Polytone Teeny Brute

I own an early seventies black velvet teeny brute.I love this amp about a fifth the amount of my cat,which is an incredible amount!Every time I plug my 67Fender JazzBass into this 60watt midget,I reafirm my basic philosophy,less is more.Being a fortynine year old fusion player I've been through all sorts of rigs.This amp wins on all counts,it,s portable,reliable and has an economy of efficiency which most modern day amps cannot match.Agreed it has no channel switching,effect loops,headphone out and has the minimal tone shapeing controls,but used in conjunction with a Zoom 506 bass pedal it sounds as good as it gets.The single EV 10inch Force speaker is ample for rehearsals,but I add a single 15,EV cab for performances.This gives a beautiful full rich sound,mind you it helps not to have some psycho skin man,who can only play at one excruciating level.The only modification I've made to this amp, is to fit a speaker off switch to the control bay which stops cracking when turning on and off.

The teeny really is a no frills box,but it gives the basis for building a superb jazz, guitar or bass sound.The amp is very quiet and handles volume well,I never need to use more than half power.It is necessary to add reverb etc,but that's up to ones tastes.Used by itself it sounds predictably dry but really spanks out the pickup signal.

Dependable as a cattle dog and just as fiesty.Plus I can't overstress how portable this brute is.Anybody who likes lugging big cabs and heads around in the belief that this is the "Sound"needs thier headspace reorganised.

Does not exist hear in Oz,but being very basic,I have no fear that any reputibale sparky could fix it,if any problems arose.

I've been playing bass or should I say learning for thirtysix years.I also dabble with guitar and keyboards.A Yamaha DX7,G&L,F100series2guitar,Carvin vintage33 amp and Fender 67 jazz bass,Custom Fretless bass round out my equipement.I hate to even contemplate theft.I've been "Done Over" a couple of times in my life,and the shear feeling of violation is consuming and bitter.Feelings for your music and gear really border on love and nobody want's that disturbed.However back to the mighty Teeny Brute.As you can guess I really dig this amp,I've had mine for fifteen years,still going strong.Thier as rare as hen's teeth,but if you find one bye it, You'll become a convert.

This appears to be an early Seventies model judging by the design style and features (almost none!). With only bass and treble twiddle pots and a bright/medium/dark switch this a very much UNversatile Brute but if is the sound you wanted when you bought it that's fine. I tend to switch to medium switch position for practising at home but tend to need Bright when playing live to cut through a bit more. My model has no distortion effect built in but when cranked up is has a pleasing edge for a tranny amp. Nor does it have a reverb - how basic IS this device?? The power switch has two ON positions which I haven't yet sussed out the advantage of unless it is to reduce interference or hum under some conditions.

Whata wonderful deep bassy sound for such a small amp. Apparently it is often used by double bass players. Most amps this size sound boxy. I am currently playing mainstream and modern jazz with a Les Paul standard, and this amp is perfect although reverb would have been useful on some numbers. The variety of sounds is limited to that clean wholesome jazz sound of Joe Pass and co. Full bodied, powerful with an edge at higher volumes. I leant it to a rock guitarist once who cranked it up and it actually sounded surprisingly okay but wouldn't recommend it to one.

Only done a dozen gigs with it so far but it is about 25 years old and in actually perfect nick and appears to be 100% reliable but then what doesn't until it breaks down.

No need to contact them though would like to if only to find out more about the model I have got, e.g. what year of manufacture. The whatsit is P10794. Only comment is that Polytone don't appear to have web site. That would be helpful to customers I am sure.

It is the perfect little amp for what it does and I would have a hard job replacing it but I would certainly try. I think I paid a premium price for it but the model I have is in absolutely perfect condition as if it hasn't been gigged in its 25 year life. It is actually quite loveable with its velvet covering. The only two additions that would improve it are reverb with a footswitch control, and a detachable mains cable.

this amp was made in the early 80s or late 70s. It has stack knobs, with controls for bass, treble, and mids. The volume control has a stacked distortion pot, and the distortion is too easy to turn on. Kind of a pain. There is also a spring reverb which sounds nice. It has a suitably long power cord and a 10 inch speaker with a HUGE magnet that takes up almost the whole back of the speaker! Totally heavy duty. It is rated 135 watts, I think... and for such a light, tiny box this thing will tear your head clean off. There is also a dark/middle/bright switch that i always keep on the dark position. I never use the distortion; it's utterly useless. It might come in handy if i'm ever doing a gig and get a request for some off the wall tune... i mean i would use it in that case... but for my own tastes, no thanks. The distortion circuit on this amp falls into the "emergency use only" category. I am a straight ahead jazz player, and for this, this amp is it, man. I also have a '68 twin reverb, but the polytone sees much more action because of it's lightweight portability and consistent great sound... not to mention reliability.

