ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox Guitar Combo Amp

Comments about ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox 2 Guitar Combo Amp:

The more I play with this amp the better it gets! After watching every Lunchbox demo on Youtube (even the Chinese ones) I had to go try one. Called my local Sam Ash and they were amazingly helpful.

In short, It's best with pedals and probably better for lead guitar players than rhythm players because it seems to be better suited for crisp, cutting tones than warm, round and fat. That being said, i'm a rhythm player and I love it.

This amp is PERFECT for me and might be for you too. For those of you who can't try one before buying I want to explain what I feel this amp does best and where it could fall short for you:

Plugged directly in, this amp has some cool but trebley tonal characteristics. With just four simple controls you can dial in some great clean tones for Jazz or bright snappy tones with an acoustic. Turn up the gain and volume (they work differently than you'd think) and you've got a nice somewhat-tube-sounding reaction reminiscent of a champ, silvertone, or other small tube amp. Nice quack with a strat, excellent crunch with a humbucker.

Pedals make this dude come to LIFE. It totally preserves pedal sounds and handles OD's Distortions, Delays, and especially reverbs like a king! I used an A/B box on my chain and compared my main Peavey Delta Blues 15" 30 Watt Tube monster with the ZT Lunchbox and was very surprised at how much the pedal sounds translated. My old Epiphone So-Cal 50 (which I used as a trade-in) colored the tone and translated much more poorly than this little dude.

Can it replace your gigging amp?

Possibly! It's definitely loud enough. I'm using it as a secondary amp in a stereo setup. I'm running an A/B/Y Box with one signal going into true bypass pedals to my Delta Blues, and another signal going to my amazing Zoom G3 with lots of wet effects and into the ZT. I can crank my Delta to ear-shattering levels and the ZT keeps up just fine. (I always run my effects amp at 75% of my main amp's volume.) The two are easily loud enough in gigs and rehearsals with room to spare - and we practice LOUD! Certainly loud enough to keep up with an un-mic'd drummer.

Any Cons?

Well theres a certain inherent limitation with a 6.5" speaker. Most notably, it has fickle bass response. Like any amp it gets much bassier on the floor than on a shelf, on top of another amp etc... problem is, due to the small speaker it's also very directional, leaving you inclined to want to put it on a desk or something nearer your ears. Of course, you could buy the ZT extension cabinet or run it into any cab and fix this, but you're also lugging that around. Lead guitar players might not miss the bass response at all. I would imagine the natural higher range of the amp is pretty nice for cutting through the mix.

For me it's perfect. The 15" Blue Marvel on my Delta has a HUGE bass range. I set mine on top of my Delta at an angle and I'm so happy with the results, as you can see, I wrote a whole novel about it. The crisper high-end handling of my wet digital Zoom pedal is the perfect compliment to the growling, booming punch of my Delta Blues. Setting it at an angle or kicking it back gives a very spacey sound (it can tilt back and rest where the power cable protrudes. Might be totally dangerous and destroy your amp, but it is possible and I bought a warranty.)

If you can try one out, give it a try. If you like crisp, clear, cut through the mix, buy it! If you want warm, fat, round tone you'll want it on the ground with reverb and eq pedals to coax better bass out of the small speaker. Great looking and only weighs 9.5 lbs. Early adopters will love this new technology.

Comments about ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox 2 Guitar Combo Amp:

I had a ZT lunchbox for a while, as I needed a portable and powerful amp during Marching Band season. I love the amp for those two reasons, however the small size made it prone to giving a "Banjo-y" sound and that was not nice in a jazz band setting

Comments about ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox 2 Guitar Combo Amp:

I LOVE the ZT Lunchbox!!!
I originally bought the LB because it is a tiny/light/powerful/great sounding amp.
I gig around town in NYC & take the subway, bus or walk, to most of my gigs.
The LB has made the whole process easy! Carrying amps up/down subway staircases, squeezing into buses, carrying amps up/down stairs in East Village basement clubs, etc, was a nightmare, but not anymore!
Now here's the kicker: I would have been happy if the LB was sufficient for the gigs - real happy, But I LOVE the sound - in addition to loving the size!!!
It is my FAVORITE amp. I have many other amps, & have in the past owned vintage Fender, Gibson, Ampeg, Marshall, newer Mesa Boogie, Polytone, JazzKat, Roland amps...I play the LB on gigs, in the studio, at home, as my 'first call-go to' amp - stairs or no stairs, subway or airplane. Man these ZT folks are the real deal - THANKS!!!

Comments about ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox 2 Guitar Combo Amp:

I've own some of the best amplifiers money can buy and I know tone. This little amp will make you forget what it is - when up at a good level it sounds so close to Tube Clean that it inspires and amazes.

I have owned Crate, Lab Series and Gallien Krueger solid state amps and this amp is very comprable to the Lab Series. Blow the GK stuff away for clean tones which is what this amp offers. A nice, portable, loud clean sound that sets a new standard.

Use a cab and the volume goes up 3 or 4 times but all the tone is there with just this little box. I use it with a Carl Martin Quattro and I can cover everything from Crazy Train to the Fix and everything in between. All this from a tiny little wonder that looks cool and is simple to use.

By itself at low volumes this amp is nothing special. When you turn it up and put pedals in front of it it comes alive.

Pro gear all the way. A pro can make this amp sound like just about any sound you can think of. I know I'm gushing but thanks so much to these American engineers that built something so useful and practical.

I mentioned that it does buzz and most of my amps have some noises at high volumes. On this they come a little sooner and a little "buzzier" but still - it's a friggin lunchbox size amp.

Just fantastic overall value.

Comments about ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox 2 Guitar Combo Amp:

I've recently purchased this amp and used in two live gigs. One was mic'd directly to the PA and the other was plugged into a 4x12 cab.

Totally portable at 9 pounds. I dreaded lugging my half stack to those small venues where I cant even turn up the volume, plus taking up 25% of the stage.

The only thing that I don't like is that it's so tiny that you almost trip over it. But I can live with that. Also the clean is just a tad dirty because you have to turn the gain up a bit to get anything out of it.

After my gig, other guitarists were interested and told me they were going to acquire it the next day.

Comments about ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox 2 Guitar Combo Amp:

Amazing sound out of such a little amp. Played it in two different bands with my Boss multi-effects pedal. It kicked. Cut through both 5 piece rock bands and it was only halfway up. I'm getting another one to play in stereo. Get one. You'll be amazed!!!!

Comments about ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox 2 Guitar Combo Amp:

As you would expect, at low volumes this amp lacks low end. The amp really begins to shine at higher volumes and has a very live, resonant feel. There is some hiss when you turn up the volume but still way below the instrument output and ambient room noise. Works well with an external speaker but I don't usually use it that way. Sounds great with my pedalboard in front. I use a dual amp setup on stage and this allowed me to eliminate one 60 pounder.
Just because it's small, don't mistake this for one of the 15 or 30 watt practice amps out there. This amp has it's own unique character that makes it hard to characterize but in short it's really useful and loads of fun.