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POLYTONE BASS AMP

#41
staccatogrowl said:
Joe Pass, actually. Pass was a major endorser for Polytone in the 70s and 80s. He toured extensively with a Baby Brute, carrying the 1' cube and guitar on his fly dates. George Benson was another endorser. Accordionist Tommy Gumina was a founder and designer. And, Ray Brown was associated as well.

As a guitarist, I replaced a Fender Twin with a diamond-tolex MiniBrute 2 for club dates. Never had an ounce of trouble in 10 years, even after dropping it in a load out, bouncing it down several stairs. While it was a great jazz guitar amp, I would never dream of using it for bass, especially in context of drums.

View attachment 4901056

For upright bassists, Polytone's pickup was more useful, known, and gigged.

View attachment 4901071
Click to expand...
Fantastic post! Thank you!

Regarding using one for bass, I will respectfully disagree and share my experience with you. Mine was a 15" Brute II I believe (?) and it worked amazingly well for both electric and upright bass. I covered Kennedy center gigs many many times using that one amp while doubling. I played every major hall in DC with it and SO, SO many club dates. I was never a rocker but rather more of a Jazz/casuals guy and it was a fantastic amp for that. So I suppose a rocker couldn't use one but a guy like me who never played that loud did just fine. Those larger hall gigs were always with a full pit orchestra so I know the thing while small was indeed a "Mini Brute".

As you can probably tell, I miss my Polytone, but my GenzBenz shuttle III probably sounds better. My Polytone was dead and gone before I ever bought my GenzBenz amp so I never had the chance to do a side by side comparison.
 
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#42
My only experience with a PolyTone, a 115 model of sone kind.
Somewhere, around 1999 or 2000, Doc Severensen and his 3-piece combo did a show with University of Southern Miss. Orchestra. The upright bassist brought his along. We provided production (TWO 56-channel consoles) and I was the FOH guy. I was looking at the bass for placing the obligatory pickup when the bassist kindly and very politely suggested that I mic the amp with an EV RE20, of of course, I was most willing to do. He even said he’d go with the pickup if I didn’t like the mic’ed sound.

Absolutely the finest upright bass sound I’ve ever heard, both up close at the amp and out in the house PA. Of course, the guy was a world-class double bassist and he had to have been the major part of the tone, but the amp was definitely a big part of the equation.

That little PolyTone was showing a LOT of miles back then. We stayed in touch for many years and he was still carrying that amp around. Haven’t spoken in several years now, though. I do hope that he, his bass, and his PolyTone are well….:D
 
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#43
logdrum said:
Don't bother. The GK 200 MB replaced them a long time ago and now I think for 22 years or more AI combos has dominated that upright bass, jazz guitar amplification in 1 box
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I can't say I agree, although we are all entitled to our own opinions. I play a lot of upright and I much prefer my Genz Benz Shuttle III to just about anything I have ever played, including AI's offerings, but that's just me (and a lot of other upright players back East). I don't see AI "dominating" the market on the East coast but it may be a completely different story where you are. As for GK's, it seems that they are very picky as to what pickup they will sound good with. I know of no player who has gotten a good sound using GK with Realist pickups but Underwoods seem to play well with them. There is no shortage of little GK's in the DC/Philly/Nyc area although plenty other amps are used as well. Anyhow, this is a Polytone thread so I will stop there.
 
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#44
Dr Zee said:
I had one for years, it was called the Minibrute II. It was loud and could drive a second cabinet and was a workhorse, but I never did like it's tone. In retrospect, I discovered I just don't like 15" speakers in general and it was no fault of the amp.
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I've had numerous ones over the years. The 101 sounded great. The Minis not so much. I had a II with an extension cab. Meh tone. I plugged my SWR SM-400 into the ext cab and it sounded just as bad. Not enough cab volume. A JBL K145 was too deep to fit in cab. The 101 was larger like a Fender Super/ 410 Bassman with amp controls on top. It sounded really good. It did blow up for no apparent reason and in the '70s was an issue to fix. Before it blew up I played San Francisco Golden Gate Park with it through a massive PA with JBL sidefills. Just sayin.:)
 
