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Double Bass question about my polytone amp

blastoff

blastoff

Sep 5, 2007
1,313
2,893
Ocean Beach SF
#1
Hey bassies. i have a great polytone IV 15" amp i bought, but the back plate was missing so i was wondering if anyone could tell me a little about it, like ~what year it is (somewhere in the 70s i guess) , and how many watts it uses, and the impeadance limits of the extension speaker output. .. or refer me to a source of such info!
it is a polytone mini-brut IV, with the black satin outside, and it has the sweet red distortion knob and reverb knob. the front face around the speaker is grey cloth..
thanks and happy holidays!
 
#2
It's hard to say the year without actually seeing the amp, since the Polytone Mini Brute IV has been in production for at least 30 years (and is still available). If you can post a picture or two here, it would be very helpful.

I should add that at least from the early 80's to the early 90's, the Mini Brutes are essentially identical internally. Differences from one year to the next are mostly cosmetic. The Polytone MB III and IV both have a 15-inch speaker. The IV has reverb and distortion, while the III does not.
 
#3
Here is the website link:

Invalid Link Removed

I believe the bass minibrutes have been replaced with another model.


robgrow said:
It's hard to say the year without actually seeing the amp, since the Polytone Mini Brute IV has been in production for at least 30 years (and is still available). If you can post a picture or two here, it would be very helpful.

I should add that at least from the early 80's to the early 90's, the Mini Brutes are essentially identical internally. Differences from one year to the next are mostly cosmetic. The Polytone MB III and IV both have a 15-inch speaker. The IV has reverb and distortion, while the III does not.
Click to expand...
 
#5
Peck_Time said:
Sorry for the thread de-railment but has anyone tried the polytone pickup shown on their site?

I've emailed Polytone 4 or 5 times over the last year and got no response.
Click to expand...

I bought one years ago & it sounded awful. Now & then I get it back out to try with a different bass/amp/strings. It's lousy with everything. It sounded sort of ok once, but that was only in one room and with a polytone amp. It sounded worse through my GK. I heard Ray Brown using it w/polytone mini-brute in a great sounding hall without a PA & it sounded ok. Then I heard him with it in a small club through a GK & it sounded as bad as mine did. Thin w/ lots of string noise. I moved around the room & it was awful wherever I sat--HE sounded great, but I wish he didn't use that thing.
 
#7
Pickups like the Polytone were the reason that the Underwood and the Fishman BP-100 pickups were so welcome at the time, since they were such a big improvement.

Incidentally back in the day Polytone didn't make a bass Mini Brute per se. They just made versions without reverb and distortion, although plenty of bass players used the amps with reverb and distortion. The Polytone Sonic Bass I & II amps have replaced the Mini Brute III in PT's current lineup.
 

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