ZT Amplifiers - the loudest little amps in the world

Alright, so here's the story. I was in Vegas a few weeks back, checking out some live blues at the Sand Dollars Blues Club (the best live blues in Vegas, in my opinion). It was open mic night on Mondays and I was checking out the local talent, when one of the guys steps up to the stage with this tiny, cute little amplifier. He proceeds to plug it in and warm up. I am amazed at the sound quality (and volume) coming from this little box, so I approach that stage and ask him how many watts the little box has.

He says: "200 watts"
I say: "No way, 200 watts in that little box? You gotta be kidding me..."
He says: "Yup, it's a ZT Lunchbox amp"

So I go back to my table, pull my iPhone and google "ZT Amplifiers" right there in the blues club. Sure enough, 200 watts from an amplifier no bigger than a lunchbox. Incredible.

Here's a pic of the "cute little amplifier" with the monster sound from a 6.5" speaker:

You'll find all of the details here: http://www.ztamplifiers.com/products/

I don't own one (yet), but this little guy is now at the top of my wish list.

Anyone want to buy a 30 watt Crate Taxi amp, cheap?

Tonehammer Hang Drum Samples

I just discovered a set of Hang Drum samples from Tonehammer. I didn't download them yet, but I thought that I'd pass it on for those of you working on projects and don't have access to a physical Hang Drum, yet would still like to use the sounds. Here's the description from the site:

"The Hang Drum is a unique tone based percussion instrument,
which is almost impossible to come by, since there is only one maker in the
world and less than 1000 drums in circulation. The instrument has a soft,
sorrowful, melancholic tone to it and is a perfect companion for emotional or
ambient type of scores. The Tonehammer Hangdrum is unique in the sense it was
recorded at an average of 15 velocity layers and with 10 round-robin repetitions
pr. layer/note, so you will never experience any repetition in the articulation.
We used custom microphone set-ups to capture the delicate resonance both inside
and outside the drum, since the resonance defines the true sound of the drum.
Additionally we sampled multiple playing techniques with fingers, palm, slaps,
hand brushing and the back-side of the drum, which has the similar properties to
the Udu. Multiple versions of all multis allow for a variety of ways to switch
or fade between articulations while playing.

COST: $59

Formats: Kontakt 2 and .wav

Link: http://www.tonehammer.com/?p=15