JOYO Zombie-II BanTamp XL Series Mini Amp Head 20W Hybrid Tube 2-Channel Guitar Amplifier with Bluetooth (No Sound, Need Extra Speaker)

I ordered this amp to downsize from a 100 watt head to something more appropriate for my home. The reviews and videos I watched about this amp were spot-on and I couldn't be happier with how it performs. The main feature I needed was an effects loop so that I could plug other modellers into the effects return and send the audio out through my 1x12 cabinet. I've reached the point where I am stale on emulated guitar speakers and I want an actual speaker with a microphone in my signal chain. Since this amp handles 8 ohm and 16 ohm speakers, I was covered and many others should be as well. You can also use the headphones as a line out since it has an emulated cabinet in that signal, but I don't think it sounds the greatest, and I wouldn't use it in a mix. I was expecting to be disappointed with the lack of traditional tone stack controls, but what's cool is you can come up with some really decent high-gain tones with different combinations of the gain, tone and volume controls. I have found some really nice settings fairly quickly just trying out different knob positions. I've used it with a guitar directly plugged in, and I also have re-amped several sources through it to take advantage of this amp's great tones. I think using it to re-amp has been more fun since I can set up loop points in my mixes, then adjust the 3 knobs until the guitar tone sits nicely within the mix. Don't be fooled by the 20 watt power size....this little lunch box gets LOUD. I have mine running through my speaker at full volume in my isolation box and it does its job well. I don't play out or in a band, so I don't know how it would function in that area, but for home use it is more than ample. In case you're wondering, since it has a solid state power amp, you do not need to have it connected to a speaker at all times. You are free to use just headphones with it if you prefer. I haven't tried the bluetooth line in stuff yet as I have never done that with any amp, but I assume it would work just fine. It also comes with a foot switch to change amp channels if you want to do that. After working with this amp for a few days and enjoying how it sounds, I want to also get the Jackman (JCM 800) version as well to have most heavy sounds covered between this and the Jackman. For the price point, I am not certain you'll find a better deal that has so much to offer. I sweated this purchase for far too long and I'm glad I took advantage of an Amazon sale to get it for around $150 USD.

I have owned the zombie 2, meteor 2, and the Jackman. I ran them all through a 1x12 celestion vintage 30. It's not even close, by far the best sounding with both the clean channel and the distortion channel is the jackman. It gives you that classic rock clean as well as distortion It is not super high gain so if you need it to play the heavier stuff simply throw a tube screamer on your pedal board. The high gain versions mentioned zombie and meteor sound awesome as well and they are definitely high gain but they are not amps you can play and listen to all day without your ears bleeding. The Jackman you can play all day and you won't get tired of it on either channel It also doesn't matter whether you're playing a Les Paul or strat both are going to sound great. (Zombie isn't single coil strat friendly) You will have to crank the gain on the Jackman to get good distortion out of it but again just run a tube screamer and you have a classic Marshall style setup. Joyo has killed it with the jackman !! Not to mention having an effects loop is the cherry on top. It is also plenty loud to play with a band

I bought the Zombie 2 for the dual channel option and I'm glad I did. I wanted a high gain amplifier for down tuned metal, hard rock, and rock guitar playing but I didn't want to have to sell a kidney on the black market to get it. After watching a couple YouTube videos with positive reviews I decided to give it a shot. I own several joyo pedals and have learned to appreciate their products. Just because they're inexpensive doesn't mean they're junk. The good: The high gain side of the amp is amazing! Having a tube in the preamp section gives the high gain channel a definite warmth and push. It's responsive even without using added overdrive and with passive pickups. While I do recommend an eq pedal to get the most out of the tone, it's got great power and tone just as it is. An eq, and a little added overdrive(really recommend the joyo maximum od) and she's a raging beast. Great lows, clear highs and a fine balance with the mids. Power to spare too. I run mine into a Marshall 2x12 with celestion V30 speakers and I can bury a drummer. Easily enough power for small venues and practice. Fx loop in the back and it takes pedals extremely well both through the fx loop and in the front. I do recommend a noise gate at the end of the chain on the gain channel. The ok: the clean channel is ok. No reverb with the amp but it's clear, clean and responsive again thanks to the tube preamp section. You really can dial in solid clean tones. Add delay and a little reverb via pedals and you can rock out blues and r&b with ease. Both channels take pedals well so if you add a little overdrive you can have dirty blues to vintage rock tones with a twist of a dial. Really inexpensive combo for vintage rock is the zombie 2 on the clean channel and the joyo vintage od. Got the pedal used for $20 at a guitar shop and plugged it in. About 5 minutes later I was jamming on my sg copy playing Sweet Emotion and grinning like an idiot because my cheap little setup sounded so good. The bad: no built in reverb. That's it. Seriously that's it. That is the only con I can find with this amp head. I've played it extensively, run every pedal combination I can come up with through it, played a semi hollow Gretsch, an ibanez 6 and 7 string through with passive and active pickups, a Les Paul, a Fender Player series stratocaster, an SG copy, and a Charvel hsh super strat San Dimas model, and two squier guitars(50s classic vibe and affinity telecaster). Thing sounds amazing.

Definitely Mesa style distortion, a bit bright like it’s boosted. Has more low end than you’d expect. I think it’s a pretty good buy for a lunchbox. I’ll be keeping mine.

I bought this amp 3 years ago, used it for awhile, then put it away. Why , I don’t remember. Today I took it out of storage to see if I still liked it. Well I have to say I love it! Sounds great! Only problem was when I went to take it out of its box, the box fell apart and the amp hit the floor with a hard thud. I thought if the tube didn’t break or there isn’t any other damage I’ll be lucky. I’m happy to report that the amp is undamaged and works perfectly. Clean channel sounds very nice and clear sounding. The distortion channel with the gain set around 9:30 is crunchy yet still dynamic. I couldn’t really turn the volume past 8-9 o'clock in the house without being excessively loud through a 1x12 with a speaker rated at 80watts. Very Marshally sound. Is it exactly the same sound as a jcm 800? Probably not. Is it good enough for the price they’re asking? Heck yeah! Just don’t store it in the box it came in .Find something better! Thanks for reading and thanks to Joyo for making these amps. Just design a better box! lol

Nunca he tenido un Mesa Buggy, pero este pequeñín suena fenomenal!!! Me encanta la distorsión que maneja este ampli y con un gabinete de 1x12 al mínimo de volumen ya suena excepcional... Lo recomiendo altamente, por su excelente calidad de sonido, construcción y precio. Sin duda alguna, ha sido una de las mejores compras que he realizado.

Sono rimasto sorpreso dal suono.molto simile a Mesa boogie. Perfetto 💯💯💯💯

My God, so impressed with this little amplifier. Great tube tone., from this hybrid unit. I’ve coupled this to an 8” Vox 20w cab. This is very versatile. I would recommend this amp for any beginner and intermediate, even any pro guitar play as a great practice amp alternative. I have a Marshall Plexi and this sounds almost as nice over driven. So impressed.

This little amp is absolutely fantastic and sounded great. It’s crazy loud. Unfortunately I had to return it due to a faulty valve (tube). The quality of modern valves is patchy at best so I do not hold that against the amp or brand. In hindsight I should have just replaced it myself and kept the amp as it was really great. It’s fantastic value, looks great and the Bluetooth is so helpful. I am strongly considering buying another one.