What is it about Polytone amps?

**jazzmus** · 03-05-2019, 12:26 AM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

Lawson, I don't think so. I don't believe Arnaud's project went through, not sure if jazmus still builds them. I bet Miguel does, here in Portugal, but on a custom order base. Anyway, I mad all the info available online, if anyone wants to do them, it's very easy

Jorge thank you for the head up, i still frequently build them/my version(s)

**jorgemg1984** · 03-05-2019, 07:12 AM

Good to know, I'm always glad to hear more people want this pedal

**lawson-stone** · 03-05-2019, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by billy21

I’ve found a brief comparison on youtube.

for my taste the modern amps sounds lifeless.
The Baby and Mini sounds almost identical

How is he recording that? I would think for head-to-head amp comparisons you'd want to mic the cabinet since all these amps seem to have very distinctive cabinets. Is it a direct line? I don't see any microphones.

**Greentone** · 03-05-2019, 11:56 AM

Seems mic'ed...just not close-mic'ed. Probably using the internal mic in his camera, or perhaps an overhead mic plugged into the camera. Either way, it's an off-axis recording for all amps.

**lawson-stone** · 03-05-2019, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by Greentone

Seems mic'ed...just not close-mic'ed. Probably using the internal mic in his camera, or perhaps an overhead mic plugged into the camera. Either way, it's an off-axis recording for all amps.

Thanks. That really bugged me!

**billy21** · 03-05-2019, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by lawson-stone

How is he recording that? I would think for head-to-head amp comparisons you'd want to mic the cabinet since all these amps seem to have very distinctive cabinets. Is it a direct line? I don't see any microphones.

he recorded with camera mic.

**billy21** · 03-16-2019, 10:26 AM

Hi polytone lovers, I’m writing here, looking for a polytone badge tag, I need one for restoring mine which doesn’t has.
Do you guys have one for sale?
thanks

**Greentone** · 03-16-2019, 10:28 AM

What era?

**billy21** · 03-16-2019, 12:21 PM

the amp is from 81 fuzzy covered.
I think it had the 3d metal logo.
but I don’t care, plain aluminium badge it might ok

**Greentone** · 03-16-2019, 01:13 PM

Yeah, as the foam grill deteriorates on those amps the heavy pot metal logo can fall off.

**billy21** · 03-16-2019, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by Greentone

Yeah, as the foam grill deteriorates on those amps the heavy pot metal logo can fall off.

yes

**billy21** · 03-21-2019, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by Greentone

I bet there are a bunch of us around 60 years of age who went Polytone after seeing Jim Hall, Herb Ellis, and Joe Pass in the 70s.

Gibson ES 175/Mini Brute.

Hi, does all model has double wound transformer?
I’ve found two BB but i’m not sure to buy because they surely work on 110v, 230v could be a problem

**Greentone** · 03-21-2019, 03:34 PM

I would double-check if I were going to purchase a Polytone to see if the amp converts to 230V.

The Asian amps I have owned all had 110/220V switchable voltages. (Teisco tube amps)

**jazzmus** · 03-21-2019, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by billy21

Hi, does all model has double wound transformer?
I’ve found two BB but i’m not sure to buy because they surely work on 110v, 230v could be a problem

Found Them in Europe or us? If in Europe and you decide not to buy or just buy one please give a head up where you found them, i dont care about the transformers or speakers, thanks.

**rpjazzguitar** · 03-21-2019, 04:38 PM

Obviously it's all taste.

I've played through a few Polytones over the years. I didn't love any of them. For that matter, I don't find Joe Pass' tone to be as appealing as many other players'.

**Greentone** · 03-21-2019, 06:58 PM

Rpjazzguitar,
I understand. Have you listened to Pass at Jazz Baltica? He sounds pretty good to me through the Polytone here.

**rpjazzguitar** · 03-21-2019, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by Greentone

Rpjazzguitar,
I understand. Have you listened to Pass at Jazz Baltica? He sounds pretty good to me through the Polytone here.

Thanks for sharing the clip. He does sound great.

My favorite Joe Pass album is Tudo Bem (1978) I love the tunes, the band and his lines. But, his tone sounds dry and harsh to my ears. I was thinking of that. I also liked the earlier album (mid 60s?) on which he played Rosetta. He sounded good on that. Of course, I don't know which amp he used on either one, but I think the Rosetta album was before Polytone. I wasn't crazy about his tone on Virtuoso.

**Greentone** · 03-21-2019, 07:25 PM

Ah, Virtuoso. My understanding is that Pass played his ES-175 into the desk on that--no amp. Also, the engineer mic'ed the guitar. Something happened and Pablo Records lost the plugged in track, only leaving the mic'ed track for the tunes. Thus, Pablo put out an acoustic ES-175 as the "Virtuoso" album.

Joe Pass' playing is inspiring, but the plywood ES-175 doesn't come across best as an acoustic instrument. Pass' tone is _really_ uninspiring on the Virtuoso albums from that session. (3 of the 4 albums, I think)

If you heard him live--i.e., like Jazz Baltica, or listen to the Herb Ellis/Joe Pass Duo group on the album 7 Com 11--he sounds great (IMO) with the Polytone/ES-175 rig.

