There is a growing trend of guitar amps that are tiny and incredibly powerful. The ZT Lunchbox really set the benchmark, but although its really loud it doesn't sound all that great. So I've been looking around at other amps in the same market and I came across Mambo amplifiers. They're made just outside of Manchester and it's a little company so customer service is brilliant.
The coolest part is after emailing the company with an inquiry, I was offered a model to try out for a bit. I'll be receiving it in a week or so to try out. I'm pretty excited to see how it sounds.
So it came, and it's amazing. It's a brilliant little amp. The wedge design is really smart, on the floor it now aims directly at my head and the sound is lovely. It's also bloody loud, way way louder than the ZT.
So maybe you'll see my ZT lunchbox popping up in the classifieds soon.
They go for £550, which is what is killing me. I don't have that money at the moment so I'll have to try and work something out if I want to buy one of these.
Yeah I travel a lot on public transport and spend much of my time split between Manchester and Birmingham so I need a lightweight solution. The ZT only puts out 30 watts RMS through the inbuilt speaker which is fine when you're playing in smaller bands, but the minute I try and play along with a larger group - in particularly with a brass section - it's a nightmare.
The Mambo is only slightly larger but has an 8 inch speaker that puts out 180 watts RMS. I haven't tried it with a big band yet - I am tomorrow night - so it'll be interesting to see how it works out.
There is something a bit weird about the ZTs, I can't put my finger on it. In a live situation you don't notice it but I don't think they ever sound 100%. I'm just trying out this Mambo at the moment, basically deciding if it sounds twice as good at the ZT seeing as it is twice the price. So far I'm impressed but I can't be sure until I take it out of the house.
Well it's not that expensive when you compare it to similar Polytones, Henriksens and Acoustic Image amps. In fairness it does sound brilliant, I'd say it is comparable to my Rivera for about 1/3rd of the price.
