Question - Polytone Mini-Brute / Roland Cube

[garybaldy]

I have just purchased a Polytone Mini Brute IV myself this week chasing a traditional jazz tone.
I have previously used a Roland Cube 20XL with an 8” speaker and a modded Laney 15 LC15R 10” speaker for a clean tone, both of which performed very closely to each other on tone.
In fact I have always been impressed by the Roland Cube how well it provides such a clean tone for the size and cost.
My first impressions of the Polytone are that the 15” speaker, as would be expected, provides more depth and warmth than the other two.
In addition with the higher wattage there’s a lot more power and it would have plenty of volume in a band setting or for a larger venue.
I also agree with some other commenters that the reverb is very subtle on the Polytone. When I was testing it out before buying I initially thought it wasn’t working until I turned it up quite high and could hear some reverb.
And although I purchased the Polytone for my archtop for jazz, I tried some other guitars last night and was equally impressed by the clean channel for those as well.
I’m mostly a bedroom player, and the Polytone is fairly heavy, has the handle on the side, which feels unusual, and if I were lugging an amp to gigs, would realistically choose the Roland for solo or quieter gigs.
If you find a Polytone in decent shape at a good price, why not at least give it a try and see if it’s what you are looking for?

Congrats on getting the Polytone. Please may we see some pics? (I have a III and a Teeny - both diamond tolex).
Thanks

[floatingpickup]

thanks for clearing that up. Mine is a baby-brute.
Keith

I checked my amp again. It isn’t a Baby-Brute after all. The label on the back says “Mini-Teeny Brute” and it has an 8” speaker. It’s a diamond Tolex, red knob version with reverb. The attached image shows just how “teeny” it really is. It’s a beautiful little amp for playing around the house or in a small venue.
Keith

[skykomishone]

Congratulations on the new amp. Looks like a great setup.
I've just sold a Polytone MB4 with 15" speaker. It was a great amp. No problems with it, it is One of the amps that I accumulated on a decades long 'amp quest' that is now going in reverse.

[WimWalther]

The reverb is also fairly subtle on my Polytone Taurus Elite. Like yourself, I thought it wasn't working at first until I maxed out the controls.

The situation with the 'modulator' effect is similar, and the wet signal is about -3dB vs. dry at the blend (intensity) control.

[Todd-o]

I’m new to this forum stuff, so hope this is correct.
garybaldy asked for some snaps of the Polytone, so here goes.

sorry, that’s a bit messy on the page, but there they are.
Herbie, thanks for the like.
And also, if any of you Polytone vets have some advice on the dial settings; the settings pictured sound fairly clean and warm to my ear, but I’m open to input as well if I’ve totally missed something. Thanks.