The Mambo 10 Amp

**Woody Sound** · 07-02-2013, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by bmw2002

During my recent email exchanges with Jon, he mentioned he was thinking of developing a 12" version of the Mambo amp next year. I'm currently using my new Mambo head with a 1X12" cabinet with an EVM12L speaker, and it's pretty awesome.

A Radio Shack transistor radio would sound awesome through an EVM12L

**MartinoRomano** · 07-02-2013, 03:07 PM

Hi,
how heavy is the Mambo 10 inch wedge ?

Tx
Martino

**disco~juice** · 07-02-2013, 04:27 PM

8kg

**Groyniad** · 01-21-2016, 11:08 AM

had this beauty for over a month now

let me count the ways:

1. on 'normal' with b;m;t at 12.00 it produces the best archtop sound i've heard from any amp. this sound combines fullness and depth with clarity and even CHIME (that is the best word i can come up with). there's a musical response from the amp that rewards hard playing - 4 and 5 note chords played with real punch have a chime or ring to them that is as far away from the sonic overload you get with most other amps as you could hope to get.

2. no boom or other odd acoustical properties in any part of the range. with a strong volume you can play three octave lines that have a lovely full bottom end (possibly my favourite part of the amp) and a ringing clear top end. high notes and low 'handle' the same - i've never had this before in any amp. its not just the sound quality - this is as good and better than anything i've heard - its rather the fact that the amp is not behaving oddly in any way in any part of the range and with any kind of pick attack (single notes or chords). that is nothing short of incredible. it means you CAN FORGET THE AMP. amazing.

3. wedge = massive breakthrough. this may be connected to 2 above - perhaps the reason you've got a full CONSISTENT sound through the range without mud or boom (or other funny acoustical gremlins) - is that there are no ports on the amp and it sits on the floor but with the speaker cone pointing pretty much straight at your ear. this means it has great bass with perfect clarity. i'd gotten so that i had to try to angle my amps up to my ear to get the best response - but this design capitalizes on that perfectly. i would never get the head for this amp - half the performance is in the cab. i think.

4. 'normal' is only one of three pre-set settings. it is just perfect. but if you want darker - the dark is, wait for it, pretty much perfect too; and the bright is unbelievable (sounds like a completely different deal altogether). the amp would be award-winning if it only had any one of these three settings. every other amp i've ever had you have to work and work at to find its sound. most deliver something respectable with one very particular series of settings. not so with this glorious thing. all three pre-set settings are super-useable. if you like a fender-type sound then the bright setting is going to make you very happy. i would never anticipate that i would like it - but i love it (not that i will use it often - unless a particular room requires much more top end from the guitar). but its not too bright - its groovy as hell.

5. v. feedback resistant

thank you mr mambo thank you

**Toat** · 01-21-2016, 12:07 PM

Yes but for those who don't play a full carved top box? I think I would appreciate the greater warmth and portability of the 8" (adding an ext. cab for larger rooms). But I have a hard time trying it when I'm so happy with the tone of my henriksen.

**Franz 1997** · 01-21-2016, 12:25 PM

Worth noting that the 'bright' setting on these amps now has the circuit of a blackface fender tonestack.( the other 2 settings are baxandall-based, like a polytone or ampeg). I use the 'deep' mambo setting myself with extra T and B, but I have to say that the bright setting, with the mid right up and T @ 25%, B @ 50% , is a great sound. It's really 2 amps in one with the latest version.

**jorgemg1984** · 01-21-2016, 12:32 PM

Best jazz amp ever, no doubt.

**Groyniad** · 01-21-2016, 01:12 PM

i loved the henriksen jazzamp 110 too - for over three years

but there's no competition

people on here - who know what they're talking about - told me that if i liked the henriksen there wasn't much point in going over to the mambo-side

there is - there is - there is - there is

i think the people in question are some of the few who used the cube version. on my view the wedge is a very good part of the reason the mambo achieves so much.

