Polytone Mega Brute

True mega tone! I just got my new Mega-Brute with 100 watts of super clean sound through a 8" speaker.
This little amp is with a BIG!!! bite. The thing has balls.
I'm playing my 69 es 175 Gibson with new Burstbuckers Pro II's and the thing sounds amazing. This amp pulls out the old Gibson PAF sound clearly. They sound like the old p-90's but with out all the humm.
I've onley had this amp a few days but my sound has improved like Duane Alman "Mountian Jam" on his 59 Les Paul. How can I explain it better. This thing is way cool.

It has that blues bite. With a complete round sound. Dead on.
I haven't found a sound I didn't like on it.
Thats cool cause this thing will sound good any and every time.
Just plug in and it will be there for you.I plug straight in to the input allways. You can loop your pedals/efx and every thing sounds great. I use the Hammond reverb on the Polytone and very little of that.

I've owned an older Mini-Brute 70's it was the same amp every time I pluged in to it. It sounded good every time. I wish I still had that amp too. It never gave me a hard time. I'm hoping this new Mega-Brute will be there just like the old one.

Seems very good. I talked to her the other day and was very helpful.

If you are into true acousticaly sounding amp this one is for you. This one has that Polytone Brute sound that bites back.

mega brute, 1x8 75 watt solid state. "m hollywood calif." printed on tolex. purchased new in 2006 at Chuck Levin's outside Washington DC. Sonic Circuit, effects loop, headphones, reverb.

Bought it because my teacher (Bob Sneider at the eastman school of music) has a polytone from the 1990s and it is his main gigging amp. If you're reading this than you're doing more due diligence than I did, because seems quality at polytone has gone downhill since then

play straight ahead jazz with an epiphone zephyr regent. sounds great at low volumes, and reasonably cranked (for jazz) in the store. over two years it seems to start clipping earlier and earlier (i don't think my ears are getting worse) clipping is very harsh and unpleasant.

playing a trio gig, amp started cutting out, i had to turn it down and the drummer played the rest of the set with brushes. it works most of the time, but i expect a solid state amp to work reliably and predictably ALL of the time.

after the scary experience at the gig, I brought it to Pro-Tech (right next to Chuck Levin's) in silver spring MD. "repaired" under warranty. sounds better at higher volumes, however neither reverb or sonic circuit function anymore. I will try and get it repaired yet again, however if you can avoid it save yourself the trouble and buy something else.

i play mainly straight ahead jazz, and do not consider myself a gearhead. (most of my peers play carved archtops costing 3 times as much as my laminated epiphone) I expected the polytone to last like my teacher's (he still is happy with the tone and gigs with it 15 years later) but instead i am in the market for a new amp.
i do not recommend polytone, would certainly not buy another, and if i had to go back would certainly buy something different. i expect a solid state amp to work reliably and predictably and this was not the case.
if it were lost or stolen, i would probably be relieved i could start over. for prospective customers, the fishman loudbox is in the same price range and has a nice sound for an electric archtop, as well as useful features like feedback control and a tweeter for your acoustic guitar. i would also consider a tube combo, tubes have the advantage of sounding good even if they're pushed past their limit. if you're after portability and clean jazz tone, look past polytone. it's not worth the risk.

This amp was made in 1999.
Thought I was getting a great amp.. What a nighmare.
Warning! Do not buy a Polytone! Ever! I play light jazz with an archtop guitar. Pretty light stuff. The amp failed me on over 4 gigs.
It gets distorted in the clean channel. Volume goes up and down.
Fuses blow. I mean the first day I got it the fuse blew when I turned it on. So I sent it back. Not once but 4 times! And had to pay for the shipping. All together I paid for the amp over twice with all the in and out of warranty repairs, phone calls, shipping... Still the same problem over and over.
I have owned and still own Fenders, Marshalls, Boogies....etc.
This company and amp reliability suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is hard to play well when you are wondering when(not if) your amp is going to fail.

The amp sounds great when it works. I rarely got to hear that!

I would like to say minus -1000.
Not reliable at all. I had to carry 2 amps at all times. What a hastle.....More than one time I had to plug into the low input of my
guiatar partners boogie. I think there are too many parts in a small area. The vibrations to the board and the air pushing out of the inputs even at low volumes are really bad. I am suprised they are still in business. Junk. I perform over 150 gigs a year and expect
an amp that is reliable. Without any doubt at all. Never had that problem with the boogie or fender.

