Members Will Chen Posted March 1, 2010 Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 Took delivery of a ZT Club on Friday and got a chance to audition it over the weekend and here are my initial impressions: It looks too small to be even functional given the size of it's speaker! I mean, it looks more like the boxes 12 inch speakers are delivered in than a full blown amp. Consequentially, it's much denser than one might expect so while extremely lightweight (less than 30 pounds) it's still heavy given it's size. Make sense? Initially I was just a bit let down by the amp run clean as it's much darker than I expected. even with the treble cranked, I just wasn't getting the highs I hoped for. However, once the volume was cranked beyond bedroom levels the treble response was much better. Still pretty far from chimey, but good. Conversely, there is low end to spare. Those preferring big low end warmth vs chime will be very impressed. I imagine Jazz guys are going to adore this amp. Running the gain up the amp breaks up in a somewhat mids rich Fender-esque fashion. The amp isn't incredibly dynamically response with the gain maxed out, but it sounds quite good and could easily be run without any pedals for those who only require a moderate amount of breakup to get their tones. I also tested the amp running a Pathfinder 15r and Digitech RP355 into the loop return and...damn, it's magical. I imagine this might end up being the way many users run the amp with an external preamp. The slightly constricted treble response from the built in preamp is opened up and it is extremely transparent (though still "guitar" voiced). And this thing is scary loud and I mean that literally. I was scared to crank it up much past noon (with the gain also cranked up to max) for fear of what it might do to my hearing within a small room. I brought it to a rehearsal over the weekend (small room and drummer using hot rods) and ran it a little over one the whole time and never had an issue being heard. A couple strange things about it: The amp needs to warm up. During the first few minutes of operation, some strange background noises can be heard. the amp handle smells strange. I realize new amps have all kinds of interesting oders, but the handle smells almost like gasoline. I hoping it will dissipate in a couple days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted March 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 Bump for the nooners... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Interesting. I heard a youtube demo of it that sounded a tad trebly. Guy was playing a tele through it. But it sounds like you put it through it's paces. Makes me want to hear another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poolshark Posted March 1, 2010 Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 Interesting. I really like my lunchbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted March 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 Interesting. I really like my lunchbox. I've only played the LB briefly a couple times but liked it as well. This is like an LB on steroids... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sylvesterlowery Posted March 1, 2010 Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 My buddy Paul is getting one in to test out as well. He blew up two Lunchboxes, the third is holding up well.I think he was sent the Club for durability testing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted March 1, 2010 Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 So far, doesn't sound too interesting to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted March 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 My buddy Paul is getting one in to test out as well. He blew up two Lunchboxes, the third is holding up well.I think he was sent the Club for durability testing... I followed that thread. He had some serious heat issues. I ran it in rehearsal for about 2 hours straight and didn't have any heat issues like the early Lunchboxes had. The rear chassis just got a little warm. Can't wait to put some more time on it tonight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted March 1, 2010 Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 I'm still waiting for that Bugera V5/Vox AC4TV8 shootout! :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted March 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 So far, doesn't sound too interesting to me... If you're a pedal based player looking for a clean tonal palette, imagine one loud enough to handle any gig which could be easily tucked under one arm, carrying your pedal board in the other, and an axe strapped to your back. Ideal for those who like to travel light... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 1, 2010 Members Share Posted March 1, 2010 [YOUTUBE]Rdy9cVfbXlY[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]_KmaPrL_Eho[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]1SNiou6lT7c[/YOUTUBE] Billy has done a few demos...pretty good guy to deal with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 2, 2010 Members Share Posted March 2, 2010 played through a Lunchbox a few days ago...I really liked it! Wouldn't mind trying the club model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted March 2, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2010 Put some more time in last night. Previously, the primary guitar I had been testing with was my PRS SE singlecut with Lace Alumitone pickups. Last night I wanted to focus on single coil tones so I played my SX SST57 which has a Rose Pickup in the bridge and the stock middle and neck and my Highland Royal (335 copy) with GFS Mean 90's. As seems to be the case with everything lately, I much preferred the amps response with single coils which added more snap and articulation. Still stand by my initial assessment that the amp is a bit dark at typical bedroom practice volume. Perhaps dark is too strong a word, the tonal response seems very midrange focused compared to other solid state amps I currently have (Peavey Bandit, Vox Pathfinder 15r, Tech 21 Trademark 60). I focused on simply playing and enjoying the clean tones from the amp last night and I'm really starting to understand and bond with the amp's voicing. Running the gain at noon and below with moderate output pups really allows an extremely subtle amount of breakup perfect for boosting sustain and adding just a touch of compression to an otherwise clean tone. Very, very sweet. Mark my words, this amp is going to be a darling with Jazz cats. Really hits to sweet spot in terms of size/portability vs cost without compromising tonally. Very nice indeed. I also experimented running some pedals and my Digitech RP355 into the front end. Pedal wise I tried a 808 converted TS9, Moen Overdrive (kinda like a TS9 with a preset clean signal mixed in, better lows, and smoother highs), GFS Blues Drive Classic, and Dano V2 Drive. The TS9, GFS, and Dano Drive all sounded great but the Moen sounded unusually dark. I didn't much care for the Digitech RP355 into the front of the amp with the exception of a few OD models. It seemed many of the amp models are already forward in the mids which compounded the already forward mids at the lower volumes I was playing at last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 2, 2010 Members Share Posted March 2, 2010 Hmm, that's interesting. But, you say that it opens up once you turn up the volume? Do you think it's the speaker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted March 2, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2010 Hmm, that's interesting. But, you say that it opens up once you turn up the volume? Do you think it's the speaker? No, I think it's the gain/volume interaction of the preamp as running my pathfinder into the effects return sounded great. I'm really liking the tonal response of the amp, just been playing a touch louder than I normally would. Honestly, so far it's seemed the louder it's played the better it sounds which is par for the course for high powered amps (especially tube amps, but even many ss amps). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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