#45
thmsjordan said:
I can't say I agree, although we are all entitled to our own opinions. I play a lot of upright and I much prefer my Genz Benz Shuttle III to just about anything I have ever played, including AI's offerings, but that's just me (and a lot of other upright players back East). I don't see AI "dominating" the market on the East coast but it may be a completely different story where you are. As for GK's, it seems that they are very picky as to what pickup they will sound good with. I know of no player who has gotten a good sound using GK with Realist pickups but Underwoods seem to play well with them. There is no shortage of little GK's in the DC/Philly/Nyc area although plenty other amps are used as well. Anyhow, this is a Polytone thread so I will stop there.
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If you read my post properly, the dual use of an amp for upright bass and guitar in one amp - and probably next in line would be the SWR California Blonde combos. The thread is about Polytone which in my experience is also mostly in combo form. Also if you use some form of mic or contact condenser as well as pickup, it's more convenient to use AI for the now discontinued EA Doubler unless you bring a preamp.
 
#47
Here's my Polytone pickup I bought in about 1980. Haven't used it for many, many years.
Polytone pickup.jpg
 
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#48
I don 't think I would consider using a Polytone today, but I did own a Mini Brute III from about 1980-1987. I got a lot of great use out of it, initially as an amp for low volume gigs and rehearsals, because it wasn't adequate by itself for much beyond that.

I did also eventually use the Mini Brute in an interesting way which started as an experiment - taking a line out from it into a QSC 1400 power amp powering either a Woodford single 15 cab or an EV B115M cab. I used that configuration as my main rig for a while and it sounded pretty amazing. I still have a few live recordings in my possession which seem to confirm that.

I think maybe my next move was to SWR gear, but looking back on it that wasn't necessarily a step up sonically except in terms of SPL's.
 
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#51
I've owned this Polytone MiniBrute III since I bought it new in 1980:

Sid-on-amp.jpg


(Metal grill is not original. Nor is cat.)

It has served me quite well over these many decades, in theater pit bands, casual/GB gigs, jazz combos...but also for about a year I had disconnected the built-in speaker and was using it to drive an SVT cabinet in a raging punk-rock band!

These days it mostly sits on a shelf in my home office and only gets used when I'm practicing or learning new material; I haven't had to take it on a gig in about ~15 years, not since I got a super-lightweight Acoustic Image head and some Flite sound cabinets. But it still works :::knock on wood:::

=========

btw, Polytone's nomenclature as far as I can remember was:
- MiniBrute I -- 12" speaker
- MiniBrute II -- 12" speaker w/ reverb and distortion
- MiniBrute III -- 15" speaker
- MiniBrute IV -- 15" speaker w/ reverb and distortion
- BabyBrute -- 10" speaker ...or was that an 8"?
 
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#52
Bob_Ross said:
I've owned this Polytone MiniBrute III since I bought it new in 1980:

Sid-on-amp.jpg


(Metal grill is not original. Nor is cat.)

It has served me quite well over these many decades, in theater pit bands, casual/GB gigs, jazz combos...but also for about a year I had disconnected the built-in speaker and was using it to drive an SVT cabinet in a raging punk-rock band!

These days it mostly sits on a shelf in my home office and only gets used when I'm practicing or learning new material; I haven't had to take it on a gig in about ~15 years, not since I got a super-lightweight Acoustic Image head and some Flite sound cabinets. But it still works :::knock on wood:::

=========

btw, Polytone's nomenclature as far as I can remember was:
- MiniBrute I -- 12" speaker
- MiniBrute II -- 12" speaker w/ reverb and distortion
- MiniBrute III -- 15" speaker
- MiniBrute IV -- 15" speaker w/ reverb and distortion
- BabyBrute -- 10" speaker ...or was that an 8"?
Click to expand...
Don’t forget the 101. You’ve listed only the Minis
 
#53
chadds said:
Don’t forget the 101. You’ve listed only the Minis
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I didn't intend for my list to appear comprehensive, just the Brutes.
Was the 101 that large(r) combo amp, almost the size of Fender Twin, that had multiple dissimilar drivers, like a 12" and two 6" or something weird like that? Saw a few of those back in the day.
 