They never answer the phones, never get back with you, no website or email. Totaly behind the times.. This should have been a warning sign from the start. What a mistake.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh- the one time the lady did get back with me, she was totaly rude and didn't let me get a word in.

Finally the last time I sent it back(after I paid for the amp over 2 times with repairs) they wanted to charge me $350 for labor and a new
preamp board. This was after I paid $100 to the east coast repair company that they use. And they couldn't find any thing wrong, cleaned it up and sent it back to me. It worked for 2 gigs. Then the same problem.
If anyone would like more details please email me!
I have more details.
This amp is the most horrible musical purchase of my 25 years as a full time musician and music teacher. So in the end, when I sent it back the 4th time. I told them to throw it away. I am not paying the money again. When a new one is not much more.(like I'll ever buy a Poltone again) So I am out an amp. It had cost me more than twice what is is worth in the long run. Plus now I have nothing to resell. I keep
prime care of my E.Q. knowing that if I do this I will get good resale value. But this amp I couldn't even offer for free to my 7 year old begining nephew. Want to hear more . email me.
I am so upset about this! do not ever , ever, ever buy a Polytone.
You might as well give your money away to a stranger on the street.

2002 Polytone Megabrute amp w/Sonic Circuit, effects loop, headphone jack and built-in reverb...I play a combination of jazz and south indian classical music. hugely inspired and frustrated by sonny rollins, sonny rollins, sonny rollins, jim hall, john scofield, bill frisell and sonny rollins. I have a couple of years training in south indian music, but none in jazz. I'm NOT into gear (never have been), but 4 years of playing a $150 squier thru a peavey rage 158 was enough, and I decided to indulge myself...the mega brute was a part of the set up...i play completely clean with mild chorus and reverb, and treble set way low on my guitar and the amplifier. 2 channels, though I've never ever looked at the hi-gain channel...the amp's rated at 30W, which is more than enough for my needs...i like the sonic circuit, and keep it in the 'warm' setting...

parker nitefly m with dimarzio dual humbuckers and fishman piezo, through a boss CE-5 chorus ensemble (dunno what the ensemble part does, but it choruses, and that's all i need)...I used the reverb on the megabrute till the day it crapped out and started to sound like an outboard motor when turned up...for my playing, i dont send the volume or gain level through the roof, so i dont know or care about the distortion...the amp has a beautiful dark, round tone that is exactly what i wanted...i play fingerstyle(not just the chord-melody type...i even play lead lines with a combination of thumb and forefinger and over the years have managed sufficient speed) and play close to the neck, so i get a lovely deep tone from the parker in the neck pickup setting...the revelation is with the fishman piezo...with some knob tweaks on the guitar and amp, i almost get a perfect acoustic or hollowbody sound with a touch of chorus/reverb that i love...also, since i play indian music that requires sliding up and down the neck, i need to keep discrete frets from sounding...this requires a combination of technique and amp settings for which my polytone amp is perfect

this is where i need to take polytone to task...i didnt expect a $600 amp to die on me 6 months later with a dead short that kept blowing up any replacement fuses...they dont have a web site or anything to that effect...i went back to rudy's music in NYC where I bought the amp, and they gave me the phone number for polytone, where i got the address of the repair person for the east coast...as we speak, i'm shipping it to maryland from New Jersey, to get it fixed...i HATE the fact that i need to shell out $30 in shipping charges while the amp is under warranty...i agree with the assessment that you're lucky if your polytone doesnt give you trouble soon enough

well, the rep i spoke to(lady) was friendly enough and gave me the address and instructions for the repair person on the east coast...i'm in the process of getting it repaired under warranty, so let's see how that turns out

I've been playing for 6+ years with a serious set up...i dont own any other gear...i love the amp tone, but dont know if i'd buy another one because of the reliability problems...maybe that opintion will change with time...i was thinking of an acoustic edge clarus and a raezers edge cab, but shot my budget...i wish it had more reliability, otherwise it does everything i wish it would, and sounds exactly the way i wanted myself to sound, which is about all i need from my amp...i'm not an effects person, except for the chorus...even when i play straight through (esp the piezo setting on my parker), i love the sound...that's all i need

This amp is a 2002 creation with the new sonic circuit.
Basically, all the 1990s and onward Mini-Brutes and Mega-brutes have the same features and tone plus or minus reverb or different speaker sizes(The Mega Brute head, which is called the Mega-Brain my most obviously has no speaker). This amp is rated 75 RMS and has an 8 inch speaker.
This is my third Polytone and I use it and a Mega Brain as my main amps for practice and performance. I play clean jazz with an archtop.


