The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Can anyone describe the differences between these pedals to achieve a Polytone amp sound?

    There appears to be some reviews of the Jr. Barnyard for jazz, but the the Brute EQ reviews are sparse.


    Nocturne Jr. Barnyard vs. Polytone Brute EQ pedal?-nocturne-jr-barnyard-jpg


    Nocturne Jr. Barnyard vs. Polytone Brute EQ pedal?-polytone-brute-eq-jpg

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  3. #2

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    hah...i think tavo at nocturne would pass out if he heard his pedal mentioned with polytone..he's vintage tube amp purist..he was going for a vintage 1940's octal tube tone!!!..the furthest thing away from a ss polytone sound!!

    jr barnyard is great for charlie christian /western swing/octal tube -weird harmonic edge tones...some grit!...nothing to do with polytone solid state 70's warm blanket sound

    not to say any device cant be tweaked to some extent..towards your own sound..but funny nevertheless

    polytone is classic solid state tone..get a solid state amp..theres a million to choose from nowadays..and hook up with the right speaker...

    cheers

  4. #3

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    Neatomic kinda infers that any solid state amp can emulate Polytone. Many others think it's Polytone vs. everything else. Not being exposed to one lately, I'm beginning to wonder whether the secret is in the Germanium transistors, or in our ears, which ain't what they used to be. Everybody's looking at the rear mirror, for the tones of one's youth. I refuse to accept that progress has only gone backwards since [insert a date of your choice here]. My playing prime was in 1968, before a break of 25 years, and it's unbelievable how crappy gear we had to use in those days.

  5. #4

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    You don't hear reviews of the Brute EQ because it is not commercially available. Each one is custom made by "jazzmus" on this forum, to order. I have one and used with a pretty flat solid state amp it really creates the sound of the Polytone. It is a distinctive sound, hard to describe but it has it's own vibe. The Brute EQ pedal does a great job with that.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitterbug
    Neatomic kinda infers that any solid state amp can emulate Polytone. Many others think it's Polytone vs. everything else. Not being exposed to one lately, I'm beginning to wonder whether the secret is in the Germanium transistors, or in our ears, which ain't what they used to be. Everybody's looking at the rear mirror, for the tones of one's youth. I refuse to accept that progress has only gone backwards since [insert a date of your choice here]. My playing prime was in 1968, before a break of 25 years, and it's unbelievable how crappy gear we had to use in those days.
    first off, was speaking in relation to jr barnyard pedal....but, was very careful to write- "and hook up with the right speaker" ... polytones used standard oem cts brand speakers..nothing great...but contributed to the overall tone..the final shade

    also if germanium transistors are responsible for polytone sound, then it would be extremely difficult to reproduce identical tones even between same era polytones!!...as even at their best, germanium transistor specs stray like crazy with even the smallest temperature changes...forget about now 40 year old transistors!

    interesting (tho admittedly geeky...haha) short vid-



    cheers

  7. #6

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    There are no Germanium transistors in a polytone amp.