Mambo Amp Review

[clevelandjazz]

If you're searching for a small, lightweight jazz amplifier with tons of headroom, this is one of the best.

http://www.mambo-amp.co.uk/accolades.html

The one I got was the 10". It weighs 18lbs and is very small. It normally comes with an eminence Beta 10" speaker which is a little dark for my tastes so I ordered mine with an 18sound 10" speaker. The 18sound speaker is flat to about 5.5k whereas the beta 10 is flat to about 3.7k.

I didn't care for the 18sound speaker. It did not have the high frequency content I was expecting, nor did it capture any type of fendery high end. Instead it sounded nasally/middy to me and the bottom end was lacking. I tried turning up the bass control on the amp but in doing so realized that I was not getting the expected headroom out of the amp that I was looking for.

I ended up swapping the speaker for the beta 10 and now the amp sounds great. If you're looking for a traditional Wes Montgomery, Howard Roberts or Joe Pass "Joy Spring" sound, you'll be very happy with this amp.

Pros:
- Very small
- Very light
- Very powerful
- Gorgeous traditional, dark, smokey jazz tones. Very guitaristic.
- Good reverb

Cons:
- somewhat boxy (though not as bad as the Raezer's Edge cabs
- treble control more like a high mid
- Can't get a bensony treble attack
- Missing some of the high end necessary for funk rhythm
- Not much tubeyness, even with the harmonics switch on
- Not cheap. I paid $1150 shipped from the UK for mine.

Jon Shaw who builds each one to order indicated that they are experimenting with a fender tone stack and at some point there may be a version which allows switching between the fender tone stack and the baxandall tone stack that is currently stock. It is likely that there will *NOT* be an option to field-upgrade the existing amp to be switchable to the new tone stack.

I will update this review when I have had a chance to try it in some other situations including using it with a modeling preamp.

[David J. Littleboy]

That sounds real nice: exactly what I need. Thanks for the review.

If you're feeling experimental, you might try a 10" Ragin Cajun in it. In
the JazzAmp, it changed it from overly Jim Hall to bog normal. (Although
the Rajin Cajun is only rated for 80 or 90 watts, if memory serves, so
blowing the speaker might be a problem.)

-- David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

"clevelandjazz" wrote in message
news:570024cc-4ac6-4985...@googlegroups.com...

[mcle...@comcast.net]

Good review but basically the bad news is it is pretty pricey for sure. For
someone who looks to amps for sound then money is the factor. Myself playing
acoustic archtops with the acoustic sound in mind I have amps as an
afterthought. I did spend for AI Claris and custom Speakers by Rich Raezer
himself but it is a lot of cash to try this amp you suggest. I would like to
though.


Deacon Mark Cleary

"clevelandjazz" wrote in message
news:570024cc-4ac6-4985...@googlegroups.com...

[clevelandjazz]

I thought about that but it sounds so good for the jim hall meets joe pass sound that I think i'll just leave it and use an external cab if I want more high end.

[clevelandjazz]

On Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 7:01:11 PM UTC-4, mcle...@comcast.net wrote:
> Good review but basically the bad news is it is pretty pricey for sure. For
> someone who looks to amps for sound then money is the factor. Myself playing
> acoustic archtops with the acoustic sound in mind I have amps as an
> afterthought. I did spend for AI Claris and custom Speakers by Rich Raezer
> himself but it is a lot of cash to try this amp you suggest. I would like to
> though.

Yeah but compared to how much most of us have in guitars, it's not so bad. I think LV was right. Folks spend $5k on a guitar and then want to run it through a $200 used roland keyboard amp.

[AKA]

I suspect there are very very very few guitarists purchasing guitars that cost anywhere near $5K. Similarly, I suspect the number of guitarist willing and able to spend $1,100 for an amp is probably a very small percentage of guitarists purchasing amps.

[David J. Littleboy]

"clevelandjazz" wrote:
>
>Yeah but compared to how much most of us have in guitars, it's not so bad.
>I think LV was right. Folks spend $5k on a guitar and then want to run it
>through a $200 used roland keyboard amp.

ROFL. I know you are snarking at someone else (who actually doesn't use a
$5k guitar), but you nailed me something fierce: I'm playing my Holst
through a 20 watt, 8-inch Roland Cube GX, and am happy with the sound. As
I've mentioned before, I really like the plate reverb. Sure, I'm just using
it as a practice amp. But I can't imagine the 40-watt 10-inch version not
being more than adequate for any music I'd want to play or hear.

[Stringswinger]

Back in the 70's, we would spend almost as much money on our amp as on our guitar. Today with cheap Chinese amps flooding the market, guys who spend 2k for a used 175 often balk at spending half that for a goid sounding rig. Jack is spot on poking fun at the "cheapskates" who often do not get the best tone they could/ should from their guitars...

