Polytone Amp in Original Cardboard

[Hammertone]

Hammertone is essentially correct. Polytone amps do a tremendous job of bringing the Ampeg amp sound into a portable package. (The amp shown above is "portable," but you will strain your back carrying it. IME, every Ampeg is _heavier_ than the Fender amp to which it corresponds.)

Hey, it has a carrying handle. And casters. And it weighs ONLY 88 pounds (w/stock speakers).

[Hammertone]

Hammertone is essentially correct. Polytone amps do a tremendous job of bringing the Ampeg amp sound into a portable package. (The amp shown above is "portable," but you will strain your back carrying it. IME, every Ampeg is _heavier_ than the Fender amp to which it corresponds)
Ampegs just sound better for jazz than Fender amps do, IMO. I love Fender amps, but I love Ampeg amps a bit more. It comes down to the Baxandall tone stack and the CTS speakers that often reside in the Ampeg.
Tommy Gumina took this recipe to heart when he designed the solid-state Polytone line. Baxandall tone stacks and CTS speakers everywhere. (Later, in the 1980s, he switched to Eminence speakers because CTS became unavailable.) The Polytone 101, 102, 103, 104, and Mini Brute series amps are all wonderful tributes to the great Ampeg amps of the 50s and 60s.
This being said, the VT-22 above will do anything you want a jazz amp to do with an archtop guitar. As a bonus, you can fill in for Keef on the Stones tour, too.

Every Polytone thread needs this picture.

[golfus]

Since I began to read in this forum I wanted to try one of those Ampegs. Geminis etc. don´t exist where I live. But these VT-22 seem to be available. 70´s amps that seem to sell in the 600-700 dollar range. They look heavy tho. I see head versions...

OK, now I see it´s 88 pounds.

[Hammertone]

"look heavy" bwahahahahahahaha....

...that's 88 pounds with the stock speakers. If the VT-22 has the "upgrade" to Altec 417 speakers, y'know, because you need even MORE headroom, the amp tops out at well over 100 pounds, so ....hooray for Polytone amps!

[golfus]

I´´ll stick to polytones..

[medblues]

I don’t have an answer, but the question prompted me to think more about the mid-control concept. The problem with single-knob mid controls on any amp is that a designer had to lock in the center frequency and bandwidth of the control. “Mids” refers to a very wide range of frequencies. If the designer’s choice of center frequency and width doesn’t happen to be what you need for the tone in your head, you‘re out of luck.

Parametric EQ solves that problem by allowing the player to make those choices. But the circuit is more complicated & expensive to implement. It’s also more complicated to use, which could frustrated an untrained user, so most amp manufactures don’t see a demand to add them.

Parametric EQ devices tend to be fairly complex and expensive, but I wondered if anyone might be offering a simple, inexpensive parametric mid control in stompbox format. I found an old Guyatone pedal that seems to be exactly what I’m thinking of.

This more recent Artec pedal seems similar.
Artec Parametric EQ – Thomann United States

Boss used to make the PQ-4 pedal. It had no bandwidth controls (which classifies it as a “semi-parametric” or “sweepable filter” EQ), but it had two sweepable mid controls for independent control of upper and lower mids. The extra complexity might make it more difficult to dial in a desired tone though.

I’m just brainstorming.

or The Bud




or

[KirkP]

...
or The Bud
or ...

I know there are a number of full featured parametric EQ boxes or amps, but my point was it might be nice to have a simple & fairly cheap parametric mid control.

The Bud’s controls don’t appear to be parametric. The Empress and Carvin seem to be semi-parametric, with variable center frequency but limited control of Q. I’m not criticizing those products though.

Turns out the Yamaha G100-12 had a fully parametric EQ control, with a level, Q, and frequency pots. That’s more like what I have in mind.

[jorgemg1984]

I strongly recommend digital eqs. Cheaper, much more precise and no noise. Any digital multi-fx has one.

[Greentone]

jorge has a point. If you don't want the "will it work/won't it work" vibe of playing old equipment, try one of the newer class D amps. Lightweight, powerful as heck, NEW--lotsa years of carefree use ahead--and great sound.

My current favorite among the new crop of powerful little amps is the Henriksen BLU. I just know that sooner or later I am going to give in and complain to my wife about the "heavy" weight of the Mini Brute, and whine about how much I need a BLU.

Meanwhile, it'll be a Polytone that goes to rehearsal tomorrow, and to the upcoming gig.

[lawson-stone]

I know there are a number of full featured parametric EQ boxes or amps, but my point was it might be nice to have a simple & fairly cheap parametric mid control.

