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Portable reverb unit for Polytone Mini Brute?


 

I have this Polytone Mini Brute amp, the one with the big speaker, I think it is 14". Anyway the reverb is shot on it. Otherwise it has a very good strong clean sound with good bass response. The reverb makes all kinds of high pitch distorted sounds when I try to use it.

Is there any good small external reverb unit that you guys would suggest to use with this amp? It would actually be nice to have a digital delay as well but that could come separately in a foot pedal.

I used to have one of those Boss digital delay/digital reverb combo stomp boxes years ago that I used with a small Fender amp and the reverb always seemed to thin out the tone of my Es175.

Is there something cheap I could find used on EBay that sounds good?

john


 

Hi John,

Is there any good small external reverb unit that you guys would suggest to use with this amp?
There are some good ones out there, but they are not cheap. On EBay, the Peavy (now discontinued) Reverb/Tremolo comes up from time to time for around $300 (it was originally around $800 new), but I've heard mixed reviews. Most everything else out there is rack-mounted, or fair at best. If you can live without a spring, there are plenty of used digital reverbs out there for a song. For example, the Yamaha REX-50 multi-effects processor has a pretty good digital reverb sound, and it's got other effects also, most notably the harmonizer (not diatonic, though). Mike Stern still uses his, if you want to hear it. They go for under $100 on EBay.

Anyway, it doesn't sound to me that your reverb is "shot". It's probably Op-Amp driven, and is probably a repair that won't put you in the poor-house (unless you didn't like its sound in the first place). I would check that avenue first, if I were in your shoes.

hope this helps,
Bobby


 

I used to use an Alesis Nanoverb and found it OK at low effect levels.

These days, though, a lot of multi-effects are cheaper than stomp boxes and they seem to have got a lot better. I've just bought a Zoom G2 to use with my Lunchbox and it has a better choice of reverbs (hall/room/spring/early reflection). There's also a digital delay with several modes, but you can't use reverb and delay at the same time. It's pretty compact and easy to program with the 3 parameter knobs.

-Keith


 

Thanks Bobby,

I was thinking about a digital reverb and that price is what I was looking at and I want a delay with it. I'm not even close to being a professional musician, or ever will be, or I would be using a rack mounted effects processor.

But I guess I should take this in and see if I can repair it. On this amp it is very difficult to get to. It might be just a spring that is not correctly in place but you have to take the whole amp apart to get to it and then it wrapped up in all this foam insulation of some kind. I don't think I'm qualified to do it my self but I will inquire about that. Thanks a lot.

john

--- In jazz_guitar@..., Bob Hansmann <bobbybmusic@...> wrote:

Hi John,

Is there any good small external reverb unit that you guys would
suggest to use with this amp?
There are some good ones out there, but they are not cheap. On EBay, the
Peavy (now discontinued) Reverb/Tremolo comes up from time to time for
around $300 (it was originally around $800 new), but I've heard mixed
reviews. Most everything else out there is rack-mounted, or fair at
best. If you can live without a spring, there are plenty of used digital
reverbs out there for a song. For example, the Yamaha REX-50
multi-effects processor has a pretty good digital reverb sound, and it's
got other effects also, most notably the harmonizer (not diatonic,
though). Mike Stern still uses his, if you want to hear it. They go for
under $100 on EBay.

Anyway, it doesn't sound to me that your reverb is "shot". It's probably
Op-Amp driven, and is probably a repair that won't put you in the
poor-house (unless you didn't like its sound in the first place). I
would check that avenue first, if I were in your shoes.

hope this helps,
Bobby


 

Hi John,
I was thinking about a digital reverb and that price is what I was
looking at and I want a delay with it...
You're welcome.

I have a REX-50, and the reverb is quite good compared to digital
reverbs, and it's got presets - "hall", "room", "gated", "reverse", &c.
Each has parameters so you can customize it if you want to, but I pretty
much went with the defaults. They can all be assigned to their own
program number (so you can even make, say, 2 different "hall" reverb
patches), and it is midi-controllable. In its time, the Yamaha digi8tal
reverbs were considered the best (in that price range - around $600 new
- it ain't a Lexicon).

Thinking about it, a Midiverb is probably cheap now also, if you like
their sound (I think they suck chow).

What I don't remember, though, is if delay and reverb can be combined
nto one program patch. Most of the combinations have to do with
distortion plus "something else", and the distortion sounds are pretty
typical. I'll see if I can look it up for you, but I'm running out now.