[clevelandjazz]

On Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 11:48:07 PM UTC-4, AKA wrote:
> I suspect there are very very very few guitarists purchasing guitars that cost anywhere near $5K. Similarly, I suspect the number of guitarist willing and able to spend $1,100 for an amp is probably a very small percentage of guitarists purchasing amps.

i think you'd be surprised. Go over to jazzguitar.be and look at the "couch-guitars" thread. There are guys posting pix of 5-10 guitars on a couch that cost $5k or more each.

[clevelandjazz]

That's cool. Whatever works for you. I've gone both ways. i've played through really cheap and really expensive amps. As long as you can get the sound you want it doesn't matter obviously. :)

[rpjazzguitar]

Perhaps Jack is poking fun at me, since I mentioned a while back that I gigged with a $200 used Roland KC150.

Would it be better if I paid $450 for a new one?

Or that the guitar cost about $700?

For me, the issue is whether I can get my sound. I got very close with that gear.

[rpjazzguitar]

Another point ... possibly the best sound I ever got on a gig was with a Crate 12 watt practice amp GFX15 mic'ed thru a good PA. That amp sold new for either $79 or $99, can't recall which. I still use it as my main practice amp, but sadly, it developed an intermittent crackling noise, so I don't play out with it.

[clevelandjazz]

no but I do get you confused with the other rp who has a bunch of old gibson L5s and other boutique guitars so. That's where the $10k guitar comment came from.

[Tom Pandel]

On Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 1:06:14 PM UTC-4, clevelandjazz wrote:

> I will update this review when I have had a chance to try it in some other situations including using it with a modeling preamp.

Thanks for the review of the Mambo Jack. I was waiting to hear your opinion. I'm disappointed that it did not give you exactly what you were looking for. I wanted to see if a Fendery tone could be achieved in a Jazz style amp.
Regarding that original speaker it came with, I have found, and maybe you already know, that new speakers need some time to break in. They can sound pretty weird until they loosen up. I give them 8-10 hours. That said, I tried an Eminence Neo type 12" speaker in one of my amps and was underwhelmed. Similar response as what you describe actually. I'm not sure if I took my own advice on break-in or not (I don't think I knew about it at the time) but I do remember I couldn't take the tone and went back to the stock Celestion.
I had to break-in my Jazzkat/Tomkat amp. It took several gigs before that amp started to open up.
Regarding the Beta 10 vs RaginCajun: When I got my Henriksen (in 2009)it came with an Eminence Beta 10 and sounded great at home. I bought the amp to bring to jams. At a local jam I left it on Stage and a local player sat in on it. He played great and not too loud, keeping up nicely with amplified upright, piano and drums on a driving tune, and I heard distortion from my new amp. I brought it home and started experimenting and found with volume at about 11 o'clock when plucking full chords w/my fingers it did distort. I sent it back to Henriksen and the owner (Peter, I think) told me the problem was that the speaker was distorting. He replaced it with a RaginCajun. I had to break that speaker in but the distortion was gone. To me, the amp did not sound as good as with the Beta but with an external eq it opened up beautifully. With a MFX in front it can kick a bar band.

Tom

[rpjazzguitar]

Better that than confusing me with somebody who uses even cheaper gear than I do <g>.

[clevelandjazz]

It was well broken in by mambo prior to getting it. It sounded exactly the same after 20+ hours of playing as it did when I first got it. It sounds great with the beta 10 speaker and I've got the kemper profiler for fender type tones. I'm not a big believer in speaker break-in anyway. The beta sounded great right away and still sounds great 10+ hours later!

[Gerry]

Did anybody mention wattage on this item?

[Stringswinger]

Rick, when you and I played together in the 70's, we both were playing $500 guitars through $100 amps. Now you play a $700 guitar through a $200 amp? You have not kept up with inflation! I am one of the guys that Jack was speaking of in the Couch Shots thread at the Jazz Guitar Forum. My guitar and amp tastes have exceeded inflation.

[rpjazzguitar]

Marc,

One of the few advantages of aging is that I bought my vintage gear new, at low prices.

My usual amp for rehearsals is that same old Ampeg Reverberocket that I think I was using when we played together. I don't know if I brought it to our sessions with Art, but I had it.

Actually, the most I ever spent on an amp was $1500 and that was back in the 80s, so I think I kept up with inflation on that one. It sounds great, but it is so heavy I don't enjoy moving it.

But, I have never paid more than $800 for a guitar.

For me the issue is whether I can get the sound that makes me forget about gear and get fully into the music. With my current rig I can achieve that pretty reliably. The Boss ME80 has a lot to do with that.

