Double Bass Jazz amp

[bobogypsy]

I'm looking for a SS jazz guitar amp and notice that a lot of guitar amps are also use by bassists. Any recommendations out there?

 

[martin durkin]

Hi Bobogypsy. I have recently picked up a late 70's Polytone Mega Brute 111. It sounds absolutely fantastic IMHO! Although I don't have experience with higher end amps, so my judgment is based on comparison with a Roland basscube 100, which is the amp I was using prior to the polytone. They actually sound similar, but the polytone has something 'more' in the overall tone. I use and underfoot piezo foil pickup, similar in concept to the realist. Once I let go of my preconceptions of the need for flat eq, the polytone really opened up
Bass 9
Mid about 4 1/2
Treble about 6
Sounds great.
Also sounds great with a jazz bass. A very vintage sound, and if that's what you want, the polytone seems to deliver.

 

[bobogypsy]

Hi Bobogypsy. I have recently picked up a late 70's Polytone Mega Brute 111. It sounds absolutely fantastic IMHO! Although I don't have experience with higher end amps, so my judgment is based on comparison with a Roland basscube 100, which is the amp I was using prior to the polytone. They actually sound similar, but the polytone has something 'more' in the overall tone. I use and underfoot piezo foil pickup, similar in concept to the realist. Once I let go of my preconceptions of the need for flat eq, the polytone really opened up
Bass 9
Mid about 4 1/2
Treble about 6
Sounds great.
Also sounds great with a jazz bass. A very vintage sound, and if that's what you want, the polytone seems to deliver.

Cool. I had friends that had Polytones a while back. I kinda shied away from them because of service issues but I'm sure they are a great value when they pop up.

Thanks,

 

[martin durkin]

These settings seem to be the best for my set up.
Realist type underfoot pickup
On 'dark' setting
Plugged into high input
Amp on the floor (not raised or tilted)

 

[buckthorn]

Do you use a preamp/equalizer with this? I have a Minibrute III of similar vintage, with the same controls as yours. I'm using it with a Full Circle pickup and a Fishman Platinum preamp. So far I've been trying to keep the Polytone flat and rely instead on the Fishman settings. But I haven't been happy with the results. At a practice session last night, for example, people were telling me that they were having trouble making out the pitches I was playing. I was having a similar problem. Yes, the room is pretty lousy; small, bouncy and loud. But I'm still searching for settings that will improve the sound.

These settings seem to be the best for my set up.
Realist type underfoot pickup
On 'dark' setting
Plugged into high input
Amp on the floor (not raised or tilted)

 

[robgrow]

Buckthorn,
Do you elevate your amp on a chair or stool placing it closer to ear level? This should make it easier for you to hear yourself and help minimize effects of the room acoustics. Also Polytone amps have a characteristic sound that you either like or you don't. Trying to make one sound like something else isn't very practical IMO.

 

[pnchad]

Very interesting

I've got, or had, whatever amp, pre or pup I've wanted over the years and have a real affinity for the Full Circle direct into my Brute 15 which I recently bought new

If your reference for tone is Ray Brown it's just going back to basics

I haven't really found new high-tech rigs to add anything but complexity

Although I haven't owned a Walter Woods - that might be the ultimate

 

[buckthorn]

robgrow,

Thanks for your suggestions. Yes, I have played around with positioning (including moving it to the other side of the room, more or less facing me), elevating, and vertically angling the amp. I feel like I've gotten the amp to sound pretty good in other rooms. What I was really looking for in my post was someone who has a similar setup, but more experience in working the settings of both the amp and the preamp/EQ. But this is a tough room. An old farmhouse living room, it's small, cramped, and very lively, with drums just to my left, and a tenor, guitar, and vibes as well. My bass, which sounds fat, warm and woody on its own, sounds much too thin and metallic in this room. I don't expect the sound to be anywhere close to perfect in this place, but I'm still hoping that I can improve it. (I'm a relative (older) newby at all this, having retuned to the bass fairly recently after a couple of decades away from playing.)

 

[robgrow]

Hi Buckthorn, I have quite a bit of experience with Polytone amps having owned and used them since the 80's. They are good for what they are, and are simple and generally easy to use. There are no magic settings though. If you like the sound of your amp in other rooms, it may be that your practice room is just tough to get a good sound in no matter what amp you use. Quite honestly, I'm not a big fan of the Fishman preamps, although I know some people like them.

