Lunchbox amp from ZT... 200 watts and under 10 pounds!

[Steve A.]

It is unfortunate that this discussion (as well as much of the marketing B.S.) is focused on the "200 watt" claim. Bottom line is that the amp sounds great and puts out a lot of power. In discussions about "regular" amps it is often stated that 200 watts is only 3dB louder than 100 watts, which is only 3dB louder than 50 watts. In other words, watts can be a relatively meaningless figure- what is important is whether you like how the amp sounds and whether it is loud enough for your applications.

And I am guilty of wattage inflation myself- I love showing my Lunchbox to friends and telling them "this sucker puts out 200 watts!"

File this under it never hurts to ask:

Ken had mentioned in one of the guitar forums that the bass response of the amp could be increased if a custom EPROM chip was installed. I was the first to request this chip via email and since I live only a few miles from the ZT Amplifier R&D facility, he suggested that I bring the amp in so I could try a custom chip he was going to cook up.

I'd been very happy with the modified sound but mentioned that there was not a lot of clean headroom in the amp, which was most noticeable when I would use a multiprocessor like my Boss ME70: the patches sounded much dirtier than they do when I plug it into a clean sounding amp.

So I brought the amp back in yesterday and Ken removed the two clipping diodes installed after the gain control to give the amp some dirt (this was requested by some of the beta testers). With the diodes out I get an even better clean blues sound from the amp- and I can always use a pedal if I need more distortion. Still it would be nice to be able to plug right in and get the dirtier sound so I said that I might want to add a switch (even though it would void my warranty). He figured out the best way to do that and even gave me a few diodes.

I took the amp to a jam Wednesday night and it sounded better than ever.

Unfortunately, ZT Amplifiers is not set up to offer all customers the special services he has provided me as a de facto beta tester for some of his mods. I do think that the amp sounds much better with the custom bass-enhanced EPROM chip as do some of his professional customers (who have gotten the same custom chip that he designed for me). There is no infrastructure to offer these services to all of his customers although I think he might send a custom EPROM chip to anyone who asks (although he does want the stock EPROM chip back and might insist that it be returned first- I dunno). It can be tricky removing the 8 pin EPROM because it is epoxied to the socket at the factory in China.

Steve Ahola

[Enzo]

I think we focus on it because it is the aspect referred to in the thread title with !!! and it is a thrust of the sales hype as well.

[Steve A.]

I think we focus on it because it is the aspect referred to in the thread title with !!! and it is a thrust of the sales hype as well.

Yes, yes, yes- I was guilty of wattage inflation myself (especially how I titled this thread). Darn- I can edit my posts but I don't think I can edit thread titles. Yes, it was over the top to grab everybody's attention... my bad!

In any case I was just trying to redirect the discussion away from the wattage issue and on to other features. (I think that Ken Kantor posted on The Gear Page recently that the amp really puts out 65 watts continuously- the 135 watt rating is just for the intermittent peaks or whatever.)

Steve

[mlove3]

lunchbox

the lunchbox is very intriguing to me because it is apparently designed by a real engineer with a music gear background, they listened to customers and beta testers, and it sure makes a lot of sense for the scrawny middle aged gigging musician types (not me of course ) that know tone but lack muscle.

I'm not a pedal pusher so I'd have to change my whole rig and get a (yuck!) pedalboard for distortion and lead boost.

Q: How's the low end on that sucker?
They're coming out with a 1 12" soon, that sounds more my speed.

and as far as the wattage, 200W, 60W, who cares, how does it stack up to a 50W tube amp volume and girth wise? which is what most guys gig with here I'd guess.

[Steve A.]

the lunchbox is very intriguing to me because it is apparently designed by a real engineer with a music gear background, they listened to customers and beta testers, and it sure makes a lot of sense for the scrawny middle aged gigging musician types (not me of course ) that know tone but lack muscle.

I'm not a pedal pusher so I'd have to change my whole rig and get a (yuck!) pedalboard for distortion and lead boost.

Q: How's the low end on that sucker?
They're coming out with a 1 12" soon, that sounds more my speed.

and as far as the wattage, 200W, 60W, who cares, how does it stack up to a 50W tube amp volume and girth wise? which is what most guys gig with here I'd guess.

Sorry to take so long to answer your question. With the stock speaker the amp does cut through the mix very well- it makes itself heard! But to move a lot of air it does help to hook it up to an ext cab. As for the bass I had the designer mod my amp to increase the bass response at the expense of a few dB volume. I thought that the stock amp was a bit midrangy, but most of the guitarists I've talked to think its fine. I brought it back for a second mod when he removed the two clipping diodes he added because the beta testers were complaining that there wasn't enough distortion. (I like to be able to get loud relatively clean blues sounds- and then kick in a pedal if I want some dirt.) The people I've talked to think that the amount of distortion is fine with the clipping diodes in there. But that is comparing it to a low gain vintage amp. If you are playing a fire breathing higher gain amp you probably would want to use a pedal for distortion. You might want to check out the Route 66 because you can set the compressor for a clean 6dB boost (you can set it for more gain but that will add compression).

One really great guitarist I know had to stop driving so when he doesn't get a ride he takes public transportation to his gigs. He usually brings along his $400Ethos pedal which is like a Dumble in a can- two channels that work pretty much like an ODS. However for the best Dumble emulation he uses a Zendrive pedal.

Over the years I have played amps that are a joy to play- the sound and response is really nice. Most of those amps are tube but there are some solid state as well. (There are a lot of amps that just don't sound or feel right to me.) But the Lunchbox is a lot of fun to play- and it is amazing how Ken did that with a DSP chip (although the input and output are analog).

Steve Ahola