Snakebite vs mamba

Hi,
Has anybody had the opportunity to try both the JF snakebite and the Salvation mamba? If so, which one did you prefer and why? To me one obvious advantage of the salvo route is the possibility to do a dual module, but besides that and the fact that I am located in Europe, I don't have anything to base my decision on.

Note: I don't mean to start a modder vs modder thread, just want to hear your Cobra replica mod preferences..

As someone who has had both - they are honestly both really good...I would say you are safe going with either...

I have them both and honestly I like my Angel and Chupacabra better. Maybe I'm just not as big of a fan of the recto tone. I'll have to do some more side by side comparison with the Mamba and Snakebite because eventually I'll have to thin out the herd.

Being an owner of both; my VENOM prototype made my Mamba expendable.
The SnakeBite (VENOM) is essentially modeled after a Framus Cobra that has had it's front end slammed with a Tube Screamer. Think Kill Switch Engage tone. It's a SICK mod.

dcg8 said:

Being an owner of both; my VENOM prototype made my Mamba expendable.
The SnakeBite (VENOM) is essentially modeled after a Framus Cobra that has had it's front end slammed with a Tube Screamer. Think Kill Switch Engage tone. It's a SICK mod.

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Couldn't have said it better myself, I've owned 3 Mambas, including one of the "gold" ones.....and I don't miss any of them. Snakebite all the way, and it's MUCH quieter as well.

Ah, if only the snakebite was possible as a dual module I would definately contact Rob for my first JF module..

One strange thing I have been thinking about is that the rectifier, slo and the 5150 are supposed to be basically the same circuit with only small alterations. Anyone who knows if the corresponding mods (of various modders) are just as similar? If so wouldn't it the possibilities for a dual module be in turn as similar for all the recto/slo mods breeds?

I have had several Mambas (gold included) and a Platinum Snakebite...Both are great mods and hit the Framus tone well...

For the record, I play loud, and couldn't use the Snakebite live as it was noisier than most...I had to bring the gain way down which is kinda defeating the purpose....

However, tonally, I though they were both spot on...MTS has two great choices for Framus tone...

I HAVE A PLATINUM SNAKEBITE IN THE CLASSIFIEDS...415 shipped ConUS...

To answer your question, yes, those amps have similarities. When a mod can't be done on a dual module it's due to three things:

- limitations of the dual board
- complexity or number of some options and not being able to get them all in the space available
- the switching system on dual modules wreaks havoc on some options and they can't function as designed on a dual platform

Matt: If you found the Venom too noisy for use in a live situation, I'd wager something is wrong with the module or rig. It should be very quiet as others have commented above. Your comment was the first I had heard to that end.

Jaded Faith said:

Matt: If you found the Venom too noisy for use in a live situation, I'd wager something is wrong with the module or rig. It should be very quiet as others have commented above. Your comment was the first I had heard to that end.

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Firstly, with all due respect to the posters here, one would be lead to believe that some modules are designed and hand-delivered by angels riding unicorns...Then tonal bliss....If every post were true that is....Comments are opinions and mine is valid as well...

In other words, there's room for non-praise too...All my other mods work fine in all 5 of my rigs...The Venom sounds great alone at lower or even mid volumes...In fact it records beautifully...But my band has 3 guitar players and we're loud...So when I pushed the Venom it got a little sqeauly...Not uncontrollable...Just more than I want...I'd bet some different tubes and such would make a difference too...I'm not a Framus guy so I am selling this...No offense...

No offense taken at all and you certainly have the right to an opinion! I was simply trying to provide some friendly advice from the source that's seen more of that module than any other. It sounds like you are all set and it's not for you which is totally cool too! Just trying to be helpful, sorry if I wasn't.
Rob

I've owned the Mamba and just got done testing out a Venom (Snakebite).
I don't play live or extremely loud, but I also use a ISP Decimator because all high gain amps make some noise and the ISP makes all of that a non-issue for me.
I think Rob's Erect sounds amazing for Recto tones, but I didn't think either the Mamba or the Snakebite sounded very "Recto" to me. That being said, I loved them both. The Mamba was a little thicker and crunchier to me, but it was also a one trick pony. The Snakebite has a bit more bite (sorry :roll, more clarity and is certainly more versatile. You can almost get clean tones out of it and certainly great low and mid gain tones.
I wouldn't buy the Mamba again, but I haven't decided on pulling the trigger for a Snakebite either. I'm making some changes to my MTS rig and until that is done, I'm not going to make anymore module purchasing decisions. I hope that helps a little.

