Mambo 10" Wedge

**burchyk** · 08-05-2022, 10:36 AM

Just got a 10" Mambo wedge this afternoon. Plugged in briefly, so too early for a proper review. I really like the tones so far.

It is less boxy than the Champ, and the tone controls are much more flexible. At the same time it is quite hard to get a bad sound out of it, unless you go for extreme EQ settings.

The voicing switches are really well thought out and all pleasing in a different way. The harmonic setting gives a bit of a richer tone which I like.

More headroom than the Champ, less boxy.
Also smaller and lighter. Came with the soft case.

Works great with 175. High notes are nice and round, lows are clear. The tone is well balanced.

Reverb is better than I expected, would not mind using it as a primary reverb. For the reference, I have UA Golden and Strymon Flint on the board.

Kudos Mr. Mambo!

Mambo 10" Wedge-img_20220805_152500-jpg

**burchyk** · 08-05-2022, 10:39 AM

Can't wait to try it with other guitars and plugging Iridium into the FX return.

**citizenk74** · 08-05-2022, 07:29 PM

Cool amp! Congratulations, and play it in good health!

**burchyk** · 08-05-2022, 07:48 PM

Tried with other guitars. Interesting.

175D VOS has MHS buckers which are rather smooth and darker than the others. Dot Studio with BurstBuckers which are rather bright. Guild T-50 Slim with Franz which is P-90-ish and brightest of all 3 but also has a nice low end. All three sounded good. This is the first amp where I felt no need to tweak the EQ when switching between them. Just fine tune the top end with each guitars tone knob to taste and let each guitar sound like itself, and it still comes out fairly balanced and pleasing.

So far my favourite mode is Bright (Fender) and Harmonic on. EQ 12 o'clock. Gain 9-10 o'clock. Reverb mix 12 o'clock, decay 1 o'clock.

The cabinet is a bit directional and brighter straight up, but slightly off-axis it is perfect. Which means it also sounds good across the room.

It is very quiet when idling compared to my Champ, sometimes I forget I have it on!

**lapideusvir** · 08-10-2022, 02:46 PM

Oh, I see that the mambo has some aesthetical upgrades... Nice logo. And what is this protection thing that shines through the covering?
Best, lapideus

**burchyk** · 08-10-2022, 05:28 PM

It's the beam blocker, improves the spread and reduces the high frequency ice pick when pointed straight at you. You can buy an aftermarket one if you think you might need one.

**lapideusvir** · 08-11-2022, 03:33 AM

Originally Posted by burchyk

It's the beam blocker, improves the spread and reduces the high frequency ice pick when pointed straight at you. You can buy an aftermarket one if you think you might need one.

Thanks! I see! Is this one a special order or is this the current regular Mambo?

**burchyk** · 08-11-2022, 04:14 AM

I have no idea, got it second-hand

**sir-vector** · 08-15-2022, 06:23 AM

Is Mambo amps still active? Contacted them a while back about purchasing an amp but haven‘t heard back…

**burchyk** · 08-15-2022, 08:04 PM

Dunno sir-vector. I got mine second-hand. I believe there is at least one forum member who has been in contact with the builder in the past and might have his number.

**v281** · 08-17-2022, 12:48 PM

@sir-vector have you tried calling the contact phone number on the website? E-mail sometimes gets snagged by junkmail filters and never reaches the intended recipient.

Info from website:

Contact

please phone

Jon on +44 (0)7762 158326

or you can email

info@mambo-amp.co.uk

Mambo Amp

If I'm not mistaken the forum member @burchyk is referring to above is @Franz 1997 - perhaps he's been in touch with Jon Shaw recently?

**Jazz_175** · 08-17-2022, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by burchyk

Can't wait to try it with other guitars and plugging Iridium into the FX return.

Please let us know how it goes the Strymon Iridium with the Mambo Amp.

**burchyk** · 08-17-2022, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by Jazz_175

Please let us know how it goes the Strymon Iridium with the Mambo Amp.

Actually pretty nice. It is a different sound obviously on the Vox and Marshall setting. But even the Fender (Round) has a different voicing from built-in Bright on Mambo which is supposed to be Fender-like.

Neither is necessarily better or worse. Built-in preamp feels a bit more direct and natural but not sure if the listener would be able to tell which is which unless they know the tonal imprint of each. Iridium has more gain available. Mambo reverb is placed after the FX return so can be used together with outboard preamps like this. And it is a nice reverb as I said previously.

Tempted to get some nice tube preamp like a Kingsley.

Have to mention the master is very good, it's linearity especially at lower volume levels. Much easier to manage loudness and it is not coupled to the amp tone like the volume control on the Champ.

I've got Fulltone '69 mk2 (GE fuzz face) and MXR FET Driver and both sound great in front. Nothing fizzy or harsh. Will try a Tone Bender next.

Wish I could use Mambo as an external cab for the Champ. Don't know if I can plug into the external speaker socket or need to open it but have no idea how.

**marcwhy** · 08-20-2022, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by burchyk

Neither is necessarily better or worse. Built-in preamp feels a bit more direct and natural but not sure if the listener would be able to tell which is which unless they know the tonal imprint of each. Iridium has more gain available. Mambo reverb is placed after the FX return so can be used together with outboard preamps like this. And it is a nice reverb as I said previously.

Tempted to get some nice tube preamp like a Kingsley.

