schundog Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Vanchoyck's recent thread on SS Jazz Amps made me take a second/third look at a Polytone that was sitting at the Peoria GC. I THOUGHT the model looked familiar, and a Google search brought up very little, except for MY post right here on the HOC about one I purchased and immediately flipped at the pawn shop. It didn't even make it home. That's OK, I did well on the deal. While I paid a good bit more for this one ($190 out the door) it was still a bargain, as it has great cleans, and the tremolo and reverb are quite good, at least with my 575, which is all I've tried through it. I think I'll have to bring it out of my office, however. It's the only room in the house with a suspended ceiling, and it was rattling like crazy with the volume turned up halfway. Tons of clear bass. It's a tall amp, on casters, with handles on the top and side, apparently so it can be placed flat on the ground, as well. So far so good. Phone pics is all I have for now. Quite a bit bigger than a combo like my Peavey Classic 30. Two channels, bright, normal, and dark settings. Reverb and Tremolo appear to only work on channel 1. interesting grillclothe, similar to Blackface Fender, but with a red undertone to it. Snazzy red velvet under the nameplate:
DetroitBlues Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Looks cool, but can you remind us what's the history with these amps?
bsck1 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Difference is this time you DO have that beautiful H575 to play through this 103. Enjoy!
PunkKitty Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Great jazz amp, Brian. Congrats! Looks cool, but can you remind us what's the history with these amps? Polytones were around in the late 70's and early 80's. They were specifically designed for jazz. Very well made amps with fantastic clean tones.
Hfan Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 That thing looks new, congrats Brian. Have you tried to play the chords on the logo panel? D C7 F# C7 ..kinda an odd progression and why is it on the front panel? Hmm.. secret code of some sort? Someone with a guitar handy should try it..
Vanschoyck Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 That thing looks new, congrats Brian. Have you tried to play the chords on the logo panel? D C7 F# C7 ..kinda an odd progression and why is it on the front panel? Hmm.. secret code of some sort? Someone with a guitar handy should try it.. And they're written as if they're supposed to be poly-chords: D over C7, F# over C7. Perhaps an oblique accordion reference.
fxdx99 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Well yeh, but... does it take pedals well? Congrats. And for not many $.
schundog Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 Funny you should mention accordion; According to the REALLY bad Polytoneamps.com website, the founder was a professional accordion player. I don't know why I keep thinking this will work, but I keep trying to get a half decent recording with my iphone, as it's the only thing I have with video. With half decent speakers, you can at least get an idea of what it sounds like here, compared to my 1967 Fender Pro Reverb. The Polytone had the vibrato on about halfway up on speed and intensity, and the reverb was dialed up a bit; I notice that the reverb springs get a bit "sproingy," not in a good way, when you dig in too hard, or play too loudly. Not sure what's going on with that, but I may just have to use a pedal for reverb if I keep this. Plenty loud and clean, and with a different feel with a 15 inch speaker, closed back, and solid state, compared to the Pro Reverb. It took the Boss Digital Delay pedal fine, didn't do so well with dirt pedals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtV9ONIOLys I took the back off of the Polytone tonight (thank God for power tools) and saw that this one, like the old one I had, was lined with fiberglass insulation. It had an unmarked 15 inch speaker with 5815186 on the metal frame of the speaker, and 15 14 2 in white paint on the speaker itself. The amp portion itself was enclosed in a painted plywood box. Not much else to see. I don't know what the two tube-looking things are, but are obviously not tubes. Here's the pics.
DetroitBlues Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 that amp really does look brand new. I would never guessed it was nearly 40 years old.
DC Ron Posted January 31, 2015 Posted January 31, 2015 Like my MB IV as well. Too bad Polytone isn't widely recognized other than something of a riddle...
DetroitBlues Posted January 31, 2015 Posted January 31, 2015 Hope its a keeper for you Brian. Have fun playing with your new NAD.
schundog Posted January 31, 2015 Author Posted January 31, 2015 Josh, leave my NADs out of this! The term "keeper" is a tough one for guys like you and me, isn't it?! It will be a "keeper" until I'm on to something else, I'm sure. I am having fun with it for the time being, though, which is what it's really all about.
DetroitBlues Posted February 1, 2015 Posted February 1, 2015 Josh, leave my NADs out of this! The term "keeper" is a tough one for guys like you and me, isn't it?! It will be a "keeper" until I'm on to something else, I'm sure. I am having fun with it for the time being, though, which is what it's really all about. Just keeping it Rated PG.... But yep, my bet is going strong, still got my last years NADs myself....
schundog Posted February 1, 2015 Author Posted February 1, 2015 With crappy, rainy weather giving way to a heavy snow storm over the weekend, I holed up in my office with the Polytone, Line 6 POD HD300, and switched between my H-137 and H-150 through a ton of different tones and volumes. The girls were out for about an hour, so it got pretty loud. SS, relatively sterile clean amps like this are great for running modellers like the Line 6 through. Lots of good clean (dirty, chorus-y, reverb-y, delay-y) fun.
RhoadsScholar Posted February 4, 2015 Posted February 4, 2015 Very nice Brian. Super score on that one. I love the old polytones. Great clean sound (works good as a bass amp too). Looks great with a 575 close by. congrads
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