zt amplifiers

[diego]

Anyone tried this little lunchbox-sized amplifier?

http://www.ztamplifiers.com/lunchbox.html

 

[In Tune]

Koooool!!!!! I like Dat. tanks for Da link, never heard of these...

 

[Aslan]

I bought the new Lunchbox amp and it is amazing. I own several Orange amps (Retro 50 & OR50) and couple of Fenders (Deluxe Reverb) but I bought the ZT for a amp to take to practice or to mic night. I have to admit these are the real deal they put out more than enough volume for a gig and the tone is very tube like in quality. I took mine down to the local guitar shop yesterday and after playing it their going to become a dealer. The ZT amps take pedals well and can give you a nice edge of breakup tone like a tube amp.

 

[diego]

Thanks Aslan, I just sent them an email to see if I can drive over to Berkeley and try one out...

 

[Billy Penn]

I have one and it rocks! Really small and really loud. Works great with pedals and you can totally gig with it. You can get these pretty cheap online and one dealer has free shipping. I love mine. Sounds like a Champ with Bassman power.

 

[stringstrangler]

I just checked out that ZT Lunchbox.. and whilst I thought it was pretty cool.. and I DID think it had a few issues.

1) Past 12.00, tone controll is pretty dang noisy.

2) when I cranked the L.B. about 3/4 of the way up, it produced
a weird 'lil "Wolf" tone( like a harmony below the note I was playing)
I'm assuming this was a weird cabinet resonance.

3) I could have used just a bit more Grit.. the thing was AMAZingly
clean even w/ the vol. & Gain dimed. No doubt you could get
the dirt w/ a pedal-- but it would be nice if they had a little
hotter gain stage that you could bring in w/. a toggle switch.
But then, I 'm guessin' the amp would not be $289!

Still, this IS a pretty amazing lil' amp.. VERY loud, well-built,
and unique in the market place.. I have not seen anything like
it.

BTB.. whilst I was at my Local Gear Emporium( the LOVEly
Make n' Music in Chicago ) I HAD to, of course, check out a
few other pieces of gear... and I have to tell you, the MESA
Express 5:25 is a KILLIN' Amp! Blew my Socks AND Shoes OFF!
All the tones you could EVEr want, clean to dirty, w/ EVERY-
thing in between.. and a relative bargain, at only $1100!
Check one out! I promise you won't be sorry.

 

[psquared]

I'm bumping to see if there's any other thoughts about this little amp out there from those that have played it.

 

[jazzmonkey007]

It is noisy, but the tone is awesome for an amp that size and for that price. I use it to rehearse with a band or even at gigs with a cab (when too lazy to bring my full gear). Very cool.

 

[Ken Kantor]

Jay,

On your Lunchbox, try setting the Volume at 11 or 12 O'Clock, and using the Gain knob to set whatever level you want. See if this reduces your noise issue. (With the Volume up high, there is a great deal of gain in the preamp... sometimes a bit too much.)

-k

ken.kantor@ztamplifiers.com

 

[Primakurtz]

You might check out the HC reviews - pretty accurate. I really like my ZT! It isn't really a great substitute for a quality tube amp, but it comes as close as a ss box of this size possibly could. I like mine best with a little eq help from an MXR 6-band and an OD or dirt pedal. It takes pedals very well. The speaker out jack allows for some serious volume & girth running into at least one 12" extension cab. It will push a 4 X 12". The 200 watts are for real - not Ampeg V4 watts, but still lots of ss power.

The reverb isn't really reverb, but it does add a little ambiance.

One of my buddies and I have independently discovered that you can set the LB on top of your big amp, and it adds nice high end sparkle & grit. Plus, it makes a terrific little personal monitor.

Unfortunately, mine did not like tumbling off the aforementioned half-stack. The input jack is hardwired to a pcb, so no home remedies for me. I am waiting for a return authorization to get her repaired.

Hope this was useful.

 

[Primakurtz]

Speaking of customer service... the kind folks at ZT are replacing my amp with a new one, at no charge. THAT is amazing. Quick response, outstanding service. Better than I deserve!

 

[Sniper-V]

Lunch Box owner here and proud of it!

