Polytone Mega Brain

I'm rating a 10 only because the point of this amp is no features really needed. It's almost like they added stuff to appease the market, so technically this is a N/a rating. I finally got my hands on this now getting-harder-to-find piece of nastalgia. One sold recently on Ebay for approx $530, so if you're going to get one get it soon. Otherwise, go for the Clarus. I'm not sure the age of my model. I'm looking forward to using at my next gig but I need to get my hands on some cabinets or I'll have to use PA speakers. Two cabinets will utilize the 100 watt capability and add a nice stereo sound. The only thing I wish it had was the Peavey sustain instead of reverb (which is just an imposter of true sustain anyway).

I fell in love with the Polytone sound after playing through a mini-brute in 2002 playing an ES-175. I've been using my Classic 30 until now but it's bright and I'm trying to find a balance between George Benson and Kurt Rosenwinkel. Amp's clear, no white noise when turning up the volume, and although there's limited range with the tone settings it's within the range I use so that's fine for me. Distortion is great if you're going for a $29 Arion Metal Master pedal sound. Use a ProCo Rat instead if you really need distortion and go for Scofield!

OK, I think everyone's established that this catergory should really just be called "Reverb." Yes, mine didn't work when it arrive (apparently died during shippins). Again, I'm not using the reverb but I had to have it fixed to satisfy my OCD. Maybe keep it on your lap when driving to gigs if you're going to be taking older roads.

Why is everybody bad-mouthing the secretary at Polytone? I call vendors daily in my 9-5 job and never have someone who picks up the phone on the first couple of rings let alone get to avoid automated systems. I wouldn't doubt they still use a rotary phone as well. It's like having direct access to the nastalgia of it all. Unfortunately I had to pass on sending it to Polytone for repair ONLY because the warranty expired (used amp), there's a $75 deposit involved, and my local dealer charged less for parts and repairs. The secretary said she'd even put me on their mailing list (although I don't think one exists).

I've been playing now for 19 years and jazz for 16. I play strictly with an ES-175, but I'll get a Novax one of these days. Other gear includes Peavey Classic 30 tube amp and a 1970 Ford Philco stereo for listening to vinyl. I look forward to invest money for future repairs to this amp.

For Jazz (Cool or traditional), it has everything you'd need. I do not use the distortion feature of the amp.

I run mainly semi-acoustics and archtops through this amp. Coupled with a Rich Raezer Stealth 12, the sound is warm and full without midrange bloat, as in the older mini-brute series, where there were just treble and bass controls (without mid). The sound is very smooth and full. It captures the acoustic nucances of a good archtop very nicely.

I also own an Evans GH200 head. After playing the Poly head, I actually prefer it over the Evans. The Evans is more detailed and a bit edgier. Sometimes you don't want the amp to be that detailed. It detracts from the warmth.

The amp can reproduce beautiful archtop sounds, without boominess, yet the tone is still full and rich. For a more comtemporary sound, an Ibanez GB10 sounds beautiful through this setup, for that Norman Brown/George Benson sound.

The effects loops is a parallel type and does a great job of allowing you to mix your guitar signal with an effect such as chorus or delay. I feel this is vital to retain the integrity of your instrument's sound. the one thing I notice is the effects loop mix control seem to color your sound. So depending on where you have the mix, it will add or subtract your highs a bit. Iverall, the sound of the sound is warm, clear and rich.

This is where I have a problem. After leaving the amp on for over two hours, it starts to emit a hum every 30seconds or so. Durint this time the amp would cut out totally. This is strictly heat related. I took the bottom of the amp out and cooked the amp for 4 hours and the amp did not hum. I haven't decided wht to do with this yet, as the amp heats up quite a bit.

None available

The sound is great, but the reliability as mentioned above is very irritating

I love every polytone amp I've ever used. There is no other amp in my book. I have the mega Brain and the mini 1 & 2.
Phil Upchurch

D'Angelico New Yorker
Phil Upchurch D'Angelico UP-1
Jazz

I Have had very little trouble from my polytones. 2 breakdowns in 30 years.

I am an artist endorser. Customer support has been great.

I've been playing almost 40 years professionally. I would only replace my Polytones with more Polytones. I wish it had digital reverbs and effects. Polys are so distictive there is nothing else to compare them with. If you love Polys as I do, you tend to hate everything else. Jazzers tend to be very narrowminded and highly selective. I use my mega on gigs where we play classic R&B. It is the smaller Polytone and when placed high at chair level, It leaves nothing to be desired in the tremendous output of volume it has. It always amazes the other musicians when they witness this small amps performance.

The clean channel has Vol-Treb-Mid-Bass plus Reverb, and also a Brite-Normal-Dark switch that boosts or cuts the high at the input. There are two input jacks - high and low levels. The low level input is for guitars, and the high level is for keyboards, etc. There is a second channel for distortion that has two gain stages and a footswitch jack. Finally there's a master volumn, effects input/output jacks with level control, and a preamp out jack. There are two speaker output jacks on the side. Pretty flexible. One of the most attractive features of this amp has to be its small size and weight - just 8 pounds. This is perfect for small jazz gigs.

I play straight ahead jazz with no distortion, so I won't comment on the overdrive channel. But the clear channel was a real surprise to me. I have been playing a Fender Deluxe Reverb tube amp in order to get a clean sound that is smooth and warm. I ordered the Polytone mostly to have as a backup amp, and also an amp that's easier to carry. But after playing with it for a day, I can say that I really like the tone a lot. It has that classic smooth, warm jazz guitar clean sound. The reverb is pretty nice too.

I haven't had it long enought to comment on reliability, but it seems to be well built. Even though it only weighs 8 pounds, the case seems very strong.

I've owned about a dozen different brands of amps, and I'm very happy (so far) with the Polytone, I would buy one again.