Polytone 102 Combo

I don't know what year this amp was made, but I would guess it's around 30 years old or more. It is a 2 channel, 180 watt, 3 speaker Polytone 102 made in Hollywood, California. For each channel it has volume, bass and treble. Simple, but I've never felt limited by it. It has distortion for channel 1 (which is actually useful and fun in the right applications). It has reverb (which is subtle) and vibrato (intensity and speed), which is either disconnected or shot.

I play either singer songwriter stuff or in a band (think Radiohead meets The Band....kinda) I've used a Les Paul Classic, Strat 62 reissue, Martin SPOM-16 with L.R. Baggs M1 active pickup and a generic lap steel with a single coil. I use this amp (honestly when I don't feel like transporting my Rivera Fandango!) regularly for whatever. I'm not into effects, really. I just turn knobs on amps and fit my playing to the song and sound of the room. This amp is clean but gusty (R&Bish?), and for a non-tube amp it has some serious personality. With my Martin I recently played in a rock bar. I cranked up the Polytone and it delivered this gutsy brassy roar! I told myself I was never selling this thing right then and there. When you crank this amp it gets a pleasing brassy tone- more abrasive with electrics of course, but man. I love this amp. Also it sings with the lap steel. It doesn't get those funky undertones with bends and tricky stuff.

This isn't a perfect do-all amp, of course, but it's a rarity and I love it for what it is!

For an old amp of dubious origin, this thing is a bruiser. Never a problem.

I've never dealt with the company. Reliability aside, I doubt customer support is up to par or even in existence. I don't know that for a fact, but I can barely find any information on this amp! There isn't even a decent Polytone website, so.....

I've been using this amp since high school, but have only in the past few years appreciated it! I'm glad I've got it- won't ever sell it. If it were stolen I would be beyond pissed off. I'll probably get it looked at for the effects and such (even though I don't use them), but as long as the pots aren't scratchy I'm fine. If you see a Polytone amp, buy it.

The Polytone 102 that I use was purchased new in 1977. It has one 12 " speaker and
is actually one of the greatest sounding amps- period. (I have used virtually every hi end boutique and classic config - and toured world wide with in very well known circles). Think about it: a combo amp with a hyper tight closed cab- can't be done w/tubes. High end solid state will have it's day- and these early 1 x 12 polytones will be highly prized. When used properly, the dial in red distortion volume is actually quite amazing. In this mode you are not simply adding gain to a signal- you are mixing in distortion on top of an extremely sweet hi end clean signal. In a sense sinilar to a bi amped set up. This thing rocks with a pure sweet tone- sustain beyond belief. And it is loud. One of the ultimate Les Paul and 335 amps.
If you find one - grab it. Remember I am talkng about the 1 X 12 model 102 with red pull up volume controll.

This amp sounds killer with hi end humbuckers in a blues or even world fusion setting.
Very sophisticated textured rock sound. Great basis to build effects from- clean and tight.
Clear and sweet- Don't be afraid to work w the ditortion option- takes a bit of experomenting -but a great new direction awaits.
Clean all the way if you want it- much better definition than the habitual tube scenario.
Not an amp for extreme metal gain though-

this one is now 29 years old- so occasional stutter upon start up-
then can rock forever-
slugged this fantastic little thing aroud Europe many times.
Never a problem. I suspect if it ever needed work- someone very in the know would have to work on it- cause they are kind of rare.

no real co support-
got to search local on this

plaing 40 years-
if stolen or lost I would search for another immediately.
Love the tone- unique yet right in the pocket where every amp should be.
not your typical tube gain stage tone.
Nothing eles like it- but I have heard not such good things abouth their other models -
so my input is specific to this exact model: 102 w 1x 12" red volumepull up knob.
think Roxy, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Santata at his peak.

Question; I am a repair guy & working on a Polytone 104 combo amp for the first time. I am not certain how well the octave feature has ever worked...it gates on & off at low input levels & really just sounds pretty bad, flipping from giving the octaves as it's supposed to & then just weird harmonics.
Does anyone know how well this feature ever worked? Frankly, I don't understand why anyone would want this feature anyway.
Also with the harmonic divider feature, I'm not certain how it was supposed to work. It's kind of like tremelo, but not quite. In stereo mode, it flips from one channel to the other...that works fairly well.
Any help is greatly appreciated. thanx, glen

I found a website called Gormet Pa systems that supplied me with great schematics of all the polytone minibrute & 102, 103, & 104. They were very helpful.