Honestly, one of the best purchases I've ever made on gear.
Perfect for practice, rehearsals, and lessons that I do at least 3 times a week.
I'm even going to try mic'ing it for my Church gigs.

It fits in my gear bag and all need is my guitar and pedals.
By the way it takes pedals extremely well!

Truely an amazing design with a give away price IMO:
• A tiny 7lbs combo running 200 watts
• Can drive an external cab including the internal speaker, I've tried running my 1960BX cab and it sounds like a huge head running it.
• The tone is very clean and punchy.
• Solid-state but very responsive and toneful.
• Gain dimed out gives some light med drive very classic Marshall like in drive but not much.
• Excels for clean and running pedals.

Try one, I will guarantee it will bring a smile or laugh to your face in disbelief.

 

[daphil]

I love mine. At that price, it blows away all the "budget" SS offering from the big manufacturers. Maybe not in features but in tone, craftmanship and real world usefulness it kills.

 

[fatcat]

Its amazing what their doing with guitar electronics these days. I was looking at one of the little vox's the other day and thought , how kool these offerings are and now another with 200 watts? talking about a good back up amp that almost fits in the guitar case amazing. probably equiped with one of the new power switching power supplys like the QSC amp use. neat!

 

[hawkeyeinexile]

Jay,

On your Lunchbox, try setting the Volume at 11 or 12 O'Clock, and using the Gain knob to set whatever level you want. See if this reduces your noise issue. (With the Volume up high, there is a great deal of gain in the preamp... sometimes a bit too much.)

-k

ken.kantor@ztamplifiers.com

i just picked one up @ the Starving Musician in Santa Cruz, having been duly surprised, and took it over to Tonegurus. we plugged a Koll archtop into it and did as suggested above and, sure 'nuff, all & sundry were impressed with the sound quality (even warmth).

(@ Starving i tried it with a bass & external'd into an Ampeg 6x10 cab, then with a fat strat with just the internal speaker)

btw, Ken, what do the letters "ZT" stand for?

 

[decay-o-caster]

I was there - it was way cool! So my question is, why are "gain" and "volume" labeled backwards?

 

[DC1]

Ken,

When is the Club series coming out?

Any clips?

thanks


dc

 

[Jescar]

I agree with opinions here, it really is an excellent amp, and superb for its intended use. Through an external cab it is a powerful serious amp.

At practice I hooked it up near my main amp, and without telling anyone else switched to the LB Amp only. None of the guys could tell that I switched amps until I pointed it out. Sure you miss some of the lows, but with a heavy drummer and bass player plus keyboards, the lows aren't missed at all. Hit the right spot in the mix.

I now use it in place of my backup tube head, usually a THD Flexi-50, and set it up at gigs as my stereo 2nd amp. No concerns about taking up valuable small club stage real estate, I place it on the other side of the bass drum and get an excellent stereo sound. (Pedal board has true stereo out for chorus, trem and delay).

Not to overstate it but for me it is now essential gig equipment. Solid, and a great value.

 

[DC1]

Ok, I ordered one.

Here's why.

The reviews are good and Gearslutz likes 'em, and when I read their white paper:

http://www.ztamplifiers.com/WHITEPAPER_LB2_01.pdf

I discovered that they are doing a lot of the tone shaping in this thing with DSP. Yes, digital.

Now I spend major portions of my professional life playing with, and setting up DSP, and what you can do with it is just so completely bitchin' that I had to see what you could do with a guitar amp using this sort of processing. You can do EQ shapes with DSP that cannot be imagined, for instance, with analog filters. Shapes that mimic or even improve on the non-linear goofy nature of what we think makes a good amp. In short, the possibilities of DSP are nearly limitless, and no, it is not modeling.

More to follow.

dc

 

[Billy Penn]

I have been using my Lunchbox as my main amp on gigs because it sounds really great and works for me. I really like the Champ sound and with the small 6.5" speaker it gets that vibe. Plenty of volume, works great with my pedals. I actually like it so much that I got a 2nd one online for $260 with FREE shipping!!! Now I use two of them and the sound is huge. Like Jescar said you do miss some of the lows by itself but in the mix with a band you do not miss the lows at all. And because the cabinet is sealed in the back the Lunchbox does not flood the stage with volume so if you are micing through a PA it's better for the mix. Thanks Ken for a cool little amp!!