friend gave me Peavey MiniBrute Polytone , any info , thoughts?

[henryrobinett]

I owned two mini brute IIs. I wish I had one now. Not a great amp at all, but a convenient practice amp or one for small engagements.

When I lived in NYC I did a bunch of gigs with my guitar, bag and Minibrute hoping on the subway. It did OK for me, small jazz gigs and pop gigs. It even went to Germany with me.

That amp looks completely trashed though.

That Polytone doesn't have tone. It was a common acoustic bass amp. As a matter of fact the first one I used belonged to Charles Mingus. He loaned me his for the first bunch of gigs I did in NY.

[jacktadoussac]

Welcome to Murch Music

check out the polytone page at the above dealer, under products, amplifiers.

I think you'll conclude that peavey has nothing to do with polytone except both products use 120 volts AC.

[Bob Ross]

I've had a Polytone MiniBrute III (15" speaker, no reverb) since 1980. It has required service only once in all that time. I've used it by itself, or sometimes augmented by a variety of extension speaker cabinets (everything from an equally compact 1x12" to an Ampeg SVT 8x10"). I've used it for guitar, for bass, for synthesizers, and once or twice for PA. It's been in theater pits, jazz clubs, restaurant gigs, basement jams, and probably every rock club in Boston from 1980-87. If ever there was an amp that deserves to be called a "workhorse", a "journeyman", a "Swiss Army Knife solution", the MiniBrute is it.

It is however definitely not a "Tone Machine". It pretty much puts out exactly what you put into it (albeit rolled off at the top & bottom). It is "flat" in both the positive & perjorative connotations of the word.

[mrhenry76]

I'm the lucky owner of a mini brute II!
that amp changed the way I look at solid state amps ...
it's great, it's a jazz amp but you can play blues, rock, post rock, even hard rock with it and it sounds great all the time.
I especially love the spring reverb ...
in the normal mode the sound can be quite dark, but as you switch on the bright mode, everything is much clearer.
I use it both on stange and in the studio, my favourite solid state amp ever!

[kludge]

It's a bad useless amp that will give your other gear cooties.

Mail it to me and I'll dispose of it properly.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by henryrobinett

As a matter of fact the first one I used belonged to Charles Mingus. He loaned me his for the first bunch of gigs I did in NY.

That is so beyond cool, Henry, that it makes cool look like a whiny little biotch. That's like Einstein loaning you a pencil, or Picasso letting you have some blue paint.

[henryrobinett]

LOL! Yeah, it is. I try not to brag, but but then again it's the truth. But he took the amp back . . .

[richiepalooza]

HUUGGEE Polytone fan here. I love the tone. I spent years playing a big archtop straight into a Polytone Taurus, clean and dry. I still have it in the closet. I'd love to have a couple of older ones!