just wanted too add that the polytone 102 has an internal biamp.and that the out put jacks in back sent either bass or treble to an optional 102 amp with no controls just a powered box..with this set up when the chorus kicked in .it was marvelous. Set the two boxes apart and the stage was solid heaven with a 335. i later sold this set up to famed Steel guitar player Rick Mann,and you hear it on Issac Peyton Sweats hit record of "Cotton Eyed Joe" He ran his steel balls to the walls, and the polytone just smiled

i switched to playing bass so i let it go.....but i miss it when i play around the house

The Polytone 102 is killer. Tons of power. I bought it off ebay from a pawn shop in NY. It was not working. I took it to the local repair guru, and it took him a year to figure it out! Finally one came in like it, and he could see what the problem was. Who knows who played this amp, but I tell ta, it sounds amazing! I collect vintage stuff and this 3 speaker beauty sounds fantastic. Every guitar I own sounds fantastic! The one that sounds the best is a 59 Kay Barny kessel.

This is a tough sounding amp. High volumes, no poblems. There are no weird harmonics like most solid state amps. Distortion sounds crappy, so what! I really like ES335 with amp tone control in middle position. Vibrato is weird but wonderful sounding.

I took it to a gig as soon as I got it out of the shop, and guess what, it didn't blow up! I have used it w/o backup amp now for a few gigs, and I am really blown away.

I called the Polytone people, and they were friendly enough, but did not help much! I then met up with them at the LA Namm show and got a card, then I sent away for a manual, what came back for my $20 was 1 piece of paper with a shitty wiring diagram. Oh well, I guess they wanted me to buy a new one...but I didn't.

I have been playing for over 30 years! I do or have owned all or most of the guitars and amps ever built. I find this amp has the magic "Q" factor. I don't know why, but it does. I love that it stays tite at high vol. I hate how much it weighs for a sold state amp, but I would not sell it. Thanks foe creating this forum for us to speak. Keep it up!

The amp is a 1979 i believe(according to inside panel) and is somewhat hard to find. Its pretty cool because it has built in distortion which has faded a bit and isnt really worth using, vibrato, and speed controls. I like the idea that there are reverb and vibrato jacks in the back that you can plug a footswitch into. The speakers consist of one 12" speaker, and two 8" speakers. There are 2 chanels, each with a high and a low input. There also is a switch on each channel for the level of brightness or darkness. You cannot switch between channels with a footswitch. Also on the back of the amp are two more inputs (or maybe outputs). They are labeled Bass and Treble, however i dont know what they are for, please e-mail me if you know. There is a switch on the back of the amp for Room EQ. The options on the switch are Live and dampened i believe. I love this amp because it is self enclosed and can really crank. It is louder than my fender ultimate chorus, and it really has taken a beating (had a bass played throught it a lot). It still sounds really good. The lows dont cause buzzing in the polytone like my ultimate chorus does. I dont know why the UC does this, but it may be because im using an EMG setup on my strat (DG20) and i always have the bass and highs cranked on my pickups. I dont play Jazz, and i know this is a jazz amp, but i got it for free. I love playing Floyd and this amp responds well to it. Im running a boss CE-2 Chorus to it along with an electroharmonix big muff. I also have an Ibanez de-7 and a korg hyper distortion going to the amp. They all sound really nice going through this amp.

Acid rock and an emg proseries DG20 on a 95' american strat of course!
It suits my music quite well, really. Plug a guitar into one channel and a mic into the other if im just screwin around, sounds really nice. Its got a bit of a buzz when the reverb is cranked, but hey--its old. Sounds best on bright mode, dark mode is pretty muffled sounding. This amp can make some good sounds, i dont really use the Distortion effect or the vibrato, because i have pedals to do my FX. I do like the reverb though, really nice. The clean channel isnt distorted at high volumes at all, really. The distortion is funny because to turn it on, you have to pull the volume knob up on the first channel. If you want more distortion, you then have to turn the volume up which i find odd. You dont get a ton of distortion unless you have a ton of volume to go with it, but then again--this is a jazz amp. Im sure it serves some purpose in jazz music, but i wouldnt know so im not going to act like i do!

I have beat the hell out of this amp. My rabbit chewed the power wire, i played a bass through one channel and a guitar through the other many times. IT STILL SOUNDS GREAT. This amp really can take a beating and keep working and working well.

I called the company to have them send me some literature on this amp. This is an old amp and they still had aa manual in stock. Polytone said 25 dollars for the original instructions. I couldnt afford it, but they were very polite and easy to get ahold of.

If this amp was stolen, id probably cry because i really doubt i could ever find another one, and if i did it wouldnt be free! I love the way it looks and sounds. I hate how much it weighs. I also love how its not that big but it puts out enough sound to damage peoples ears in an auditorium.