 

[Ric Vice]

Very interesting

I've got, or had, whatever amp, pre or pup I've wanted over the years and have a real affinity for the Full Circle direct into my Brute 15 which I recently bought new

If your reference for tone is Ray Brown it's just going back to basics

I haven't really found new high-tech rigs to add anything but complexity

Although I haven't owned a Walter Woods - that might be the ultimate

Walter build's remarkable amps, but there are many other choices out there now, that are more affordable, lightweight, and perhaps easier to service and repair. Polytone's website is still up, but it hasn't been updated since 2010. Are they still in business? Inquiring minds want to know

Ric

 

[MR PC]

Yes, it seems Polytone hasn't been seen around with any new models for awhile now. I never cared to much for the sound, the originals were sort of spongy and dark to compensate for primitive pu's I suppose. They sure were always a bit on the pricey side as I recall. What about theses AER bass cubes, like the Amp One or Amp Three? Beyond folks talking about them being expensive, discussion has been pretty slim around here.

 

[pnchad]

Yes I believe Polytone is still in business but they look like a 1990 website and haven't changed a thing in years

Their market is geezers like me & older jazz guitarists stuck in a time worp

But, I like the simplicity & old school tone - I also preferred their pups up through the 90s

There are mega choices with better technology but amplifying a DB is rough no matter the gear & often you end up fussing with crap instead of playing

I have 5 amps right now - the Brute is around for practice & low volume stuff

 

[MR PC]

Yes the simple small Polytone combos are nice to have around if you can locate a working used one at a reasonable price. I'd consider any of the guitar cubes to be useful for DB use with some knob twisting. Polytone also made some larger amps custom..and those are very interesting relics to this day. There was a beast of a powered bass cabinet that had 15's and 8's or some other thing, onboard effects, quasi semi parametric eq, flashing lights, ect. That unit was used in the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood, and ended up out in a barn. And some of the biamped guitar combos they built for rock playing might be good for electric bass these days.

 

[pnchad]

I can't remember what I paid for this B15 but it's only 5 yrs old - I think about $600

Part of their pitch is they still use mostly the same parts - something's been updated but I forget what

 

[robgrow]

Polytone amps from the late 70's and early 80's (and possibly earlier) used RCC4136 opamps and speakers with cones that an engineer at Eminence told me are no longer available. Just figures I guess, since I don't like the sound of later Polytone amps as well.

 

[pnchad]

Yeah, I don't know about components (see above) but the new one is fairly true to the original vibe - it's a VERY low tech piece of gear

The tone I get is probably one dimensional in a limited pallet but it's warm, a tinnie bit fuzzy and 1960s sounding - definitely not hi-fi by today's standards

 

[martin durkin]

Hi Buckthorne. I don't use a preamp. I have put on both my basses a pickup from Rebel Pickups, based in the Netherlands. It is an underfoot pickup made out of a kind of piezo foil. You can buy the pickup as separate components and make it yourself for about $25. This pickup is much less feedback prone, and truer to the bass sound than wing pickups I've tried. I'm tweaking the polytone to try to get a bit more growl, and have just last week fitted a new set of Spiro S42 mittels. I'm playing on Wednesday so I'll get a better idea of the sound then, but overall I'm pretty pleased. The s42's seem louder than the 3885's.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

I owned a mini brute IV in the late 70's. Decent sound for what it was but failed on me twice
and I gave it up. The house amp at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago is bassist Eddie DeHaas' old
Polytone maxibrute 104. It looks like a 2 speaker guitar amp. I got lazy and on my gig there last month
I decided to use it. I have to say, it sounded really good. I usually use my MAS45 and EA
Doubler in this room, but the Polytone didn't disappoint.

 

[pnchad]

Yeah don't understand either - like 1970s tech

I think it's because that sound is in our heads - Ray, et al

 

[Ric Vice]

Polytone amps from the late 70's and early 80's (and possibly earlier) used RCC4136 opamps and speakers with cones that an engineer at Eminence told me are no longer available. Just figures I guess, since I don't like the sound of later Polytone amps as well.

Bob,
Do you suppose that they made that particular speaker for Polytone? I believe that that was the case for the early GK 200MB's. Just a thought.

Ric