This amp has a headphone and auxillary speaker output jack on the rear.

This amp has fantastic tone. It is loud, clean and has impressive bottom end for an amp with an 8 inch speaker. The Polytone amps
basically had one tone; you like it or not is my experience. I love it. With the new sonic circuit, it now has 2 basic tones as the sonic circuit adds a voicing that is fuller and richer than the normal channel 1 tone.

The sonic circuit:

Historically modern Polytones had a distortion circuit in Channel 2. Channel 2 is not really a channel, as it adds a distortion circuit in series with channel 1. There are no seperate tone controls or anything and that combined with a terrible sounding distortion circuit made channel 2 largely unusable. I never play with distortion, so channel 2 never was an issue for me.

The sonic circuit has a gain pot that also has a switch to engage or disengage channel two. Next to that is a contour control which is used to boost or cut certain frequencies from low to high. It is very effective and useful. The third control for channel 2 is a 3 position switch that is labelled warm, edge and drive.
When the sonic circuit is switched on the channel 1 volume control is deactivated, although channel 1 tone controls are still in effect.

The channel 2 gain pot is really a gain pot and not just a volume control. With the circuit switched in the warm setting, the overall gain of the sonic circuit is less than channel one. Thus to maintain the volume of channel 1, the gain pot must be turned up to 10. By adjusting the master volume and the gain pot, different levels of
compression and tonality can be achieved. With the gain pot on 10 and the master down, a nice fat, round dare I say tube-like??? tone with a hint of clipping is possible. This is a great sound and I like it as
a contrast to the squeaky clean channel one sound.

Putting the switch on the edge setting, adds a bit of gain, slightly more compression (depending on the gain control setting) and treble to the channel two circuit. The edge setting makes channel 2 louder than channel one with the gain control up. When switched to the drive setting, channel 2 has lots more gain and unfortunately bottom end to occur in channel 2. The distortion reminds me of the old Polytone distorion circuit and I do not like it.
With the contour knob, you are able to increase the treble a bit in the drive setting, however it is a unpleasant, even-order harmonic square wave buzz distorted tone that emits.

The contour knob is great and works well. Overall, the sonic circuit is a great addition to the Polytone amplifier. I just use the warm and edge settings only and feel they really add to the versatility of this amplifier. By using the sonic circuit and varying channel 1 controls, many nuances in tonality are possible.
I never channel switch this amp on the fly but do use channel 2 for certain tunes to add variation and fun to my playing. One really cool thing I do is occasionally run in stereo with my 2 Polytones.

I run my Mega Brain one one side and this little Megabrute with a 12 inch extensions speaker with channel 2 engaged on the other side for a massively fat tone which really sounds full and lush.


I use either a Rich Raezer Stealth 12 or a Marshall 1 by 12 speaker cabinet with a 55 watt Celestion for extending the tone of this amp.
I actually prefer the Marshall cabinet and this really shocks me.

With the extension speaker this amp can do small to medium venues
although occasionally I will mic it and keep the master volume down to keep my clean tone very very clean.

I have never had any trouble with any of my 3 Polytones.
They seem to hold up and I am not overly gentle with amps.

I have no idea. I wish they would get a website up.
Glenn Murch kinda has one at www.murchmusic.com
If you have any Polytone questions, Glenn is the guy to talk to and
is very friendly.

I would buy another if it were lost or stolen. I have 2 tube amps
but usually play the Polytones as I like their tone and attack.
Plus they are light and this Mega Brute is tiny. People are surprised
to hear the volume and bottom end it has for being so diminutive.

Try one out and see for yourself.