**Groyniad** · 01-21-2016, 01:14 PM

thanks for those settings-tips Franz

i haven't got past the three pre-set settings with b;m;t at 12:00 yet.

**Groyniad** · 01-21-2016, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by Franz 1997

Worth noting that the 'bright' setting on these amps now has the circuit of a blackface fender tonestack.( the other 2 settings are baxandall-based, like a polytone or ampeg). I use the 'deep' mambo setting myself with extra T and B, but I have to say that the bright setting, with the mid right up and T @ 25%, B @ 50% , is a great sound. It's really 2 amps in one with the latest version.

err - yeah - that's a great sound alright. just tried it for the first time. thanks again.

i've never come anywhere near getting such a range of usable very highly jazz sounds from an amp.

getting any one of them would make the amp a totally satisfying package. the deep setting is polytone-dark - joe pass, herb ellis, even jim hall are associated with this sound. but the mambo is in a different musical league to any polytone i've owned and played. the bright setting is grant green and even kb and wes (i'm being very simplistic here - but its that older carved top sound of those incredible players). and it really doesn't sound like a pale imitation of anything - it sounds just lovely in itself, as what it is - and the way it sounds does sort of remind you of that classic sound (so nothing derivative or ersatz about it).

but i like the normal (unnamed) tone best - which is an original mambo sound, if you like. its more articulate than the 'deep' setting - but it has more than enough body to make it consistently appealing.

chris - do you use 'clean' or 'harmonic'?

**Franz 1997** · 01-21-2016, 05:48 PM

Jon- on my new 8" amp, the harmonic setting all the time. It's a very much improved version of the effect, and just makes it sound juicier to my ears, with no audible distortion ( though I know that it is adding a small amount of 'harmonic distortion', electrically speaking)

**AlsoRan** · 01-21-2016, 07:19 PM

Shame on you Gronyiad for recreating the Mambo GAS I had to work so hard to overcome. I am going to turn away from this thread right now (while I can) and be happy with the amps I already have.

**silverfoxx** · 01-22-2016, 05:22 AM

Originally Posted by AlsoRan

Shame on you Gronyiad for recreating the Mambo GAS I had to work so hard to overcome. I am going to turn away from this thread right now (while I can) and be happy with the amps I already have.

For heavens sake don't , Franz turned me on to the Mambo 2 years ago, it is still my favourite amp, it
is as near perfect a Jazz amp as you could wish for, it is eminently suited to most archtops ,
also fine with semis,the 'Memphis' ESLP's and VOS ES 335, I have even used it with my Taylor K24ce
although( I ought to acquire an AER again for that.) Again on Chris's recommendation I have a Custom
Mambo cab ,2x8"s ,which I use paired with an Evans AH200 , sheer bliss , with midrange punch, both
setups put my Henriksen ER12 in the shade ,which is on the back shelf alongside a ER Stealth RE 12.
When I can get around to it i may have my mambo updated to the new specs, if i can bear to part with
it for a short time.
GAS is something I can barely control , or curb my desire for excellence.

Best,

**newsense** · 01-22-2016, 09:07 AM

At the risk of committing sacrilege once again, does anyone know how it sounds with a low to medium gain overdrive pedal ?

**jorgemg1984** · 01-22-2016, 09:53 AM

Mine sounded great with a TS or a Rat.

**AlainJazz** · 01-22-2016, 12:19 PM

I hate to be the party pooper but after much use, I gravitate more to my Henriksen. I do like the mambo too. Don't get me wrong, but it hasn't blown me away. I should add though that mine is indeed a cube, so maybe Groyniad is right that the wedge makes a big difference. I don't know.

**Franz 1997** · 01-22-2016, 01:45 PM

Both the Mambo and the Hendriksen have evolved a lot over the last few years, so it may be misleading to compare different versions of these 2 amps. I know that Hendriksen have solved their initial hum issues, and I gather have improved the reverb a lot, though I haven't tried the newest version. Maybe there have been more changes. I suspect the 'Bud' format may be a winner for Hendriksen.