The Bud’s controls don’t appear to be parametric. The Empress and Carvin seem to be semi-parametric, with variable center frequency but limited control of Q. I’m not criticizing those products though.

Turns out the Yamaha G100-12 had a fully parametric EQ control, with a level, Q, and frequency pots. That’s more like what I have in mind.

The Boss Parametric EQ pedal (PQ-4) is available on Reverb and other outlets, though the price is upper-end for a pedal.

[jorgemg1984]

jorge has a point. If you don't want the "will it work/won't it work" vibe of playing old equipment, try one of the newer class D amps. Lightweight, powerful as heck, NEW--lotsa years of carefree use ahead--and great sound.

My current favorite among the new crop of powerful little amps is the Henriksen BLU. I just know that sooner or later I am going to give in and complain to my wife about the "heavy" weight of the Mini Brute, and whine about how much I need a BLU.

Meanwhile, it'll be a Polytone that goes to rehearsal tomorrow, and to the upcoming gig.

Greentone, I was actually referring to the parametric eq part of the thread. Any cheap multi-digital fx with a parametric will yield much better results than any expensive analogue one.

Although I do agree lots of good Class D amps are being made these days, my favourite is the Mambo 8. But there's something about these old Polys, I myself have one!

[lawson-stone]

I know there are a number of full featured parametric EQ boxes or amps, but my point was it might be nice to have a simple & fairly cheap parametric mid control.

The Bud’s controls don’t appear to be parametric. The Empress and Carvin seem to be semi-parametric, with variable center frequency but limited control of Q. I’m not criticizing those products though.

Turns out the Yamaha G100-12 had a fully parametric EQ control, with a level, Q, and frequency pots. That’s more like what I have in mind.

I have the G100-210 and it has the parametric eq. Unfortunately a previous owner let it fall forward and the Q knob got smashed so when you turn it there is a spot where it sends massive cracking sound at full volume through the speakers. Alas... and the amp makes me think a Fender Twin might be lighter...

[golfus]

Yes. My heaviest amp is a Peavey VTX MX. I keep it for its power and warm clean sound, but the weight is ridiculous. I tell myself that I keep it for those gigs. Maybe if I had a steady gig... but my last steady gig was in 2015. For the same "reason" I bought the Polytone Taurus ll a couple of months ago. The fact is that given the need for volume I could as well bring two small cubes and get as much volume and more dispersion.
But listening to one Polytone throug the tube power amp of the MX is a thing of beauty.

[garybaldy]

The problem with single-knob mid controls on any amp is that a designer had to lock in the center frequency and bandwidth of the control.

Could that not be said in respect of the bass and treble as well?

[KirkP]

Could that not be said in respect of the bass and treble as well?

Yes. But the previous posts seemed to be focused on mid frequencies with Baxandall tone stacks (Polytone/Ampeg). I was just thinking about the limitations of the Baxandall mid control and how one might overcome them in a reasonably simple way. If the mid control had adjustable center frequency and Q one would have a lot more options for tone shaping. However, implementing even a simple parametric mid control does require a bit of complex active circuitry. There’s also learning curve for the user—more control isn’t much good if it takes forever to dial it in, or if once you do you find it difficult to get back to that setting.

[lawson-stone]

Could that not be said in respect of the bass and treble as well?

I think that treble and bass controls are easier because we generally know the top and bottom ends of the guitar range. A mid control might not have enough sweep to cover everything between the top of the bass and the bottom of the treble and still sound right (they should probably have overlapping ranges?). So the decision where to "center" the mid sweep is important. It might not be the mathematical center of the range, but might need practically to be above or below. I think that's why some amps have two mid controls.

But I'm really just speculating here, i don't actually know. My thoughts are not quite worth what you paid for them!

[Greentone]

Of all of the Polytone amps I have--a bunch--I prefer the sound and convenience of the amps that just have bass and treble controls...plus the Brite/Mid/Dark slide switch, that I generally keep in the middle setting.

I start with controls "flat"--middle of range--and adjust bass a bit downward and treble maybe a bit up or down, to suit the acoustics of the room I am playing in. Volume I generally set about three-quarters up and regulate from the guitar.

[Hammertone]

I think that treble and bass controls are easier because we generally know the top and bottom ends of the guitar range. A mid control might not have enough sweep to cover everything between the top of the bass and the bottom of the treble and still sound right (they should probably have overlapping ranges?). So the decision where to "center" the mid sweep is important. It might not be the mathematical center of the range, but might need practically to be above or below. I think that's why some amps have two mid controls. But I'm really just speculating here, i don't actually know. My thoughts are not quite worth what you paid for them!

Not being a big knob-twiddler myself, I find that simple is good - a single mid-range control with three very different-sounding choices when twiddled.