**rio** · 03-21-2019, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar

Obviously it's all taste.

I've played through a few Polytones over the years. I didn't love any of them. For that matter, I don't find Joe Pass' tone to be as appealing as many other players'.

I’ve found that I don’t like some guitars through a Polytone and on top of that I don’t like any of my guitars through some Polytones. There is a Polytone at work and in theory that’s great except that I really don’t like it.

As for Joe Pass, I’d chalk that more up to him than the amp unless you don’t like the sound of other Polytone players too. Comparing someone like Jim Hall and Joe Pass, it can sound very different depending on who it is since the first and most important part of tone is who the person is playing (which I’m sure you realize but is worth mentioning anyway).

Oh, since I have a student cancellation I might as well show the one I’m talking about at work since I haven’t seen this Polytone anywhere else.

Maybe it is the current condition of the amp that is contributing to me not liking the sound much (the sound will cut out every so often with the only way of fixing it being to turn the amp off and on again) since there has to be something not right going on under the hood, or maybe it is some other factor. I loved my 12” speaker blue pleather Polytone back in the day (my first Polytone) and the one I have at home (15” speaker, foam grille cover, black diamond exterior) is great despite everything it’s been through. Although now that I think about it, my roommate in college had one that was black, had a metal grille and was one of the newer ones and I wasn’t crazy about the sound of that one either.

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**billy21** · 03-21-2019, 07:46 PM

yes, Joe Pass didn’t using a polytone on virtuoso 1.
Es 175, only mic. Sounds ok, the older 175 had a stronger volume, nice attack.
Considering is not easy to capture a lively sound with a condenser in front of laminate body, plus he was using flatwound strings.
Seven come eleven yes, Polytone!
There are so many recordings in the jazz history, I can recognize the preamp out of polytone sound.
Emily Remler, George Benson, Herb Ellis, Mundell Lowe, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny used Polys on their early recordings or live.
Kreisberg, Rosenwinkle, Moreno and many orhers are still using brutes

**billy21** · 03-21-2019, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by rio

I’ve found that I don’t like some guitars through a Polytone and on top of that I don’t like any of my guitars through some Polytones. There is a Polytone at work and in theory that’s great except that I really don’t like it.

As for Joe Pass, I’d chalk that more up to him than the amp unless you don’t like the sound of other Polytone players too. Comparing someone like Jim Hall and Joe Pass, it can sound very different depending on who it is since the first and most important part of tone is who the person is playing (which I’m sure you realize but is worth mentioning anyway).

Oh, since I have a student cancellation I might as well show the one I’m talking about at work since I haven’t seen this Polytone anywhere else.

Maybe it is the current condition of the amp that is contributing to me not liking the sound much (the sound will cut out every so often with the only way of fixing it being to turn the amp off and on again) since there has to be something not right going on under the hood, or maybe it is some other factor. I loved my 12” speaker blue pleather Polytone back in the day (my first Polytone) and the one I have at home (15” speaker, foam grille cover, black diamond exterior) is great despite everything it’s been through. Although now that I think about it, my roommate in college had one that was black, had a metal grille and was one of the newer ones and I wasn’t crazy about the sound of that one either.

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It’s probably out of phase. Bring it to a good tech, check Bias control, speaker coil check, reverb, bridge rectifier, power chip.

**billy21** · 03-21-2019, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by rio

I’ve found that I don’t like some guitars through a Polytone and on top of that I don’t like any of my guitars through some Polytones. There is a Polytone at work and in theory that’s great except that I really don’t like it.

As for Joe Pass, I’d chalk that more up to him than the amp unless you don’t like the sound of other Polytone players too. Comparing someone like Jim Hall and Joe Pass, it can sound very different depending on who it is since the first and most important part of tone is who the person is playing (which I’m sure you realize but is worth mentioning anyway).

Oh, since I have a student cancellation I might as well show the one I’m talking about at work since I haven’t seen this Polytone anywhere else.

Maybe it is the current condition of the amp that is contributing to me not liking the sound much (the sound will cut out every so often with the only way of fixing it being to turn the amp off and on again) since there has to be something not right going on under the hood, or maybe it is some other factor. I loved my 12” speaker blue pleather Polytone back in the day (my first Polytone) and the one I have at home (15” speaker, foam grille cover, black diamond exterior) is great despite everything it’s been through. Although now that I think about it, my roommate in college had one that was black, had a metal grille and was one of the newer ones and I wasn’t crazy about the sound of that one either.

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other than, I think there’s some guitars which match perfectly with polytone II or IV or Baby brute/ megabrute etc.
My es 175 match perfect with Mb II 12 inches speaker
my L5 with MB IV 15 inches speaker.
Most players are loving Babybrute 8 inches speaker, but it’s not easy to find, I mean almost impossible to have here in Eu

**billy21** · 03-21-2019, 08:22 PM

nice attack, saturation, dry
and middle bass tones.
Again as I sad, Polytones are best solid state compared with modern amp which are good but “colder” then polys.
I’m just talking about solid state.

I like twin reverb as well, (I had 3), but 70 pounds are too much for my poor back especially if you gig a lot, polytone does the job and you will not miss the tubes at all