Polytone Custom 101 Combo

Bought the Polytone at the end of the seventy's !!!

Still going strong, in use as amp for double bass, Warwick Fortress one (marvellous combination!!)and amp for grand piano in combi with 2 sets of underwood elements sticked with doubles sided tape. low side with high tones on and high sides with low tones on in P 101. curious good combination!!

still in use since late seventy's !!!

no experience with!!

had no repairs since bought in late seventy's. I think that the first set of speakers now is less than beginning!!

and amp for grand piano in combi with 2 sets of underwood elements sticked with doubles sided tape. low side with high tones on and high sides with low tones on in P 101. curious good combination!!

This is an older model, solid state, apparently intended for bass, I think made in the very late 70's. Two channels, each with: high and low inputs, a dark/mid/brite switch, and controls for volume,treble, and bass. No jacks for a footswitch for channel selection, which I wish it had. The interesting part is the speaker selection - one big ol' 15-inch, and two 6-inchers on the side. Never have seen that setup on a bass amp. Also has what I think is a damper switch on the back, for selecting power levels as room or hall, and outputs for sending separate bass and treble signals to another amp or cab. Has built-in removable casters, a handle on top, and a place to wrap the cord. Entirely sealed back, well-insulated inside, and black Tolex outside. I usually only use this for practice (I have bigger amps for playing out), but using the "hey! turn it down!" test, it gets plenty loud at 3...so power is there! I give this a 7 rating because it has no channel switching built-in, although I use an A/B box into both channels to get the same effect.

I have to say I was surprised by this amp. I bought it on Ebay, where everyone claims things sound "great!". Seller also claimed it had sporadic bouts of static. When I got it and plugged it in, the sporadic bouts were chronic - you could not get a clean tone at all. Took it to my local amp guy, also a bassist - he replaced a couple transistors, and then offered to buy it! So this time when I plugged it in, I was really happy to hear a warm, bright tone - very clean, very defined. I have to say this is the best sounding solid state amp I have ever heard, and I've played a lot of them. It doesn't break up like a tube amp, in fact I have to use a pedal to get distortion, but the tone is deep and warm, yet still bright and articulate (probably the combination of the speakers). Has a constant low-volume hum, so I think there's still a minor ground problem, but no way I'm taking it to the tech again, or I might not get it back. Tone is GREAT for jazz or rock, less suitable for my blues stuff where I want something swampy-sounding; if I could turn off the smaller speakers I bet it would be perfect for that too.

This is an old amp, and even though solid state, still subject to Murphy's Law. So, no way I'd go out without a backup. Still, I've had no problems whatsoever since the initial repair, and that was very likely the first attention this thing had since leaving Polytone.

Huh. Try to find anything at all about Polytone's old products - if it wasn't for this site, I'd never know they existed! Still, after all this time, I'd be surprised you'd get much support from any maker.

Geez, been playing a long long time, and have owned lots of guitars. At present the herd includes an old EB-0, an O'Hagan, a couple Ibanez lawsuit copies, a real old Kay, and a Kramer aluminum neck. Other amps include a Traynor bass rig with a 4x12 cab, an early Kustom 200B with a 2x15, and a smaller Magnatone 413. This amp travels well, being a little lighter and more compact than my others, and sounds absolutely beautiful for certain styles of music. Good luck finding one!