man this thing is great. I couldnt ask for a more killer soudning amp. I prefer the sound over my '68 twin at the moment... not necessarily better... just more of the sound i am hearing in my head at the moment. I laid down a couple of tracks in a studio using it and it was great. My sax player i gig with every sunday commented the first time i used it on our gig how great that little thing sounds. Jazz guitarist Mundell Lowe (whose credits include Charlie Parker) was singing the praises to me when i was hanging with him about a polytone with a 10" speaker... he said that when you put it on an oscilloscope, all of the accentuated frequencies are just perfect for guitar. I bought this one from New Orleans area guitarist Steve Blailock, who was one of Mundell's students. The amp is not noisy at all. The reverb is nice and subtle. The thing is super screamin' loud. the guitarist i bought it from once used it in the louisiana superdome with a big band... unmiked!! I play a restaurant on sundays and i never have to turn the thing above one, and they dont put us through the house... and you can hear it clearly in the bathrooms, i'm told. My main guitars are a custom shop Gibson L-4CES and a Gibson ES-347. I use an ernie ball volume pedal. With all of this gear the amp sounds fantastic. there ain't a lot of variety... this is a specialized beast. But what it does... it does exceptionally well. This is a solid state amp, and unapologetically so... it doesn't try to be a tube amp and that's its success... it's just a great solid state amp. ANd i swore i would never buy a solid stater!

The handle broke the first week i had it. I'm going to replace it with a fender handle... sturdy, easy to get, and fits the same screw holes. A bassist i know had the same problem and that's what he did, no trouble since. Other than that, never a lick of trouble... even though it hit the concrete when the handle broke.

I think this is a great amp. I give it a 10 because it is sound that matters the most, and combined with the portability and reliability, this thing is unbeatable. A rock player wouldnt dig it, but it doesnt try to be a jack-of-all-trades amp. It is a highly specialized beast that does one thing really well... and that's just what i was looking for. It is oh so great for gigs... just throw it in the vehicle with your axe, volume pedal, maybe a music stand and go. Super simple. no heavy lifting, no muss, no fuss, and plenty of loud, clean, good sounding volume. Highly recommended for jazzers

This amp is great for any small room gig or rehearsal. 2 channels w/footswitch, Hi/Lo impedance inputs, stacked vol pot for distortion, no effects loop - just bass, treble, and volume, and reverb.
I don't use the distortion, (it doesn't sound too good; typical solid state distortion - no balls, no subtlety). Reverb sounds fine - warm and quiet. The amp sounds great for jazz and casuals gigs; plenty of power for those gigs. Basically, this is a solid, good sounding, work-horse amp that never lets me down and is easy to haul/setup. I especially think it sounds good on the days that I remember that I bought it at a lawn sale for $10.00. The speaker was toast, and the reverb tank's output transducer cuts in and out, but once I replaced both, it worked perfectly, and has ever since. Total outlay: $130.00.

Works great for jazz - real nice fat, clean tone with my strat-style solidbody with the neck pickup (EMG). It's not too versatile - you're not gonna do many blues or rockin' gigs with it. The amp is very quiet in most rooms. The distortion isn't cool at all - I don't recommend it.

Totally reliable; I have a more recent model with a 15" speaker that also sounds great and never breaks down. I will say that Polytone needs to get a clue and redesign the power cord storage concept. The cord resides in a cavity on the lower back of the amp when it's not in use, but the cavity is too small to hold the entire cord, so it ends up sticking out, and getting beaten up in a matter of weeks of regular gigging. Also the brackets are made of cheap steel that bends easily and is not sanded properly (I've cut my hand twice). Polytone makes agreat amp, but they need to pay more attention to detail - the knobs are all recessed, but not enough to fully protect them, which render the recess largely useless.

For $10.00? You bet! This is my main small gig/rehearsal amp. I use it to death, and it always delivers the nice fat, clean tone.