As a side note, over the years some amps have been popular with jazz guys that I didn't like all that much. That list includes the Fender Twin, every Polytone I ever used, an AER and some others. So, apparently my taste is not mainstream for jazz players.

Amps I have really liked include the old Ampeg, a Fender Deluxe Reverb, the Boogie Mark III and the Crate GFX15 for quiet things.

Another issue is that I can't tell a thing about whether I'm going to like a piece of gear based on trying it in the store. I have to live with it for awhile. How do others handle that?

[Stringswinger]

Rick, I too need to try stuff in the real world to see if I like it. Store demos just don't do the trick. When we were playing with Art, you and I were both using Polytones. I have tried many amps over the years, Fender, Mesa, Polytone, AER, Acoustic Image, Marshall, Crate, Randall, Kustom, Roland and maybe a few others. The Raezer's Edge/ Acoustic Image combo works well for me. For SF gigs where portability is a real issue, I use an AER Compact 60. I have a couple of Vintage Fenders, A 64 Princeton and a 74 deluxe Reverb. Mesa Mark series and Fender Twins are great sounding amps, but are too much for me to carry. After reading Jack's review, this Mambo amp sounds interesting though. Cheers,Marc

[rpjazzguitar]

I have played through Polytones many times, but I have never owned one.

Back then, if I was using my own amp, it would have been a Fender Twin, the Reverberocket or, possibly, a Yamaha JX40 (which I still have and still works, but it sounds awful, maybe it always did).

I tried an AER60 in store once and didn't think it was all that great, but I did like the size and weight.

I once bought a Roland AC60, but hated it once I played it on a gig.

My approach to purchasing gear is to try to get a return privilege, although I've broken that rule a number of times, generally successfully.

One failure was the Zeta Lunchbox, which I came to think of as a waste of money. I'm aware that some very good players sound good with it, but I can't get anywhere near a sound I like.

The Mambo does sound interesting, but I don't see any way to buy one with a return privilege.

An amp I also find interesting is the Victoria version of a small Fender, probably the Princeton. A friend has it. It's small, not very heavy and sounds great. Not sure about how loud it goes, but I've heard him play a medium size bar with it. (Upstairs at Le Colonial in SF). Not cheap. No reverb, so you need to add that, but I always play though a pedalboard anyway.

[clevelandjazz]

On Thursday, July 2, 2015 at 11:41:40 PM UTC-4, Gerry wrote:
> Did anybody mention wattage on this item?

180w

[clevelandjazz]

On Friday, July 3, 2015 at 2:25:42 PM UTC-4, rpjazzguitar wrote:
> I have played through Polytones many times, but I have never owned one.

The mambo reminds me a lot of the polytone but with a better speaker and way more headroom.

> My approach to purchasing gear is to try to get a return privilege, although I've broken that rule a number of times, generally successfully.

same here.

> One failure was the Zeta Lunchbox, which I came to think of as a waste of money. I'm aware that some very good players sound good with it, but I can't get anywhere near a sound I like.

I had the same reaction. Played through one at guitar center and immediately was annoyed with it's nasally and grungy sound.

> The Mambo does sound interesting, but I don't see any way to buy one with a return privilege.

It does have return privilege. I think there's a 2 week return period.

>
> An amp I also find interesting is the Victoria version of a small Fender, probably the Princeton. A friend has it. It's small, not very heavy and sounds great. Not sure about how loud it goes, but I've heard him play a medium size bar with it. (Upstairs at Le Colonial in SF). Not cheap. No reverb, so you need to add that, but I always play though a pedalboard anyway.

If you're going that route, there are plenty of princeton reverb amps with the reverb. The tube reverb adds a lot of mojo to the tone IMO. I once had a '65 Princeton reverb and used it for a bunch of solo gigs. I may have replaced the speaker with a 12 or a better quality 10" speaker. Can't remember but it sounded fabulous with an archtop.

[Stringswinger]

@Jack and Rick,

Regarding Princetons, I have had a 65 Princeton Reverb and have a 64 Princeton (non-reverb). They both are great for jazz guitar at low volumes ( so long as you upgrade the speaker). The non -reverb is just a tad cleaner. I think the reverb circuit dirties up the tone a bit (probably why the rock and blues guys love these amps) so as much as I love tube reverb, I think the non verb model is a better jazz amp. I put a tone candy reverb pedal ( non digital verb) in front of my Princeton.

Also ,
I do think the vintage examples and their boutique hand wired clones sound warmer than the PCB reissues.

Cheers,

Marc

[Docbop]

The way it was explained to me is the reverb circuit on Fender tube amp adds another gain stage, but very slight gain. I'd say put a lower gain tube in the reverb circuit and you get the cleaner sound you're looking for.