*Previously posted on TGP
Ken Kantor was kind enough to let me demo one of his Lunchbox 2 amps for a few weeks and I just wanted to give my impressions and suggestions.
Specs:
For those that don't know, the LB2 is a 200 watt solid state Combo amp about the size of a lunchbox (I had a wild west heroes one in kindergarten). It weighs in at just under 9 lbs. It features headphone out w/ volume control, 8 ohm speaker out, speaker defeat switch, aux in, and voltage switch. The controls are Gain, Volume, Tone and Reverb.
Circumstances:
I was able to try out the LB2 in environments ranging from a large church to an outdoor festival (w/ Phil Keaggy-lucky me!!). The gear used was a tele, and Esquire, and a Gibby LP. A variety of dirt pedals was also used as well as some other misc. pedals.
Build Quality:
Awesome. Everything from the casing, handle, switches, and knobs feel smooth and solid. The only thing that looks stronger than it is is the grill, but it does it's job. I have a lot of faith this will hold up in gigging situations.
Sound Quality:
I am a believer in the LB2. Everyone who heard/ experienced it couldn't believe how much volume was coming from this little box. But if it was loud and had poor tone it wouldn't be impressive. Fortunately the LB2 has very good tone. It does lack bass, but come on, it's a 6.5" speaker. It has a pleasant voice with an emphasis on the mids that is very musical. Many an engineer told me it sounded great through the system and sat in a mix very well. It feels and sounds more like a small tube amp which was very impressive to me considering all the solid state wastes of wood and metal I've played. It stays clean to uncomfortable volume levels. Also it takes pedals extremely well. Everything from a TIM, Keeley Rat, AM DS1 and 808, and a few others sounded stellar through this. I played the aforementioned outdoor gig with this and set the LB2 on top of the backline Marshall halfstack. It drew a few weird looks that turned into smiles when we started to play. If you check out the ZZ TOp VH1 special, that's what my tele sounded similar to with the AM DS-1/Pro engaged (although my playing is nowhere near the stratosphere Mr. Gibbons occupies).
One concern I had that I shared with Mr, Kantor was the LB2s sensitivity to less than adequate power conditions. It had slightly more 'white noise' than amps next to it, plugged into the same power and signal chain w/ noiseless pickups. In good, regulated power situations it was silent like the others. It only bothered me in smaller rooms where I was mic'd.It seemed louder in those situations. Overall it was negligible, but worth mentioning.
Also, the speakerout is a great feature. The LB2 becomes a very loud head into an 8 or 16 ohm cab. I plugged mine into a 16 ohm 4x12 and nearly broke some windows in my church (with a smile on my face).
Customer Service:
Again, awesome. I'm a nobody, but Ken and Sara treated me like a very important customer. Their communication was great and I couldn't be more pleased with them. This is very important to me. It shows they stand behind their product and believe in it and want people to be happy with it. I feel I'd be taken care of if ever the situation called for it. Thanks guys.
Suggestions:
Aside from the issue mentioned previously, I did have one suggestion.
The reverb control to me is useless. I know it's not a true reverb but is supposed to mimic the early reflections of an open back cab. However, at extreme settings it simply didn't sound good and anything less was to subtle to be noticed.
To me , a better use of the knob would be to either 1.) substitute it and the tone knob for a 2 knob tone stack for a little more tweakability, or better yet 2.) make it a digital reverb such as the popular pedals based ont he Belton chip such as the Mr. SPringy etc.. That would be truly awesome- a small loud and clean combo with a decent spring reverb sound.
Maybe there's space limitations in there, and I'm by no means an electrical engineer, but I think it would be a better use of that knob to go either of these routes.
Overall Impression:
I gigged it. I practiced with it. I tried to be ultra critical. In the end, I bought it. I'd buy it again. It's a great unique product and it's practicality is only overshadowed by it's musicality. Very nice job. Thanks to ZT so much for the opportunity and the good deal. Everyone else, get your hands on one!