Check out this tube pedal by Hagerman -- pretty cool for the price!

**Franz 1997** · 08-20-2022, 03:51 PM

Re post 11...that would be me..I last talked to Jon around 6 weeks ago; he was still building amps, but like other builders, he has supply chain difficulties . I have another email address I can try if it would help. PM me. I do remember he said his gmail account was playing up and putting new emails in the spam box.

**bleakanddivine** · 03-20-2025, 05:46 AM

I have just acquired a s/h Mambo 10" Wedge and am loving it. Everything I have read here about it seems true.

I cannot see a serial number on it anywhere. Is there any timeline of cosmetic or feature changes that would help in ascertaining its vintage?

Does anyone hear any sonic difference between the upright and wedged positions, apart from directionality, obviously? With most amps when they are tilted they are de-coupled from the floor, which affects the bass response. With these, there is still about the same amount of surface area in contact with the floor when tilted so I'm not sure whether the sound should change much?

Thanks

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 03-20-2025, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by bleakanddivine

With most amps when they are tilted they are de-coupled from the floor, which affects the bass response. With these, there is still about the same amount of surface area in contact with the floor when tilted so I'm not sure whether the sound should change much?

Thanks for the review. You make me want to try one!

The reason there’s more bass from a position on the floor is called boundary reinforcement. It’s a product of proximity to the surface rather than contact with it. The cause is reflection of the speaker’s output. The reason bass is reinforced more than higher frequencies is that the wavelength of a tone increases as the frequency drops. So lower notes are reflected with less phase shift than highs and are reinforced more / cancelled less than highs.

The more surfaces close to the speaker and the closer they are, the greater the effect. So sitting flat on a floor adds up to 6 dB to low bass. Putting it against a wall has the same effect, and placement on the floor against a rear wall combines the two. Corner placement on the floor increases it even more.

Tilting the speaker back reduces reflections of front radiated sound. So a closed back cab will get less boundary reinforcement with greater tilt angle. Any rear radiation from open backs, ports etc will also be reflected, but how much depends on many things like angulation and proximity to a rear wall. Rear radiation from open backs is 180 degrees out of phase with front radiation. So positioning can affect tone and bass response in unpredictable ways because of boundary effects, tilt, angulation etc.

Bottom firing ports rely on the size and shape of the rectangular “openings” between the floor and the bottom of all four side panels. Even the feet are part of the port system, since they determine the width and height of these apertures. So tilting an amp with a bottom port (like a Blu 6) can dramatically change the frequency response unless a tilt platform is used to serve as a “floor”. Reflection is probably not such an important factor for port response, since the pressure waves are emerging horizontally. But a soft absorbent surface under it (like carpeting) will affect response by absorbing higher frequencies.

**omphalopsychos** · 03-20-2025, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

Thanks for the review. You make me want to try one!

The reason there’s more bass from a position on the floor is called boundary reinforcement. It’s a product of proximity to the surface rather than contact with it. The cause is reflection of the speaker’s output. The reason bass is reinforced more than higher frequencies is that the wavelength of a tone increases as the frequency drops. So lower notes are reflected with less phase shift than highs and are reinforced more / cancelled less than highs.

The more surfaces close to the speaker and the closer they are, the greater the effect. So sitting flat on a floor adds up to 6 dB to low bass. Putting it against a wall has the same effect, and placement on the floor against a rear wall combines the two. Corner placement on the floor increases it even more.

Tilting the speaker back reduces reflections of front radiated sound. So a closed back cab will get less boundary reinforcement with greater tilt angle. Any rear radiation from open backs, ports etc will also be reflected, but how much depends on many things like angulation and proximity to a rear wall. Rear radiation from open backs is 180 degrees out of phase with front radiation. So positioning can affect tone and bass response in unpredictable ways because of boundary effects, tilt, angulation etc.

Bottom firing ports rely on the size and shape of the rectangular “openings” between the floor and the bottom of all four side panels. Even the feet are part of the port system, since they determine the width and height of these apertures. So tilting an amp with a bottom port (like a Blu 6) can dramatically change the frequency response unless a tilt platform is used to serve as a “floor”. Reflection is probably not such an important factor for port response, since the pressure waves are emerging horizontally. But a soft absorbent surface under it (like carpeting) will affect response by absorbing higher frequencies.

I love reading shit like this.

On a dumber note, I have both a mambo and a henriksen (a 6 and a 10). The mambo 10" is smaller than the henriksen and with the gain/eq controls, I think it is more capable of getting tube style sound than henriksen. However I use the 6" henriksen more than either.

**JazzNote** · 03-23-2025, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by burchyk

Just got a 10" Mambo wedge this afternoon. Plugged in briefly, so too early for a proper review. I really like the tones so far.

A wise decision to buy a Mambo ;-)!

I have two of them, a 8" and a 10". The 8 sounds slightly more compressed and for a while i liked it over the 10, but recently i've been taking the 10 out more although it's a little heavier. The Mambos also have great sounding onboard reverb units.

My experience is that they sounds great on the floor, but in difficult rooms it's better to have the amp closer to my ears and it sounds good too when lifted on a chair, or even higher up if a venue provides the necessary possibilites. Differences in sound can be controlled well with the three knobs, sometimes i have to turn middle and bass all the way back and it still sounds decent. And with plenty of headroom ......