The Zoom G1K (the "Brazilian Kiko Loureiro "version of the G1, or so it
says. The only difference I can tell is that it's green) is pretty good
also, and extremely reasonably priced. I bought one for my nephew, and
ended up getting one for myself as well - it paid for itself the first
time I used it.. There you can mix and match just about anything you
want and assign patch names as well, but no midi. It's also got some
drums, and battery (4xAA) life is around 4 solid hours (I use mine
outside sometimes). Not perfect, but really handy - my Moose amp can
sound a little dry without something, and on the sidewalk in NYC, it's
more than fine. I haven't tried it in a club or closed environment, but
I have very little doubt that it would sound fine. They also make a
G1-usb for around $100, but I know nothing about it.

At around $50 new, the G1 is great, and used it's got to go for even
less. You can get it with or without expression pedal onbpard (mine is
without, but I think there is an input for one - I think that's
overkill, but maybe that's only because I never tried it).

Having said all that, I would still opt for trying to fix your amp. Even
if you invest in these puppies, having a totally working amp is a thing
of beauty, especially if whatever caused the reverb failure is a ticking
time-bomb waiting to screw up another circuit.

best,
Bobby


 

I use a Boss ME50. I generally like its reverb better than the amp's reverb (except for my 1964 Ampeg). That includes various Roland, Fender and Polytone amps.

I also have a Korg PX5D. I don't recommend it.

Somebody I trust praised the TC Electronics reverb.

--- In jazz_guitar@..., "john" <deanwork2003@...> wrote:

I have this Polytone Mini Brute amp, the one with the big speaker, I think it is 14". Anyway the reverb is shot on it. Otherwise it has a very good strong clean sound with good bass response. The reverb makes all kinds of high pitch distorted sounds when I try to use it.

Is there any good small external reverb unit that you guys would suggest to use with this amp? It would actually be nice to have a digital delay as well but that could come separately in a foot pedal.

I used to have one of those Boss digital delay/digital reverb combo stomp boxes years ago that I used with a small Fender amp and the reverb always seemed to thin out the tone of my Es175.

Is there something cheap I could find used on EBay that sounds good?

john


groovetube66
 

A used TC Electronics M300 will do what you want and more, and you should be able to find one for $80 or so. Excellent quality.

S.

--- In jazz_guitar@..., "john" <deanwork2003@...> wrote:

Thanks Bobby,

I was thinking about a digital reverb and that price is what I was looking at and I want a delay with it. I'm not even close to being a professional musician, or ever will be, or I would be using a rack mounted effects processor.

But I guess I should take this in and see if I can repair it. On this amp it is very difficult to get to. It might be just a spring that is not correctly in place but you have to take the whole amp apart to get to it and then it wrapped up in all this foam insulation of some kind. I don't think I'm qualified to do it my self but I will inquire about that. Thanks a lot.

john

--- In jazz_guitar@..., Bob Hansmann <bobbybmusic@> wrote:

Hi John,

Is there any good small external reverb unit that you guys would
suggest to use with this amp?
There are some good ones out there, but they are not cheap. On EBay, the
Peavy (now discontinued) Reverb/Tremolo comes up from time to time for
around $300 (it was originally around $800 new), but I've heard mixed
reviews. Most everything else out there is rack-mounted, or fair at
best. If you can live without a spring, there are plenty of used digital
reverbs out there for a song. For example, the Yamaha REX-50
multi-effects processor has a pretty good digital reverb sound, and it's
got other effects also, most notably the harmonizer (not diatonic,
though). Mike Stern still uses his, if you want to hear it. They go for
under $100 on EBay.

Anyway, it doesn't sound to me that your reverb is "shot". It's probably
Op-Amp driven, and is probably a repair that won't put you in the
poor-house (unless you didn't like its sound in the first place). I
would check that avenue first, if I were in your shoes.

hope this helps,
Bobby


 

Cool, I never really liked the Polytone reverb anyway.

--- In jazz_guitar@..., "groovetube66" <groovetube66@...> wrote:

A used TC Electronics M300 will do what you want and more, and you should be able to find one for $80 or so. Excellent quality.

S.

--- In jazz_guitar@..., "john" <deanwork2003@> wrote:

Thanks Bobby,

I was thinking about a digital reverb and that price is what I was looking at and I want a delay with it. I'm not even close to being a professional musician, or ever will be, or I would be using a rack mounted effects processor.

