New Amp, help ID'ing?

[Gaetano Paul]

So I just snagged this amp from CraigsList. Supposedly its a vintage "boutique" amp of which only 250 were ever made, supposedly made in the 70's.

Its Called a Zapp Z70, its got what looks like a 1x15, a volume, treble and bass knob. The volume output is surprisingly low, but the tone is great. Any input would be great. Thanks

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[oldbassplayergu]

oh my god! my best friend had that amp w/12" speaker in it. It is not what you think it is!! I hate to bust your bubble. That is a run of the mill 70's import amp. They were $75 new and not boutique at all. thanks you for the flashback

 

[Gaetano Paul]

Not busted bubble at all. This is exactly what I was looking for. What else do you know about it? Also a $50 new in the 70's amp can fetch some serious cake nowadays, not that that matters, but you say $75 new.

 

[leegreenman]

oh my god! my best friend had that amp w/12" speaker in it. It is not what you think it is!! I hate to bust your bubble. That is a run of the mill 70's import amp. They were $75 new and not boutique at all. thanks you for the flashback

It says made in the USA right on the front. Maybe they were cheap, but not an import.

 

[Gaetano Paul]

from what I can see, they are hand made in Japan, then imported?

 

[leegreenman]

I've never seen one before. I'm just basing it on the photo.

 

[Gaetano Paul]

Its says Red Tree music on the front, but no made in the USA.

 

[JimmyM]

the speaker was made by eminence in late 1980.

 

[Gaetano Paul]

Thanks Jimmy

 

[GrowlerBox]

Its says Red Tree music on the front, but no made in the USA.

Right above the inputs.

 

[Gaetano Paul]

Right above the inputs.

DUDE! You are right!

Also the only info I could find only said there was only 250 Zapp amps released.

 

[oldbassplayergu]

It could be made in heaven for all i know. Its a practice amp from the late 70's or 80's. It is not the holy grail.

 

[Gaetano Paul]

It could be made in heaven for all i know. Its a practice amp from the late 70's or 80's. It is not the holy grail.

Hey thanks for the crap attitude.

 

[will33]

the speaker was made by eminence in late 1980.

+1
I'd have to look up some numbers to be sure but it looks like what I've found in a lot of old Peaveys, some old 215's and the TNT100 combo, which I affectionately refer to as the fartbox. It's from eminence, before they started putting their own BW's in everything. Coil's maybe 100watts but it'll fart out with far less. It's useable in a low power combo like that, the speaker will likely start to get ratty about the same time the amp does. Being openback, it's a guitar combo, I'd be careful playing a bass through it at anything above bedroom volumes. If the amp doesn't have enough volume to distort the speaker, the amp's likely not up to snuff.

 

[Gaetano Paul]

Yeah the amp is kind of crappy, with a speaker that size it should be alot louder than it is.

 

[BurningSkies]

Er...open back 15 for a bass amp. You're probably best keeping it low volume and for home use. If its quieter than you think it should be, I'd guess that it's a replacement speaker and its possible that whoever put it in dropped an 8ohm speaker instead of a 4ohm, etc.

 

[will33]

Still a cool, and cheap, practice amp. Still rather have something like that than your typical $99 15 watt beginner thing. Looks amazingly clean in the pics.

 

[Gaetano Paul]

Still a cool, and cheap, practice amp. Still rather have something like that than your typical $99 15 watt beginner thing. Looks amazingly clean in the pics.

Yeah it cleaned up real good, thanks, the tone is good, with bass maxed it does clip and distort, but as long as I keep it under that it sounds great.

 

[DobermanBoston]

I know this is a long bump, but I got here via a Google search for information about my first amp, the exact same Zapp model, purchased in 1982 at Hampshire Music in Nashua, NH when I was 14. I bought it (used) simply because it was the only non-practice amp I could afford in the store at the time. I believe it was $150.00.

I used it (with a DOD overdrive pedal) for six string guitar. About a year later, after learning that it was really a bass amp and finding myself in a band, I had the bass player try it. It blew up instantly; the band even made a song about it called "My Zapp is Dead".

It was not a quality piece at all, although this negative example did set me on the road to being a gear snob in my adult life.

Local lore held that Zapp was the misadventure of a Northern MA/Southern NH Raytheon engineer who wanted out of the defense industry. I don't know if that was true or not, but I have never seen another Zapp in the flesh.

 

[deff]

I know this is a long bump, but I got here via a Google search for information about my first amp, the exact same Zapp model, purchased in 1982 at Hampshire Music in Nashua, NH when I was 14. I bought it (used) simply because it was the only non-practice amp I could afford in the store at the time. I believe it was $150.00.

I used it (with a DOD overdrive pedal) for six string guitar. About a year later, after learning that it was really a bass amp and finding myself in a band, I had the bass player try it. It blew up instantly; the band even made a song about it called "My Zapp is Dead".

It was not a quality piece at all, although this negative example did set me on the road to being a gear snob in my adult life.

Local lore held that Zapp was the misadventure of a Northern MA/Southern NH Raytheon engineer who wanted out of the defense industry. I don't know if that was true or not, but I have never seen another Zapp in the flesh.

Sounds like something from a Raytheon engineer.