New ZT Amplifiers Jazz Club coming this spring!

**morroben** · 02-11-2017, 02:14 PM

Well, that's disappointing...

**vernon** · 02-11-2017, 02:21 PM

It just doesn't make sense to me... maybe I'm missing something.

**PB+J** · 02-11-2017, 02:24 PM

wow that price is surprising. Over $1500? Why?

What does it have to justify that price? ZT amps were early leaders in the micro solid state amp sweepstakes. It's hard for me to see what they are offering that's worth that much money.

**Alter** · 02-11-2017, 02:56 PM

For me what makes the little lunchbox so unique and useful is not just the tiny size, but the versatility as well. It can not only play a jazz gig, but it can play an electric (non jazz guitar) gig or rehearsal as well. My henriksen or aer can't do that, and that's the reason why i kept the zt lunchbox. This new one goes for something different of course, 12 speaker and jazz boutique territory, and it will face a lot of competition at that price, especially when it forgoes the extreme portability of the 6.5 speaker one.

It 's just been great to be able to do that kind of gig on a backback amplifier

**PB+J** · 02-11-2017, 06:16 PM

I have a lunchbox AND a lunch box Jr, great amps, great idea, well executed. The purple $2000 jazz box just is not making sense to me

**Klatu** · 02-11-2017, 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by Alter

For me what makes the little lunchbox so unique and useful is not just the tiny size, but the versatility as well. It can not only play a jazz gig, but it can play an electric (non jazz guitar) gig or rehearsal as well. My henriksen or aer can't do that, and that's the reason why i kept the zt lunchbox. This new one goes for something different of course, 12 speaker and jazz boutique territory, and it will face a lot of competition at that price, especially when it forgoes the extreme portability of the 6.5 speaker one.

It 's just been great to be able to do that kind of gig on a backback amplifier

I can't believe that sound came from a Lunchbox. Amazing!

What did you use for overdrive, and were you running through a PA?

**mr. beaumont** · 02-11-2017, 09:40 PM

Oh, the little lb is something!

**EarlBrother** · 02-16-2017, 12:59 AM

Jeff now thats a $2000.00 sound ok maybe not but 1500 yea!Thanks for posting.

**EarlBrother** · 02-17-2017, 08:33 AM

Oh by the way i only play the subways of Vienna,Geneva,Zurich and Dubia.So i should be good.LOL

**MilesPG** · 02-17-2017, 08:35 AM

I got a second hand ZT Club some months ago, sound is quite good but build quality is crap. The frontpanel fell apart, the wood and the lacquer are cheap quality, looks like a cheap plastic box, but the worst thing is that the preamp stopped working after some weeks with no apparent reason, the amp was barely used and of course can't be repair because they don't sell those PCBs. I'm now using it as an amplified monitor through the FX loop.

Honestly, at that price point is a no sense, the cabinet and the finish look exactly the same as the Club in a different color, I guess the electronics will be better, but not worth 1500-2000 for sure.

My 2 cents.

**Woody Sound** · 02-17-2017, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by eigenbart

I got a second hand ZT Club some months ago, sound is quite good but build quality is crap. The frontpanel fell apart, the wood and the lacquer are cheap quality, looks like a cheap plastic box, but the worst thing is that the preamp stopped working after some weeks with no apparent reason, the amp was barely used and of course can't be repair because they don't sell those PCBs. I'm now using it as an amplified monitor through the FX loop.

Honestly, at that price point is a no sense, the cabinet and the finish look exactly the same as the Club in a different color, I guess the electronics will be better, but not worth 1500-2000 for sure.

My 2 cents.

The Lunch Box seems to be readily available on the used market, but very rarely the Club. I always though of that as a good sign, that people like them and hold on to them.

**ugarte** · 02-18-2017, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by PB+J

wow that price is surprising. Over $1500? Why?

What does it have to justify that price? ZT amps were early leaders in the micro solid state amp sweepstakes. It's hard for me to see what they are offering that's worth that much money.

I agree, designing a SS amp like this is not a major engineering feat, and these are boutique tube amp prices.

I realize not everyone is handy with a soldering iron, but really, I would estimate there is like <$50 of components in this.

**rpjazzguitar** · 02-18-2017, 01:56 PM

At the risk of belaboring the point:

I have the original LB. It sits in a closet, unused. I can't get a sound out of it that I like, even with sophisticated signal processing.

I also have a Crate GFX15. I bought it years ago, new, for $79. This is a 12 watt SS amp.

The Crate sounds dramatically better than the LB. Beyond that, the usable volume of the Crate is comparable to the LB. That's because the LB needs to be on the floor to have any bass response at all. It's screechy on a stand. But, the Crate sounds fine at head height.

I don't recommend this Crate model because of reliability issues (the speaker wire has no strain relief where it enters the chassis). I don't recommend the LB either.

I am aware that some great players have used the LB successfully. It just was not my experience.

**Alter** · 02-18-2017, 04:30 PM

I can't believe that sound came from a Lunchbox. Amazing!

What did you use for overdrive, and were you running through a PA?

i used a Xotic RC Booster, and used the amp as a stage monitor, while miking it for the PA. When playing with humbuckers (my 335) i just use the volume knob and the amps drive is usable for jazz and blues

The Lunch Box seems to be readily available on the used market, but very rarely the Club.

i think thats because people read 200 watts (poor advertising by the way) and they expect gozilla to come out of the little speaker

Then they realize that the cleaner headroom is noticeably lower, hence they sell the amp (thats how i got mine). The club model is not so common, but also comes closer to what players expect before buying, bigger speaker and all.