Ken Kantor was kind enough to let me demo one of his Lunchbox 2 amps for a few weeks and I just wanted to give my impressions and suggestions.
Specs:
For those that don't know, the LB2 is a 200 watt solid state Combo amp about the size of a lunchbox (I had a wild west heroes one in kindergarten). It weighs in at just under 9 lbs. It features headphone out w/ volume control, 8 ohm speaker out, speaker defeat switch, aux in, and voltage switch. The controls are Gain, Volume, Tone and Reverb.
Circumstances:
I was able to try out the LB2 in environments ranging from a large church to an outdoor festival (w/ Phil Keaggy-lucky me!!). The gear used was a tele, and Esquire, and a Gibby LP. A variety of dirt pedals was also used as well as some other misc. pedals.
Build Quality:
Awesome. Everything from the casing, handle, switches, and knobs feel smooth and solid. The only thing that looks stronger than it is is the grill, but it does it's job. I have a lot of faith this will hold up in gigging situations.
Sound Quality:
I am a believer in the LB2. Everyone who heard/ experienced it couldn't believe how much volume was coming from this little box. But if it was loud and had poor tone it wouldn't be impressive. Fortunately the LB2 has very good tone. It does lack bass, but come on, it's a 6.5" speaker. It has a pleasant voice with an emphasis on the mids that is very musical. Many an engineer told me it sounded great through the system and sat in a mix very well. It feels and sounds more like a small tube amp which was very impressive to me considering all the solid state wastes of wood and metal I've played. It stays clean to uncomfortable volume levels. Also it takes pedals extremely well. Everything from a TIM, Keeley Rat, AM DS1 and 808, and a few others sounded stellar through this. I played the aforementioned outdoor gig with this and set the LB2 on top of the backline Marshall halfstack. It drew a few weird looks that turned into smiles when we started to play. If you check out the ZZ TOp VH1 special, that's what my tele sounded similar to with the AM DS-1/Pro engaged (although my playing is nowhere near the stratosphere Mr. Gibbons occupies).
One concern I had that I shared with Mr, Kantor was the LB2s sensitivity to less than adequate power conditions. It had slightly more 'white noise' than amps next to it, plugged into the same power and signal chain w/ noiseless pickups. In good, regulated power situations it was silent like the others. It only bothered me in smaller rooms where I was mic'd.It seemed louder in those situations. Overall it was negligible, but worth mentioning.
Also, the speakerout is a great feature. The LB2 becomes a very loud head into an 8 or 16 ohm cab. I plugged mine into a 16 ohm 4x12 and nearly broke some windows in my church (with a smile on my face).
Customer Service:
Again, awesome. I'm a nobody, but Ken and Sara treated me like a very important customer. Their communication was great and I couldn't be more pleased with them. This is very important to me. It shows they stand behind their product and believe in it and want people to be happy with it. I feel I'd be taken care of if ever the situation called for it. Thanks guys.
Suggestions:
Aside from the issue mentioned previously, I did have one suggestion.
The reverb control to me is useless. I know it's not a true reverb but is supposed to mimic the early reflections of an open back cab. However, at extreme settings it simply didn't sound good and anything less was to subtle to be noticed.
To me , a better use of the knob would be to either 1.) substitute it and the tone knob for a 2 knob tone stack for a little more tweakability, or better yet 2.) make it a digital reverb such as the popular pedals based ont he Belton chip such as the Mr. SPringy etc.. That would be truly awesome- a small loud and clean combo with a decent spring reverb sound.
Maybe there's space limitations in there, and I'm by no means an electrical engineer, but I think it would be a better use of that knob to go either of these routes.
Overall Impression:
I gigged it. I practiced with it. I tried to be ultra critical. In the end, I bought it. I'd buy it again. It's a great unique product and it's practicality is only overshadowed by it's musicality. Very nice job. Thanks to ZT so much for the opportunity and the good deal. Everyone else, get your hands on one!
