ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox Jr., yes, for acoustic

[Outre']

this post is just a FWIW post from a numbskull who will try anything, make anything, etc to make my life easier as i haul my gear, i walk everywhere. i busk a lot, and am always looking for the most compact setup, well i grabbed a ZT Lunchbox Jr early this summer(easy to try as i own all the rest of ZT amps), to use for my electric guitar, not long after noodling with it grabbed 2 more, because i'm wired like that. anywho, these are amazing for the electric guitar, so i plugged my acoustic into the Jr...to say i was surprised would undersell my reaction. i thought the Jr sounded better than my ZT Acoustic amp. it has zero coloration, amazing headroom, just what comes from the guitar, i use Duncan Magmics. it gets loud(30 watts they claim), and the single tone knob is brilliant. i like it tonally better than Fishmans for certain, haven't a/b'd them against all the acoustic amps out there, but for what it is and what it has done so far, i dont need to really, im sold on this being at the least my main busking acoustic amp. i have used this amp several times busking with both the acoustic and electric. yes it's small, yes it has a small speaker, but again i was beside myself with how this sounds, curiously loud. my setup is my acoustic, running into my Zoom A3, into my looper, stereo'd out to my ZT's on both sides of me. it's one thing to go on per the sound, but i let my friend play my setup while i stood on the sidewalk approx where peeps stroll by, my my. volume all the way up, and gain only at maybe 2-3,

now the best part, you use a 12v battery pack, ZT sells one, but to much $$ for what it is, so i made a pair of my own, works like a charm. and the battery life from the 8 AA's is amazing, so far 2 full nights of 4 hour busking and they still had good life left.

oh yeah, it gets better, it has a 9v out, yup, and it will power up to 2 pedals. in all seriousness, this is now my favorite amp ever. no it's no Fender, Marshall, Roland, Carvin, Benz, etc, etc, but for what it is, im in love. oh, and for giggles i did plug my acoustic straight into my Lunchbox(sr, lol), and the sr. sounded voiced strictly for electric(darn).

as i stated at the beginning i create things, frankenstein is more like it, though the results are quite good, i am going make a ZT jr into a larger acoustic amp. i will give all the deatils and pics, etc when i complete the project...i know this will be good, can't wait

i'll uplod some pics of my setup, and pics of this setup in it's travelling form FWIW

[Thisisme]

Originally Posted by Outre'

this post is just a FWIW post from a numbskull who will try anything, make anything, etc to make my life easier as i haul my gear, i walk everywhere. i busk a lot, and am always looking for the most compact setup, well i grabbed a ZT Lunchbox Jr early this summer(easy to try as i own all the rest of ZT amps), to use for my electric guitar, not long after noodling with it grabbed 2 more, because i'm wired like that. anywho, these are amazing for the electric guitar, so i plugged my acoustic into the Jr...to say i was surprised would undersell my reaction. i thought the Jr sounded better than my ZT Acoustic amp. it has zero coloration, amazing headroom, just what comes from the guitar, i use Duncan Magmics. it gets loud(30 watts they claim), and the single tone knob is brilliant. i like it tonally better than Fishmans for certain, haven't a/b'd them against all the acoustic amps out there, but for what it is and what it has done so far, i dont need to really, im sold on this being at the least my main busking acoustic amp. i have used this amp several times busking with both the acoustic and electric. yes it's small, yes it has a small speaker, but again i was beside myself with how this sounds, curiously loud. my setup is my acoustic, running into my Zoom A3, into my looper, stereo'd out to my ZT's on both sides of me. it's one thing to go on per the sound, but i let my friend play my setup while i stood on the sidewalk approx where peeps stroll by, my my. volume all the way up, and gain only at maybe 2-3,

now the best part, you use a 12v battery pack, ZT sells one, but to much $$ for what it is, so i made a pair of my own, works like a charm. and the battery life from the 8 AA's is amazing, so far 2 full nights of 4 hour busking and they still had good life left.

oh yeah, it gets better, it has a 9v out, yup, and it will power up to 2 pedals. in all seriousness, this is now my favorite amp ever. no it's no Fender, Marshall, Roland, Carvin, Benz, etc, etc, but for what it is, im in love. oh, and for giggles i did plug my acoustic straight into my Lunchbox(sr, lol), and the sr. sounded voiced strictly for electric(darn).

as i stated at the beginning i create things, frankenstein is more like it, though the results are quite good, i am going make a ZT jr into a larger acoustic amp. i will give all the deatils and pics, etc when i complete the project...i know this will be good, can't wait

i'll uplod some pics of my setup, and pics of this setup in it's travelling form FWIW

Thanks for that. I am going to order one of these for my acoustic (mainly) not playd through one before. If i dont like it i can send it back. Was thinking of the yamaha THRCA aswel but dont think that will be loud enough they say its only twice as loud as the acoustic itself. What batteries have you used to get all these hours of playing through the lunchbox jr? How loud does it get with a clean acoustic sound? Louder than the yamaha thr5a or the roland mobile cube ac? Does the lunchbox sound good with the zoom a3 not plugged in? (if not i can use a pedal to sort that out)

[jonfields45]

I was able to get a quite usable acoustic tone, at least for a Taylor T5z, with the Lunchbox Jr.

[mr. beaumont]

Very cool amps.

OP, can you go into a little bit, about how you made your battery pack?

[Thisisme]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

I was able to get a quite usable acoustic tone, at least for a Taylor T5z, with the Lunchbox Jr.

Nice how loud would you say it is on a clean acoustic tone compared to a mobile cube ac or even a roland ac33 for that matter?

[Thisisme]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Very cool amps.

OP, can you go into a little bit, about how you made your battery pack?

Check this out. It will be out very soon iv already pre orderd about a year and a half ago. Its perfect for pedals. Dont know if it will work with the lunchbox jr though i think it would. Get a power bank and a ripcord and youl be away. Much better than those portable battery power supplies you get for pedals

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...sb-power-cable

[6L6]

I LOVE my ZT Lunchbox amp!

You absolutely HAVE to try one of these out to believe how good they sound and how much POWER they pack. Unbelievable!

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by Thisisme

Nice how loud would you say it is on a clean acoustic tone compared to a mobile cube ac or even a roland ac33 for that matter?

I've owned all three, but not at the same time... The Mobile Cube AC is toy and I'm not sure what purpose it serves well (maybe playing a Yamaha Silent guitar to people in your living room). The AC33 sounds great for acoustic guitar and vocals and can cover a decent sized outdoor gig. My duo played for ~75 people under a pavilion with a battery mixer into an AC33 (also on batteries as there was no AC in the pavilion) sitting behind us on a picnic table. People walking by at a reasonable distance outside the pavilion stopped to listen. I think the LB Jr might be the loudest, but to get a tone I liked I had to put it on the floor near a wall, which limits placement and possibly projection.

[Thisisme]

So i purchased a lunchbox jr and its incredible for acoustic guitar i like the sound nearly as much as my ac33 and is much better than the acoustic channel on my street cube ex. And it is crazy loud. One of the best things i have ever purchased. I will be doing a review on it as an acoustic amp soon

[fotofantom]

Originally Posted by Thisisme

So i purchased a lunchbox jr and its incredible for acoustic guitar i like the sound nearly as much as my ac33 and is much better than the acoustic channel on my street cube ex. And it is crazy loud. One of the best things i have ever purchased. I will be doing a review on it as an acoustic amp soon

I'm assuming you have an active pickup or a preamp going into the LB Jr., right? Would the LB Jr. work with a passive pickup, like a K&K mini, going straight into the amp?