The Mambo particularly has evolved considerably over the last 3 years, with several preamp versions, constantly redesigned 'harmonic ' circuit, the shifting of the mid centre control to 500Hz from 1 Khz, reverb improvements, and several versions of the limiter/ soft start circuit, all apart from this new separate 'fender' circuit, detailed above. If you read the website, you wouldn't pick up on most of these changes - ( but you would notice the price rises..). The mambo's constant evolution may have a lot to do with the fact that they are still individually built, and so improvements don't require hundreds of circuit boards to be scrapped.

I have had a few mambos, and resisted the wedge design for a long time, going for the more traditional cube. However I now find the wedge design to be a serious practical improvement, because of the tilt-back mode. The only snag is that you have to buy a special bag for the wedge if you want to put it in the boot ( trunk).

**coolvinny** · 01-22-2016, 02:17 PM

I've not tried the 10 Wedge but I still have my early production model 8 Wedge - I was one of Jon's first customers. I still think it sounds great. I'm sure the newer models are as good or better.

This past summer I picked up the 300w Head model and I really love this thing. I have three RE cabs (one-6, one-10 and twin-8) and the Mambo is great with all of them, in combos and big band. I can easily tune my sound using the bright/regular/dark switch depending on cabinet/guitar/ensemble/room.

**Groyniad** · 01-22-2016, 02:30 PM

just to emphasize

i really do think the wedge design is critical to the amp.

if we distinguish between 'the sound' and 'the way the sound presents itself' (or the 'way it appears') - we could say that the sound is the same whether square on the ground or tilted up on the ground - but the way it presents itself is very very different.

**Groyniad** · 01-22-2016, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by Franz 1997

Jon- on my new 8" amp, the harmonic setting all the time. It's a very much improved version of the effect, and just makes it sound juicier to my ears, with no audible distortion ( though I know that it is adding a small amount of 'harmonic distortion', electrically speaking)

do you have gain up high?

as far as i understand it without the gain up high the effect doesn't really kick in

but i'm very interested in this - because i haven't been using that aspect of the amp at all yet (and you can see how thrilled i am with it!)

**jzucker** · 01-22-2016, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Groyniad

i think the people in question are some of the few who used the cube version. on my view the wedge is a very good part of the reason the mambo achieves so much.

Internally, the cube is identical to the wedge. There is actually a wedge built into the cube.

**Franz 1997** · 01-22-2016, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by Groyniad

do you have gain up high?

as far as i understand it without the gain up high the effect doesn't really kick in

No, haven't tried that. I just notice that on my recent wedge, the sound is fatter with the harm switch on, even at low gain.

**Groyniad** · 01-22-2016, 09:30 PM

i think you're right

i haven't even really tried it up until now - but i'm liking it now that i am.

before i was trying to find the point at which it generated some overdrive (out of curiosity only really - i never use a sound like that) - and i didn't get anywhere with it.

at low volumes it certainly generates an effect - very hard to describe. it changes the feel of the guitar too.

again both the unmodified 'clean' sound and the 'harmonic' sound seem genuinely viable. the clean is a bit darker. 'harmonic' has more chime and a kind of electric resonance. it rewards a strong pick-attack - could easily become addictive.

what an amazing amp. three totally workable pre-set tonalities - all of which can be used either 'clean' or 'harmonized'.

and i'd be raving about it if it only gave me 'normal' on 'clean'.

**Jack** · 01-24-2016, 10:59 AM

I have a wedge 10 Mambo amp and had a 10 Henriksen 2 years ago.
Henriksen is a very good jazz amp, but the mambo, in my opinion, is better.
Better sound and so much better reverb, smaller and lighter.
Tone and sound are very personal, but for me, Mambo is the number one solid state jazz amp .