But I guess I should take this in and see if I can repair it. On this amp it is very difficult to get to. It might be just a spring that is not correctly in place but you have to take the whole amp apart to get to it and then it wrapped up in all this foam insulation of some kind. I don't think I'm qualified to do it my self but I will inquire about that. Thanks a lot.

john

--- In jazz_guitar@..., Bob Hansmann <bobbybmusic@> wrote:

Hi John,

Is there any good small external reverb unit that you guys would
suggest to use with this amp?
There are some good ones out there, but they are not cheap. On EBay, the
Peavy (now discontinued) Reverb/Tremolo comes up from time to time for
around $300 (it was originally around $800 new), but I've heard mixed
reviews. Most everything else out there is rack-mounted, or fair at
best. If you can live without a spring, there are plenty of used digital
reverbs out there for a song. For example, the Yamaha REX-50
multi-effects processor has a pretty good digital reverb sound, and it's
got other effects also, most notably the harmonizer (not diatonic,
though). Mike Stern still uses his, if you want to hear it. They go for
under $100 on EBay.

Anyway, it doesn't sound to me that your reverb is "shot". It's probably
Op-Amp driven, and is probably a repair that won't put you in the
poor-house (unless you didn't like its sound in the first place). I
would check that avenue first, if I were in your shoes.

hope this helps,
Bobby


John Amato
 

I highly recommend the Lexicon LXP-1 ... it's been discontinued for years, but
it's on E-Bay, where I got mine.

A few years ago I was beat out on E-Bay a few times right at the literal last
few seconds.

This unit is the best reverb I've found for jazz guitar ...

It's a half rack ...




... my other choice which I sometimes take on gigs is the Boss-Fender Reverb,
FRV-1 -- it gets very close to that '63 Fender Reverb .... they also have the
FDR-1, for that '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb ... but I like the FRV-1 (has that cool
"Spring" sound of the '63 Reverb.)





John Amato
Isaiah 55:11








________________________________
From: john <deanwork2003@...>
To: jazz_guitar@...
Sent: Thu, November 11, 2010 10:09:03 AM
Subject: [jazz_guitar] Portable reverb unit for Polytone Mini Brute?


I have this Polytone Mini Brute amp, the one with the big speaker, I think it is
14". Anyway the reverb is shot on it. Otherwise it has a very good strong clean
sound with good bass response. The reverb makes all kinds of high pitch
distorted sounds when I try to use it.

Is there any good small external reverb unit that you guys would suggest to use
with this amp? It would actually be nice to have a digital delay as well but
that could come separately in a foot pedal.

I used to have one of those Boss digital delay/digital reverb combo stomp boxes
years ago that I used with a small Fender amp and the reverb always seemed to
thin out the tone of my Es175.

Is there something cheap I could find used on EBay that sounds good?

john







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


Brad Rabuchin
 

A great and simple reverb pedal for use with your ploytone would be a
Hermeda Reverb. It's $99 list.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


 

The Digitech RV-7 is a stomp box w/ reverb algorithms by Lexicon. It is about $150. As far as the TC Electronics gear goes, it is top notch as well. Their old school chorus unit, the SCF stereo chorus flanger, had the best chorus sound out there. It is still available. Plus, their NM-1 nova modulator pedal supposedly has the same chorus and flanger sounds as the SCF, plus a bunch more. I haven't had a chance to A/B test them yet.

I haven't seen any reverb pedals w/ delay, unless you are looking at a multi-effects unit. The POD series from Line-6, are pretty good. I've played around w/ a few of them and they are good sounding and compact.

-- Mike V.

--- In jazz_guitar@..., "rguitarjj" <rpjazzguitar@...> wrote:

I use a Boss ME50. I generally like its reverb better than the amp's reverb (except for my 1964 Ampeg). That includes various Roland, Fender and Polytone amps.

I also have a Korg PX5D. I don't recommend it.

Somebody I trust praised the TC Electronics reverb.

--- In jazz_guitar@..., "john" <deanwork2003@> wrote:

I have this Polytone Mini Brute amp, the one with the big speaker, I think it is 14". Anyway the reverb is shot on it. Otherwise it has a very good strong clean sound with good bass response. The reverb makes all kinds of high pitch distorted sounds when I try to use it.

Is there any good small external reverb unit that you guys would suggest to use with this amp? It would actually be nice to have a digital delay as well but that could come separately in a foot pedal.

I used to have one of those Boss digital delay/digital reverb combo stomp boxes years ago that I used with a small Fender amp and the reverb always seemed to thin out the tone of my Es175.

Is there something cheap I could find used on EBay that sounds good?

john


 

I have a Hermida Reverb pedal made by Alf Hermida of Zendrive fame:



I use it with my LunchBox amp and it sounds wonderful...


Brad Rabuchin
 

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 4:06 PM, AlChuck <alan.oehler@...> wrote:
I have a Hermida Reverb pedal made by Alf Hermida of Zendrive fame:



I use it with my LunchBox amp and it sounds wonderful...
Yea, that's the one I mentioned before. Great sound and simple, just one
dial for the amount of reverb. excellent for jazz guitar.