has a tone that cannot be beat.

mk2, nice amp, decent power. Good tone, a nice option is to use an aluminum cone speaker to extend the high end a bit.

Polytones being hard to repair are an Internet meme. If you get a diamond tolex one, there's hardly anything in there to begin with, so they are very simple to repair. They are also proven to last a good 30-40 years, buy one and take it to the shop, have it gone over by a tech for 150 and your good for another 20 years. Let's see how today's amps are doing in 30 years...

I have had a bunch of them too - diamond tolex, fuzzy covering, black grained tolex and a blue one. I've had 8", 12" and 15" speakers. They were all good in my experience. Like vintage glove, I think the best sounding one I had was an S15b with tweeters. That was a killer amp but it was a little too big and heavy for most of my gigs. If I could only have one, it would probably be an early black grained or diamond tolex mini brute with a 12" speaker and reverb. That is the version that put the company on the map.
Keith

[Chas Hands]

... I also own a 70s polytone 103, it too has a 15" speaker, and is essentially two minibrutes in one box...

Greetings, I'm new to the mysteries of Polytone, and doing some basic info gathering. My son bought one that was pretty beat up for next to nothing on craigslist - it *does* work - and I'm trying to figure what exactly this is? It is labeled as a "bass" amp, but the mention of the 103 being two mini-brutes in one box made me think... hmmm. Anybody? Is there a Polytone forum more focused on the their bass amp models? Almost everything on Google ends up sending me here. Thanks much, more questions to come I'm sure.

[guitarcarver]

Mid 90s mini brute ll. 30 years later it still sounds great. Only issues are the reverb comes and goes, and a dirty volume pot. I also like the 15" model from the same era. Heard Joe Pass play one in Seattle with his custom made Gibson es175 style guitar they made for him before his passing. Sounded superb.

[garybaldy]

Greetings, I'm new to the mysteries of Polytone, and doing some basic info gathering. My son bought one that was pretty beat up for next to nothing on craigslist - it *does* work - and I'm trying to figure what exactly this is? It is labeled as a "bass" amp, but the mention of the 103 being two mini-brutes in one box made me think... hmmm. Anybody? Is there a Polytone forum more focused on the their bass amp models? Almost everything on Google ends up sending me here. Thanks much, more questions to come I'm sure.

I have never seen one like that.
My two are both diamond tolex - MB III and a Teeny.
I don't like to talk about PT reliability but I've had the MBIII since early 90s with no issues at all, the Teeny only just over a year.

[frabarmus]

This is my Megabrute, the only one I have and ever had. I bought it (new) in a music shop in 2003 (maybe 2004). I love it! Still works perfectly and sounds clear, warm and beautiful.

[Chas Hands]

[QUOTE=garybaldy;1311567] I have never seen one like that.

Yeah, I have been deep diving in the Google machine for a few weeks, trying to look at every picture I can find and just do not see anything similar, and the only reference to a two channel bass amp leads me to a Model 101 with the larger silver & black knobs, with bass, treble, volume controls and a Brite/Dark switch on each side.



Mine also seems to be two of the same amp module doubled up, as opposed to models like the 103, where there are clearly two different designs in the two channels. In mine, there are slight differences in tonality, but nothing more than can be attributed to component tolerances and aging.

[garybaldy]

[QUOTE=Chas Hands;1311603]

I have never seen one like that.

Yeah, I have been deep diving in the Google machine for a few weeks, trying to look at every picture I can find and just do not see anything similar, and the only reference to a two channel bass amp leads me to a Model 101 with the larger silver & black knobs, with bass, treble, volume controls and a Brite/Dark switch on each side.



Mine also seems to be two of the same amp module doubled up, as opposed to models like the 103, where there are clearly two different designs in the two channels. In mine, there are slight differences in tonality, but nothing more than can be attributed to component tolerances and aging.

I shall keep my eyes peeled!
So yours seems to be for 2 instruments I guess with a mater vol.
And what's with the stereo in this one? How do you choose which input to use?

[Chas Hands]

[QUOTE=garybaldy;1311618]

I shall keep my eyes peeled!
So yours seems to be for 2 instruments I guess with a mater vol.
And what's with the stereo in this one? How do you choose which input to use?

No idea! From what I can tell, he was trying different interesting notions on every model, perhaps looking for a way to stand out from the crowd. And it seems like you could pretty much ask for slightly customized versions of models already in place...

From that same 101 bass amp pictured above, apparently it had a crossover network built into the preamp output (aka "Main Out" in Poly Speak), that could perhaps be switched in to route the preamp signal to external amps for lows and highs? If so, this was a concept ahead it's time in the bass amp world of that era. This is somewhat inference on my part. Mine has some similar wiring and (now) un-labeled jacks on the rear panel. I'm wondering if it has this feature.

"Harmonic Divider" ?

[tjmicsak]

I've heard that the Baby Brutes are the best sounding, so while they may not be as loud or as powerful, I am partial to this one I just recently picked up and re-capped the main two screw mount caps in the power amp and all the electrolytics in the preamp, along with getting the reverb working far better with some deox on all the connections and the new electrolytic in the driver.

These don't come up all that often so I feel very fortunate to have it, as well as giving it new life and dependability for some more years.