Wow, Matt that's weird!

I know LoD21 says you play even louder than we do, which would make my bass player happy and jealous all at the same time LOL, but we play quite loud ourselves and I find exactly the opposite.

To be fair, I have a Snakebite, not a Venom, and a Gold Face Mamba SE, but I find the Snakebite is a little more controllable at "Live Volume" than the Mamba.

Jace... I couldn't agree with you more on the Snakebite/Venom. It is very versatile, but, unless you have two, why would anyone ever turn off the Venom and dial back the gain Sorry, I have high gain sickness, I'm weak... I know

blacksun... I have never heard a Cobra in my face, so I can't tell you how authentic it is except to say, the Snakebite was created with KSE's End of Heartache in mind and I can dial that tone in all day. The Mamba has very similar characteristics, but seems to lack a little thump in comparison.

In all fairness, you could tweak your amp a little to help the Mamba out and they could sound more similar, but side by side with the same, volume, presence and density settings the Mamba is a little crunchier and darker.

I think either module is well worth exploring, if my wife lost her mind and made me sell one of my Framus clones... well... I'd just design a new face plate and tell here I did LOL Seriously, for me it's the Snakebite by a hair simply because of the clarity and versatility

Keep the Faith!

H

I have a Venom, Mamba SE and a Framus Cobra, just picked up the framus a few weeks ago. I bought it from Ken Susi of Unearth. I am still comparing them all, but here is some of my comparisons:

Framus Cobra: It has the same fuzzy gain characteristics of a recto, but I think that is where the similarities end. It's eq is different than a recto for sure. It packs plenty of punch, plus having a deep knob really helps get that bold sound. The notch switch on the framus is the most useless feature I have ever seen on an amp. Even if you turn the mids all the way up it is still to scooped. Compared to the mamba and venom, it's eq is more responsive, but I think that is the case with all the modules.

Mamba SE: With the kill switch off the mamba is close to the crunch channel of the framus, with it engaged it is the lead channel all the way. The notch switch on the module is not as bad as the framus but it is still bad, but if you engage it with the diff switch it is still scooped but still useable. Hope that makes sense. I am not a big fan of the punch swith. probably just a preference thing. The diff switch it a huge plus on this module, totally awesome. Plus it actually gets it closer to the cobra, I am not sure if that's the way Anthony intended it.

Venom: Still putting this one thru its paces but it is on the same level with the framus and the Mamba. I am not a huge fan of the fangs switch but I do like the body switch with certain mid settings. The mid sweep is the biggest feature on the venom for sure. It is its biggest strength and weakness. It takes some patience to find the right settings, some settings make the mids really mushy and to congested. Like I said, I still need some more time to mess around with it.

My conclusion is this:
The framus is kind of a one trick pony, but that one trick is really crushing and big sounding.
Both the Mamba and the Venom are a more of a refined version of the Cobra, but the Cobra's eq is more reactive and has a bigger range. I think the Mamba is more spot on to the actual cobra but the Venom is way more versatile.
PLEASE DO NOT turn this into a moder vs moder thing but I got say it, I can get the Venom and the Mamba to sound almost identical. I have even blind tested a couple of people and they were surprised how close they were. With that said, both modules can get into territory that the others can not.
I plan on running the mamba and venom thru the power amp of the cobra to see how close they really get. I have only run them thru a rm100 when comparing to the cobra.

That's the beauty of MTS, there's options...

Thanks Jeff,

It's great to have someone who actually has a Cobra in the same room to compare these great modules to

Thanks for the valuable insight!

I'm interested to hear more, once you have a chance to further compare

Keep the Faith!

H

Big Daddy
"Jace... I couldn't agree with you more on the Snakebite/Venom. It is very versatile, but, unless you have two, why would anyone ever turn off the Venom and dial back the gain Sorry, I have high gain sickness, I'm weak... I know."
Jace :twisted: \m/