#54
logdrum said:
27051706[/URL], member: 24409"]If you read my post properly, the dual use of an amp for upright bass and guitar in one amp - and probably next in line would be the SWR California Blonde combos. The thread is about Polytone which in my experience is also mostly in combo form. Also if you use some form of mic or contact condenser as well as pickup, it's more convenient to use AI for the now discontinued EA Doubler unless you bring a preamp.
Click to expand...

Goodness, fear not, I did read your post correctly, I just didn’t agree. I spoke mostly of the acoustic side because that’s where the problem always arises when doubling. Again you made assertions as to what replaced what and I simply mentioned it was not my experience in the NYC.DC,PHL are where i made my living playing musicals, orchestras, orchestral pops, and plenty o Jazz for many decades.

You mention the SWR blonde which I am going to again put down to regional differences. I imagine it would work decently but it never made much of a splash where I worked (these were 50lbs. - not exactly subway friendly along with an upright and electric). Here - Walter Woods and Polytone were the undisputed kings for decades. And a lot of Woods players are now using Genz Benz or Genzler amps. Woods amps are still highly valued though I believe no longer available. I know, I know, Woods amps were not combos but a WW head with a Bose 802 cabinet was more portable than any combo I ever owned, and it sounded better too. As for blended pickup/mic applications, WW had a 2 channel that worked wonderfully for this, and a mini external mixer made it work just fine for the Polytone as well. I remember my setup before I could afford a WW was an AB switch with the electric on one side wit a graphic eq, and the upright on the other with a mini mixer to accommodate the mic/pickup situation you referenced. I played many Kennedy center, Ford’s theater, Constitution hall etc gigs with that setup doubling on electric and happy as a clam with the sound. Still, I was thrilled to step up to the 2 channel Woods eventually.

My friend just because I disagree with you, it doesn’t mean I am saying you are wrong, it just means that in different areas, different things were popular. My point was that your assertions were not universally true even if they were regionally accurate. I am happy to live in a world where variety thrives. I am also interested to hear that where you are, things are different from where I am.
 
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#55
Bob_Ross said:
Oh yeah, I didn't intend for my list to appear comprehensive, just the Brutes.
Was the 101 that large(r) combo amp, almost the size of Fender Twin, that had multiple dissimilar drivers, like a 12" and two 6" or something weird like that? Saw a few of those back in the day.
Click to expand...
Yes thanks! It was first 1x15. Then 1x15” & 2x6”. I owned the 1x15. I would have upgraded but I liked it better than the multiple. The real trick was a good Y cord into each of the two channels. Cranked treble no bass one channel and the opposite second channel. Then dial up as much of each channel as wanted. Perfect.
 
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#56
I owned several Minibrute Is and never had any reliability issues. I even had one that had a mysterious(I thought) rattle when transporting but not playing. I took it to a repair shop and was told the power amp, which was on the bottom of the cabinet, had come loose from the screws that held it in place and had been bouncing around in the bottom of the cabinet for weeks. It never stopped working. There was also an episode where I plugged one into a stage receptacle that was 220 volts that exploded a series of fuses until I figured out what the problem was but still worked afterwards. I always preferred the tone of the 12's but owned and used a 15 a few times. I finally got a WW so the Polytones were retired but they were real workhorses for years.
 
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#57
Bob_Ross said:
I've owned this Polytone MiniBrute III since I bought it new in 1980:

Sid-on-amp.jpg


(Metal grill is not original. Nor is cat.)

It has served me quite well over these many decades, in theater pit bands, casual/GB gigs, jazz combos...but also for about a year I had disconnected the built-in speaker and was using it to drive an SVT cabinet in a raging punk-rock band!

These days it mostly sits on a shelf in my home office and only gets used when I'm practicing or learning new material; I haven't had to take it on a gig in about ~15 years, not since I got a super-lightweight Acoustic Image head and some Flite sound cabinets. But it still works :::knock on wood:::

=========

btw, Polytone's nomenclature as far as I can remember was:
- MiniBrute I -- 12" speaker
- MiniBrute II -- 12" speaker w/ reverb and distortion
- MiniBrute III -- 15" speaker
- MiniBrute IV -- 15" speaker w/ reverb and distortion
- BabyBrute -- 10" speaker ...or was that an 8"?
Click to expand...
Your Polytone seems to be well guarded. You should post this pic on the Ultimate Cat thread: THE ULTIMATE CAT THREAD
 
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