No one gets a Polytone for features. The distortion is laughable, the reverb sounds like it's in a cardboard box (w/bees--BAD hum!), and I've never used the FX loop. The DI and extension speaker outputs are right next to each other on the back--the sticker delineating which is which is applied with a gummy adhesive and falls off--so accidently running the extesion speaker output into a board is a very real--and potentially disasterous--possibility. IF YOU GET THIS AMP, CAREFULLY RELABEL THESE OUTPUTS WITH A RELIABLE LABELMAKER (Brother or similar) .

Polytone amps have a basic sound like no other, similar to old, dark low-gain Gibsons (or so I'm told). Obviously, great for jazz, but a good amp for acoustic/piezo guitar (if you turn the mids all the way down). This particular model is their smallest: aprox a 1 foot cube, w/an 8" speaker. I bought this size mainly for the portablility (grear amp for teazching lessons), but I've come to like the smaller, tighter bottom end of the small speaker, and the lack of boom limits feedback in jazz boxes a bit. (I have added a cabinet with an EVM 12L for a more bottom end for a seven-string--VERY nice.) Imparts a nice jazz sound on solid bodies too. While the distotion is a joke, I've gotten some decent OD
sounds just by slamming the amp's front end (I have an active mid-boost in my James Tyler solidbody which is perfect for just that).

Oh dear. Polytones are not known for their reliability though, in fairness to them, their users tend to use them alot, and hard (a former employee claims they are, in fact, quite overbuilt). I had a previous Mega-Brute give up the ghost in a noteworthy fashion: deafening hum, and the vague aroma of an impending chemical fire; similar stories abound around LA, though there are some older models still around, and my current model surivied an encounter with an improperly wired Mexican 220 volt AC with just a blown fuse--go figure. Small screws securing parts inside closed cabinet can work loose with vibration: unsecured parts bouncing around inside cabinet can cause major damoage ($200+ on my current unit).

Not good. Remember, Polytone is basically Tommy Gumina, his secretary (with a notoriously cranky disposition), and the guys out back in the shop. That's it! And, get this, THEY DON'T EVEN OWN A COMPUTER! (No joke!) Again, stories abound (though they do take care of name players). My local amp tech gave up on my first (smelly) Mega Brute after Polytone failed repeated requests to send a schematic (they use a pecuilar combination of parts and design, and amp techs typically hate working on them). A student, who bought the amp on my recommendation, was appalled at the rude, unhelpful response from the secretary. She said take it up with the store, they said take it up woth Polytone--sound familiar? (That same amp ended up flying out of his truck and into the LA River (i.e. seasonally wet drainage canal) during a traffic accident--can't blame Polytone for that.)

So why do we bother? Why do we come back with flowers, hopes and rememberances of past, passionate nights, and forget the stood-up dates, rude outbursts and unkempt appearance (not to mention complete desertions)? Why do we lust so, when there are so many other attractive, reliable suitors? IT'S THE TONE, G#$DAMMIT! (And, in the case of this model, the compact fuctionality.) Nobaody does this particular thing better than they do (though I must admit, I have not yet tried any Evans amps). Would I buy one again? Yes I would--and I'll probably have to.

I got last year's model (2000) new. Never heard a Polytone but this thing sounded too good to be true. Everyone raved and they were right. It has a great deal of headroom...even without considering the very small size (like a 1 foot cube). Overdrive channel: lame. Everything else is great. 3-level "presence" switch. Effects loop, with gain control for the loop. Line out jack. Extension speaker jack. Headphones jack. I may end up getting a Raezer's edge Twin 8 at some point (:-), but for now, this little thing will do the job just fine for any gigs I'll be playing. If I had to, I could line out to the PA or mic it. I give it a 9 here for basically 1 reason: the power cable stowing method they have is from the stone age. It's just 2 big hooks sticking out the back of the amp, and they're already a little bent out of shape, etc.

Right now I use a Carvin AE 185 "thinline" tele style guitar. The electric side (2 humbuckers) goes to the Polytone, the acoustic to a Peavey Ecoustic 112 (for just a touch of acoustic vibe). I put a compressor and Rat pedal and noise gate in front off it, roll the treble way down everywhere. I get a beautiful dark, deep, round tone which I love. I am influenced by jazz heavily, but am totally open when it comes to defining my style. I play fingerstyle mostly, but have started playing more single line with pick. This amp pegs a Metheny or a Jim Hall sound, Frisell too. The spring reverb is quite nice, though I only use a touch (around 1). I put a digital delay in the effects loop. Clean is clean clean. Not noisy. NO hiss. Just like any art form, if you start with a perfect clean and unadulterated something, you can much it up just great from there. If you start out with bad, dirty, that's all you'll ever get. I'm in the process of trying some Joe Barden Two Tone 'buckers in the axe, but the Carvin stock pick-ups sounded damn fine into the Mega Brute. You know how it is: always looking for something just a little better...

