ZT Lunchbox: A must have for every guitarist?

[MN Punk]

Originally Posted by brookdalebill

My friend Charlie bought one.
He did not bond with it.
I used it on two gigs, and I did not bond with it either.
Sounded like a 70's Peavey, to me.
MID-rangey as heck, to my ol' ears.

Mid-rangey is kind of what they were aiming for with this design. For a lot of band situations, a lot of people consider that a very good thing. This is the Telecaster forum after all. People around here value a brighter, thinner tone.

Personally, I like the fuller sound it gets with the LB extension cab plugged in, but then I play in a little trio where I need to do a little more sonic heavy-lifting during our live sets than a lot of guitarists in more typical situations.

[MN Punk]

Well, I guess that previous amp may have been a fluke after all. This weekend I played a gig on a fairly large stage for the Zombie Pub Crawl here in Minneapolis, and we used my little ZT Lunchbox stack as the "backline" amp for three bands in a row. No problems at all, and once again everybody was amazed with the sound quality.

I bought this to be a "backup" rig, but I don't think I ever want to go back to hauling large amps to gigs anymore. The Lunchbox is going to remain my go-to stage amp for the foreseeable future.

[vjf1968]

May have to consider getting the extension cab for my Lunchbox. I keep putting it off.

Like MNPunk I play in a trio that is mostly driven by the bass player so having an amp with a lot of bottom would be wasted. I have to cover both rhythm and lead. The 6.5 inch speaker lets me cut through the mix and be heard which IMHO is more important than having "killer tone".

A lot of people tend to worry about the amp sounds like on its own instead of hearing how it sounds when it is surrounded by other instruments.

[vjf1968]

Originally Posted by MN Punk

Well, I guess that previous amp may have been a fluke after all. This weekend I played a gig on a fairly large stage for the Zombie Pub Crawl here in Minneapolis, and we used my little ZT Lunchbox stack as the "backline" amp for three bands in a row. No problems at all, and once again everybody was amazed with the sound quality.

I bought this to be a "backup" rig, but I don't think I ever want to go back to hauling large amps to gigs anymore. The Lunchbox is going to remain my go-to stage amp for the foreseeable future.

MN Punk. Just got the extension cab. I am still waiting for Amazon to ship the carrying bag and speaker cable. How do you have your extension cab set phase wise. 0 or 180?

If I am pleased with this set up I may just unload the Club 12.

[MN Punk]

Originally Posted by vjf1968

MN Punk. Just got the extension cab. I am still waiting for Amazon to ship the carrying bag and speaker cable. How do you have your extension cab set phase wise. 0 or 180?

If I am pleased with this set up I may just unload the Club 12.

I had to set it at 180 for the cabs to be correctly in phase. I assumed this was due to my mistake, because I made the cable myself using red/black "lamp cord" wire from radio shack and a pair of L-angled jack plugs. I might have accidentally soldered the wire backwards on one end.

[vjf1968]

Originally Posted by MN Punk

I had to set it at 180 for the cabs to be correctly in phase. I assumed this was due to my mistake, because I made the cable myself using red/black "lamp cord" wire from radio shack and a pair of L-angled jack plugs. I might have accidentally soldered the wire backwards on one end.

I had to set mine to 180 also. I broke down and bought a short speaker cable to try it out. Set to 0 it sounded really thin. Set at 180 it is nice and full. Unless you made the very speaker cable I just bought, you didn't solder incorrectly.

[edipo]

Originally Posted by MN Punk

Interesting to hear from somebody who really likes the dirt. Most here seem to mainly prize it for the clean tone.

Hey, I've been gigging with for more than a year now. Indoors, outdoors, with and without extension cabs…

I've used with the big box rat, mxr blue box, devi ever rocket and various drives, zvex superduper… it takes dirty really well. Boosts too.

When I play heavier stuff with one artist (with the eventual blue box, palm mute stuff with the E down to C) I always ask for a 4x12. I think the small speaker will not take it.

With different bands, I don't need anything else. It takes drives really well. I've used with a LTD, distotron, DLS and it all sounded good.

[mindlobster]

I like the clean purely because it makes a better platform for adding dirt! I use Tech 21 Blonde pedal at a very crunchy setting :-)

[binkydognose]

How's an acoustic/electric sound through the lunchbox?

[vjf1968]

Originally Posted by binkydognose

How's an acoustic/electric sound through the lunchbox?

I ran my Taylor T5 through it and it didn't sound bad. But they do have the Acoustic Lunchbox that was designed for the timbre of an acoustic/electric.
Of course Taylor marketed the T5 as an "electric" guitar capable of acoustic sounds due to the pickup attached to the body of the guitar

[MN Punk]

Last month, I scored a Keytar off Craigslist. An 80s classic, the Roland AX-1, for just $220. At that price I could not resist and snagged it on impulse. I've added an ABY to my pedal board so I can play synth through the Lunchbox as well, and it doesn't sound half-bad at all!!! I'm working on writing a song or two for my band to use it in our set now. :)

[mindlobster]

Cool! What are you using to generate synth sounds? The AX-1 is just a controller, right?

[JeremyGuitar]

We just shot a video review of the ZT Lunchbox. A brief look at the top and back panels and then a demonstration of the sound when mic'ed, direct in, and then both.

[MN Punk]

Originally Posted by mindlobster

Cool! What are you using to generate synth sounds? The AX-1 is just a controller, right?

Yep. I'm running it through an equally-retro Boss DS-330 ("Dr. Stynth"). I put the ABY before my pedal chain, so I have access to all my guitar pedals as ways to molest my synth sound, too.

The only problem is, I'm an even worse keyboard player than I am a guitarist, so it's going to take me some time in the woodshed to prepare anything stage-worthy with it.

[mindlobster]

Ah, yeah...just looking at the DS-330 online. I must admit, I never heard of it. That IS getting retro...but it's the kind of retro most people don't want! Ha...that's why they're cheap :-)

[MN Punk]

Hello Music has them today for $230 plus shipping ($205, if you use the code HM25OFF when you order.)

At that price, I'm tempted to buy a second one and run them in stereo.

[RevMike]

Hey. Picked up one of these lil guys in a trade the other day. The idea was that it'd be a little toss around amp I could leave in the rehearsal space. Well last night was rehearsal and guess what? It came back home after. I could not believe my ears. I used a strat straight in and I love the tone and never moved the vol over 1/4. Great amp. The other guys now want one and I'm already checking out the extention cab.

[mindlobster]

Originally Posted by RevMike

Hey. Picked up one of these lil guys in a trade the other day. The idea was that it'd be a little toss around amp I could leave in the rehearsal space. Well last night was rehearsal and guess what? It came back home after. I could not believe my ears. I used a strat straight in and I love the tone and never moved the vol over 1/4. Great amp. The other guys now want one and I'm already checking out the extention cab.

What gain setting are you using for the Strat?

Yeah, the cab is calling me, too...I already bought 2 guitars and a compressor this year, tho. Must...resist..!

Sent from my iPad using TDPRI

[henry b]

I,m tempted for the ext cab too.

[bluemood]

I bought a Zt lunchbox ,I'm using it in a big band setting and I must say it works great .
I bought a small backpack with wheels to take it around and now I can just walk in with guitar in one hand amp in another .
I don't even miss not having reverb for od a fulltone fulldrive II is working .