Double Bass Polytone Pickup

[Royston O'Boogi]

I bought an old non-working Polytone bass pickup from eBay as a gamble / project, but I can't find any information about it online: I know it goes between the legs of the bridge, but I don't know about how it is supposed to go together, what impedance I expect to get from it, or... er... how I am supposed to fix it and get it to work.

Does anyone know anything about them?

Ta!

 

[Ric Vice]

I bought an old non-working Polytone bass pickup from eBay as a gamble / project, but I can't find any information about it online: I know it goes between the legs of the bridge, but I don't know about how it is supposed to go together, what impedance I expect to get from it, or... er... how I am supposed to fix it and get it to work.

Does anyone know anything about them?

Ta!

Royston,
I had one of these so here's what you do. The threaded end with knurled tip has a screw adjuster that will shorten and lengthen that end of the pickup.
You place the pickup inside the arch of the bridge and plant the solid tip into the wood inside of the bridge just above the E foot. Then you adjust the screw end until it seats itself into the wood just above the G foot. Be very careful, just turning the screw a few times to secure the pickup in place, otherwise you could crack your bridge, however before that happens you'll crack the white ceramic part of the pickup. A few turns should do it.
Then you attach the pickup cord, by placing it onto the threaded connector that protrudes from the pickup and gently screwing that into place. Plug the other end of the cable into the input jack of your amp and that will do the trick.
As far as repairing one if it's shot, as I recall you have to send it back to Polytone. If they still exist.

Ric

 

[Royston O'Boogi]

Thanks Ric, I have the two halves of the pickup (and the screw-in cable and socket), two different length screw-in spacers, and the ceramic disc, but there is a big gap between the two halves of the brass body. One half is much bigger in diameter than the other. Is there supposed to be an o-ring or something in between there?

Also, the guy that sent it to me gave me a red rubber washer (it is the same diameter as the ceramic disc). Do you know where it goes? It doesn't seem to fit naturally on top of, or under, the ceramic disc.

The fitting instructions seem to suggest that the pickup should be a single piece, but it is currently two separate pieces of brass and a cable and socket.

Any help is gratefully received. Thanks.

 

[Gary Lynch]

Polytone lives.............

Invalid Link Removed

 

[damonsmith]

They are great, grounding them can be tricky!

 

[Ric Vice]

Thanks Ric, I have the two halves of the pickup (and the screw-in cable and socket), two different length screw-in spacers, and the ceramic disc, but there is a big gap between the two halves of the brass body. One half is much bigger in diameter than the other. Is there supposed to be an o-ring or something in between there?

Well, if the white ceramic piece comes out of that brass cylinder then the pickup has been compromised and won't work. Otherwise, you should just be able to just screw the knurled brass tip onto the threaded end of the pickup.

Also, the guy that sent it to me gave me a red rubber washer (it is the same diameter as the ceramic disc). Do you know where it goes? It doesn't seem to fit naturally on top of, or under, the ceramic disc.

Hmmm.... I don't remember that piece on mine, could be something they came up with later on or that's what he used to fit it back into that hollow brass cylinder I.E. the big part.

The fitting instructions seem to suggest that the pickup should be a single piece, but it is currently two separate pieces of brass and a cable and socket.

see above

Any help is gratefully received. Thanks.

Polytone does still exist, but they haven't made that pickup for quite a while as far as I can tell.

 

[B String]

I had one of these many years ago. (I still have it) It eventually made huge holes in my bridge. I remember I got some hard rubber plumbing washers and screwed the pickup through those. It just barely touched the wood of the bridge, if at all. I used it with an Ampeg B15-N or a Polytone amp.
I don't really remember how it sounded now, but it must have been be ok, I did a lot of pro gigs with that setup.

 

[SAlcott]

I'd put it in a shadowbox type frame and display it as a musical artifact. If it's separated at the large cylindrical part, it'll never work again.