New amp:polytone only thirtyfive pounds,most beautiful tone

Marty Holmes · Post by **Marty Holmes** » 14 Nov 2001 4:32 pm

I talked to my old friend Herb Remington yesterday about amplifiers,and he told me about the new polytone amplifier that is now on the market.I said "Herb does this amp come with a fifteen inch speaker"?He said"Yeah Marty,and it only weighs thirty five pounds,is very powerful,and has the sweetest tone I have ever heard".I thought wow!I am just courious to know has anyone else tried this amp,and do they like it?I would like to buy one,but Herb said you have to send in the money first.This sounds kindly funny to me,but sounds a hell of a lot better on the old back.

Bob Carlson · Post by **Bob Carlson** » 14 Nov 2001 5:22 pm

Marty, could it be ol Herby gotja? Smells a little fishie!

BC

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 14 Nov 2001 7:16 pm

That must be the "Mini-Brute V". Nice specs! 140 watts, 12" or 15" speaker, Hammond reverb, switchable tweeter, headphone jack, synth stereo, remote reverb and OD control, etc.. At 35 pounds, it's the heaviest amp they make!

It's very small and sounds good on paper, and I'd like to hear one!

Bill Fulbright · Post by **Bill Fulbright** » 14 Nov 2001 7:51 pm

Well, is there a website for Polytone?

How much is the amp? Specs sound good.

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 14 Nov 2001 8:45 pm

Polytone amps, yes! Iv'e never heard one I didn't like! They are a great sounding amp!
I'm a Peavey dealer, and not a Polytone dealer and I still love that polytone sound!
Yep! The truth hurts me but that is the truth,even the little Poly's sound good.
Come to think of it, I'd like to be a Poly dealer!
Someone tell me how to get hold of this company, please.
www.steelguitar.net

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 15 Nov 2001 3:36 am

A local steel player here uses one, but it distorts quite a bit.....a retro sounding distortion. Probabaly not the 140 watt model.
Cool lapsteel sound, but I don't like what I heard for pedal steel.

Ron Castle · Post by **Ron Castle** » 15 Nov 2001 3:37 am

Polytone amps have long been the favorite for many jazz guitarists. They're made in Ca. but they have no website as far as I know. They are available at Guitar Ressurection in Austin and Brattain Guit products in Dallas/Ft w.(I think) and also in a lot of Ca. shops.
I dont own one myself but was planning to try one out ASAP, since they come highly reccommended.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 15 Nov 2001 5:24 am

Note that this is not an official website. Just some product info.
http://www.murchmusic.com/polytone.htm

George McLellan · Post by **George McLellan** » 15 Nov 2001 7:43 am

I found it on: www.mamma.com

Then typed in Polytone amps and there is quite a few web sites to choose from.

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SUAS U' PHIOB
Geo

Jeremy Steele · Post by **Jeremy Steele** » 15 Nov 2001 8:14 am

I own a Mini Brute IV, use it for bass occasionally. It is well made and light, but my steel doesn't sound great through it (when I play it, my steel doesn't sound great through anything!) Maybe the model V is more "steel friendly".

Bill Cutright · Post by **Bill Cutright** » 15 Nov 2001 8:45 am

I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I don’t want to sound like I’m knocking the product, but, the 140 watt rating is ambiguous and, probably, not into 8 ohms (maybe, not even into 4). The stock speaker would, probably, be inadequate for the steels’ dynamic range, too (especially, at stage levels), so you’d be looking at retrofitting a Gerbel or Widder.
Just 2 cents (and 15lbs.)

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 15 Nov 2001 3:29 pm

I'll say this - I used to have a small Polytone w/1-12" speaker and around 50 watts.It sounded great with my Sho-Bud and I used to use it on small restaurant gigs and things like that.On bigger gigs,I would use it and a small extension box w/an EV SRO 15" and it pretty much "cut it".Its tone reminded me of an old solid state 60 watt Sho-Bud amp w/1-12" that had the knobs down one side which Charlie Pride insisted I play thru on his gig.

