Joyo BanTamP XL Zombie II

My usual gear in my band is an Orange TH30, an Orange CR120 and a Blackstar Artisan 2x12 V30, so I’m used to play with what I consider a great sound, but my band is 150 km away. All my gear is on our rehearsal room and it’s just not feasible to carry it back and forth every weekend, so I needed a small amp to play at home on the small space in my office. After getting the Zombie, the first thing I did was try it with my cab. I was blown away by the dirty channel. Sounds really close to a Mesa Boogie. I was literally afraid it would damage my cab because of how powerful and tight it sounded. It chugs hard! The clean channel however, honestly it sucks. It lacks something that probably a pedal (probably an overdrive, a compressor or even a preamp) can improve. I need to test that. I use the clean channel with the tone all the way down. After trying the Zombie with my cab, I brought it home and connected it to my loadbox, a RedSeven Amp Central. Still incredible. Sounds pretty amazing. I then connected my Ibanez Pentatone EQ (with the precise settings of the Mesa Boogie Mark IV equalizer) to the FX Loop of the Zombie and it took it to an even higher level of metal glory. A tight metal tone that chugs even harder. If you’re looking for a great clean channel, this isn’t the amp for you. Since I don’t care about the clean channel, all I can say is that I absolutely love this amp and highly recommend it for metal or hard rock.

I mostly like to play metal but I mostly have the time when my son is sleeping

So the idea was to have a "baby" amp with tons of gain but at quiet volume instead of having a big configuration like Tube Amp into load box into audio interface into monitors speakers / headset.

Therefore, I wanted an amp that can chug and that can do bedroom usage.

On the first point: Awesome, this little amp sounds actually good. It chugs as hell with tons of gain: I like it

On the 2d point, this amp is LOUD. How this tiny lunch box can deliver so much power ? That's just insane. With the volume at noon on a 1x12 it chugs the hole room as never.

Conclusion:
If you are looking for something amazing that chugs as never with tons of gain & volume, this is definitively an amp to consider. Specially at that price point.
Except if you want it quiet cause this lunch box just ask to yell.

So, this is an awesome amp but it doesn't fit my needs.
I think it's the first time I "complain" for a piece of gear being to good :o

After spending years & a lot of money trying to find the tone I’ve been seeking for, I’ve finally found it with the Joyo Zombie II which was a complete surprise. It’s crazy to think I’ve had more expensive gear in the past but couldn’t get the sound I was searching for. Came across this little gem & after doing a lot of research & had seen a lot of decent reviews on You Tube (especially from Agufish & Ola) I was blown away with how good this thing sounds! I’ve even customised it to taste by adding a EQ pedal & a SD1W to tighten up the low end. Plus this thing is loud AF! Even comes with a footswitch & an effects loop which was also one of the big selling points to this incredible amp. Being from the UK, Thomann kindly added the correct plug powerchord to this & all for £105, it’s not going to be beaten! Looking forward to what Joyo do next with this series of amps especially the Zombie & see if they can make it even better.

I was surprised when I first heard what this series of tiny 20W amps could do. The Zombie II has two channels with the main draw being its "Mesa Boogie-inspired" distorted channel.

The amp is small and light making it very easy to transport. The metal enclosure feels sturdy. The knobs and switches feel solid.

Its sound is impeccable on either the clean or distorted channel, and both make for good pedal platforms. Speaking of which, there's an effects loop which is unheard of in amplifiers at this price point! The package is completed with an included pedal for changing channels, and a bluetooth receiver for playing along to your music.

You can't beat an amp with this many features at this price. It's a good bedroom practice amp and it's usable for gigging with in smaller venues. Though it's plenty loud, don't expect it to match the volume of a higher wattage amp.

I bought this to save myself from carrying heavy gear to rehearsals and I couldn't be happier - this little guy has plenty of volume and sounds really good all in a small handy package. With a 4x12 cab I can easily keep up with the band in terms of volume - it has TONS of low end (which I actually had to eq out a bit:)
Circling back to sound - it's not a Mesa. It's modern but it's much more of a 'boosted' amp tone and has much less of that trademark grit. Still does the job though, and it does it well.
My gripe is, I wish they came in a 3 band eq package, never like the one knob approach, but once you plug an eq into the fxloop you can do whatever you want:)