As far as I can tell, this thing is built like a tank. Very portable, but solid. It's got to be to handle the decibels its capable of putting out. I give it a 9 because I have heard the occasional rumor that Polytones can sometimes go, especially the reverb (which is easy enough to fix).

I think I called once just for a pre-purchase question and got a quick and easy response. Very accessible company. Don't know how easy it'd be to find a local service place. I think it's a one year warranty.

This thing is just exactly what I wanted. I got rid of a mammoth MusicMan 2x12 HD130 before I got this thing and I couldn't be happier. No more noise! Much more controlled and precise sounds. No more aching back!

I have owned my mega-brute since about 1992. This is the best amp I have owned. It has two channels and reverb. The distortion channel is terrible, but the clean sound makes up for it. It has a 8 inch speaker which gives it a fabulous tone. With 85 watts it has more than enough power. It also has a 3 way switch for dark, normal, and bright, which allows for a lot of different sounds. A little expensive at a list price of $595.00 for a amp this size.

I play Gibson Wes Montgomery L5, Gibson ES 350, and a Tom Anderson Hollow Classic. My styles range from straight forward Jazz to Light Rock. This amp has been more than sufficient for all of these styles. I like a darker tone, and this amp is by far my favorite. I have owned the following: Fender `68 Deluxe Reverb,`68 Twin, Vibroking, GK ml 250, Polytone Mini-Brute IV, II, Taurus, Mesa-Boogie MkIII and a few others. I am not trying to say that this amp is better than all of these, but it does have the definitive Jazz tone, and even though the distortion is terrible, a good pedal in front of it really makes this amp bark. Its footprint is about 1 sq./ft., this alone to me is one of its best qualities. There is nothing better than showing up for a gig with this amp and seeing peoples reaction to it (mine is also blue).

I used this amp all through college, sometimes 8 hrs. per day and I have NEVER had a problem! Igig with it all the time and I never have to bring along a back-up. I have cleaned the pots several times from dust and grime, but I have never had to do anything other than preventative maintenance!

I have only dealt with them several times. I purchased a speaker from them for another amp once, they are a hard company to get in contact with. They have no web site, very few dealers, and hardly anyone to service. Once I finally contacted someone at the company I had no problem getting my part.

By far my favorite amp.

This is Polyone's Mega Brute, which has basically the same features as the Mini Brutes, but in a smaller package. The amp has an 8" speaker and runs at 80w. There isn't much I would want that this amp doesn't have. The only thing I can think of is that it would be nice if the amp had a detachable power cable instead of some really flimsy metal ears to wrap it around.

If you see someone who is upset and dissapointed by their Polyone, check to see if it's due to the distortion channel. It's pretty much common knowledge that the distortion on Polytones sucks. If that's what you're looking for, don't buy a Polytone. That said, I am completely and totally satisfied with my amp's sound. I play jazz, and the distortion channel means nothing to me. The reverb sounds nice, but can introduce some fuzzy noise when turned up high. Although this amp only has an 8" speaker, it sounds HUGE. It has great bass response and is loud enough to cut through in a group. I would not hesitate to recommend this amp to anyone looking for a very high quality clean tone in a portable package.

This amp survived a pretty nasty drop without any problems whatsoever. Gigging without a backup is never a great idea, but if I had to do it, this would be the amp I would do it with. The amp has done nothing but work . Well.

Finding a Polytone dealer was somewhat difficult, but I've never actually dealt with the company for any reason, so I can't really form an opinion here.

I've been playing for about seven years. I also own a Mesa/Boogie Maverick head and 2x12 Recto cab. As a music student constantly moving to and from the practice facility, this amp is a blessing. It sounds beautiful and easy to carry around. I would buy another if it were stolen. I might consider a larger Polytone for gigging purposes, but I would most likely end up with another Mega Brute because of its combination of portability and great tone.