Chuck Norris · Post by **Chuck Norris** » 17 Nov 2001 6:48 pm

Hi Marty,Walter Lyons told me that Herb was loving his Polytone. We at Norris family music in Mesquite Texas used to sell those amps. They have a great warm tone,small cab. but that 140 watts dont make it with the C6TH stuff and the over all volume`s we all play today. Even the jazz players are switching to the Evans amps.
The new Evans are darn near as small and way only about 40 pounds at 220 watts, even the new Peavey Nashville 1000 weighs hardly more than that,and there 300 watts with A BLACK Widow speaker, I recamend you stay with the companies who specialize in Steel amps. Both of these companies know the steel EQ,and power, and cabinet specs for Steel guitars there your brothers in this game.
Happy Steelin and
Happy thanksgiving
Ol Charlie`s son
Chuck Norris NFM

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 18 Nov 2001 3:37 pm

I remember a few string bass players using these amps when I played drums. Thoses were the only guys I knew that knew anything about them. The bass amps they made were monsters when the bass player would use his bow.

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 18 Nov 2001 5:03 pm

Holmes? Hummmmm, I had a man by the name of Harrison Holmes build me a hundred amps in '84 for me to sell to steel players. Many good steel players bought them from me.Has anyone ever heard of the Holmes amp? Seymour amp? Mississippi amp? Marty Holmes, did YOU know or have anything to do with these amps?
Doug Jernigan,Bob Hempker, Chet Atkins,and many good players had these amps for a while.
Marty Holmes,what do you know?
Bobbe Seymour

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 18 Nov 2001 6:39 pm

I've had a Polytone amp for years, with a 15-inch speaker. I think it's called the Mini-Brute and they sell it for bass too, but mine has reverb on it. I bought it a long time ago after hearing how good Winnie Winston sounded through it, and because it was compact and fairly light.

My opinion of it is that I have not been able to get a consistently good steel tone from it. Some days it sounds great, and some days it sounds like @$#*. Even with the same settings. I just don't know why. I won't take it on gigs unless it's an emergency (or unless the gig is up three flights of stairs!) Your mileage may vary.

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www.jimcohen.com

Winnie Winston · Post by **Winnie Winston** » 18 Nov 2001 11:22 pm

Yeah. I still have the mini-brute.
It was a great amp. They were able to get that much power out of it by having only a 2 ohm speaker.
Sorry to say that the one I got did NOT have a universal power supply-- so When I came to NZ I had to get the transformer re-wound for 220 AC.
Mine has a torn cone, so sounds a bit rough, and had a grounding problem somewhere --I think in the reverb-- so it hums and makes terrible noises at odd intervals.
But It always gave me a good sound and is still a lot easier to haul around than my Nashville 400.

Winnie

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 19 Nov 2001 9:45 am

Holmes Amplifiers were manufactured in Greenville or Greenwood, Mississippi. As far as I know, they are out of business.

As for the Polytone, I personally haven't tried one out, but I am curious about its capability to handle stage volume levels. From our past experiences, it takes at least 200 watts for a live bandstand situation, especially with the levels of today's performers.

Mike Brown
Peavey Electronics Corporation

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 19 Nov 2001 9:48 am

A lot of fiddle players around here use Polytones and have no problem playing too loud!

JERRY THURMOND · Post by **JERRY THURMOND** » 19 Nov 2001 10:10 am

Iam a Polytone dealer I have sold about ten of the Brute 5 15" speaker, people have been suprise how good they sound an how much power they have.I use one for small club jobs, an have used them on big jobs, but I run a line out to the board. They are not cheap, they list for about $1000, an sell for about $750 the CO. sells them as fast as they make them, an does't give there dealers any brake no matter how many you order. Also they come with three channels, good for useing a vocal mikes, because the amp has tweeters build in an also you can play bass guitar on it. I know of 4 people playing steel guitar on them they all like them. They may not be for every body, but if you got a bad back you can't beat them. Jerry<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by JERRY THURMOND on 19 November 2001 at 10:12 AM.]</p></FONT>

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 20 Nov 2001 3:59 am

I have a (lead guitar picker) friend that has a Polytone. It developed a problem shortly after he bought it. Polytone wouldn't let it be repaired locally and required that it be shipped back to the factory (by the dealer) for warranty repair. Turn around on repair was not too rapid.

Bob Lawrence · Post by **Bob Lawrence** » 20 Nov 2001 8:49 pm

The URL below will provide a picture of a
Polytone Mini-Brute Amplifier and specs for several different models such as The Mini-Brute, the Brutes: Brute I, Brute II, Brute III, Brute IV, Mega Brute etc.
http://www.murchmusic.com/polytone.htm

The only company info I can find is as follows:

Polytone Musical Instruments, Inc.
6885 Vineyard Ave
N. Hollywood, CA 91605
(818)760-2300
(818)760-2302 (FAX)