EBS Reidmar 752 gear review from a blind player's perspective

[JGSpector]

Overview.

I recently purchased an EBS Reidmar 752. I had never played through an EBS amp before so I was keen to try it out.

Disclaimer: I’m just a dude who plays bass in a few projects and bands for fun, I am by no means a pro musician or online reviewer. All views are my own and I have not received any payment or other incentives to produce this review. I am only reviewing gear that I actually own or that I have access to due to items being on loan from various friends.

Build Quality.

The Reidmar 752 is a nice neat little amp that is not much bigger than a 14” laptop. It’s approximately twice the height of a modern laptop, but as EBS themselves say, it will fit nicely in a standard laptop bag. I transport mine in a laptop backpack rather than a courier style bag, but you get my drift.

The amp is very solidly constructed and has nice clear writing for the controls which, for those who can see, is very useful indeed. The aluminium casing is nice and sturdy and the hole thing is robust.

Amp Dimensions & Power.

Dimensions: Width, 36.3 cm (14.29”). Depth, 26.2 cm (10.31”). Height, 7.6 cm (2.99”).

Weight: 3.8 Kg (8lbs 6oz).

Power: 230 watts into 8 ohms, 450 watts into 4 ohms, 750 watts into 2 ohms.

Knobs & Switches.

The knobs on this amp are nice and solid and feel good under the fingertips. All have a recessed line to indicate where the control is set and it is tactile enough to feel with a fingertip or thumb nail. If on a dark stage or if you are blind like me this is very welcome.

All of the EQ filter controls have a centre detent which I always like. The mid frequency selection control, input gain, compressor, drive and master volume knobs do not have a centre detent however which of course is pretty standard.

The push buttons are of good quality and respond well under the fingertips. All are of the type that stay in when engaged and pop out when disengaged, which is excellent for blind players like me but also useful for people trying to figure out how their controls are set on a dark stage.

The power switch is a rocker style, is good and solid with a positive clunk under the fingertip when engaged.

Features, layout & ease of use.

Front Panel (from left to right).

1/4” instrument input jack.

Character push button: When engaged, the bass and treble frequencies are slightly boosted whilst the mid frequencies are slightly cut.

Input gain dial: Turn this dial clockwise to increase the input gain. An LED illuminates to indicate when clipping occurs.

Compression dial: Turn this dial to increase the amount of compression. An LED illuminates when compression is occurring.

Filter active push button: When engaged, the EQ filters are active on the amplifier. When disengaged, the EQ filters are bypassed.

Bass filter dial: Cuts or boosts bass frequencies.

Mid filter dial: Cuts or boosts the mid frequency selected on the Mid frequency selection dial.

Mid frequency selection dial: Selects the mid frequency to be affected by the Mid filter dial.

Treble filter dial: Cuts or boosts treble frequencies.

Bright filter dial: This is an advanced low noise high pass filter that adds space and presence to the overall sound.

Drive dial: Turning this dial clockwise increases the amount of drive produced in the tube emulation stage. This control can boost gain up to 34db. When at its maximum the drive is compressed, resulting in natural limitation. Drive can be engaged and disengaged by footswitch.

Master volume dial: Turning this dial clockwise increases the output volume of the amplifier. It does affect the volume of the Line Out. It does not affect the volume of the DI Out.

Rear Panel (from left to right).

Power switch (top).

Voltage selector switch (bottom).

Fuse cover.

Power socket: Insert an IEC cable with the correct fuse for your location into this socket to power the amplifier.

Speak-on socket: Connect your speaker cabinets to the amplifier using a speak-on cable into this socket. The minimum load for the amplifier is 2 ohms.

1/4” effects send jack (top): Run an instrument cable from this jack to the input of an effects pedal or first effects pedal on your pedal board.

1/4” remotes jack (bottom): Connecting a footswitch to this jack enables remote operation of the Drive and Mute functions.

1/4” effects return jack (top): Run an instrument cable from the output of an effects pedal or last effects pedal on your pedal board into this jack.

1/4” filter remotes jack (bottom): Connecting a footswitch to this jack enables remote operation of the Character and Filter Engage functions. Note that the Character and Filter Engage buttons must be at the in position for footswitch operation to work.

1/4” headphones jack (top): Connection for standard headphones. Plugging headphones into this jack does not mute the signal to any connected speaker cabinets.

1/4” line out jack (bottom): Use this jack to connect the amplifier to additional power amplifiers or to other devices that require a line signal. The volume of the line out is affected by the master volume control.

3.5mm aux in jack (top): Connect an external device such as an mp3 player to this jack. Volume of the signal to be mixed with your bass sound is controlled by the external device’s volume controls. The signal sent to this jack is not present at the DI output.

Post EQ push button (bottom, left): When engaged, the signal sent to the DI out contains all filter, compression and drive features that are engaged on the amplifier. When not engaged, the signal sent to the DI out is a clean unprocessed signal.

Ground Lift push button (bottom, right): When engaged, the grounding pin is deactivated. This can help if grounding hum is present, as disengaging the grounding pin can reduce or eliminate the hum. When not engaged, the grounding pin remains active.

DI balanced output socket: Studio quality balanced direct out XLR to connect to front of house or a recording device.

Sound quality.

EBS have some black magic going on in their amps which apparently maximises the power efficiency to squeeze out every last decibel of volume and tone. Whatever they are doing is very definitely working! The Reidmar 752 is rated at 450 watts into a 4 ohm speaker load. I ran mine into my Barefaced 210 cab (4 ohm 500 watts) and was easily able to compete with a loud rock drummer, 2 guitars, keyboards and vocals but still have some juice left if I needed it. It feels like there’s a lot more headroom available in this amp than it is rated for and it is stupidly loud for a 450 watt amp. Don’t forget, its maximum power rating is 750 watts into a 2 ohm load, I imagine this would be usable for pretty much any gig situation. I haven’t tried the amp into my Barefaced SuperTwin yet but I can’t imagine it will be anything less than glorious through that cab.

There is a “Character” push button on the front of the amp which boosts bass and treble slightly whilst cutting mids a little. To be honest, I keep this on all of the time as I like the tone it produces as a starting point for tweaking the rest of my EQ and drive etc.

You can actually disengage the EQ filter section so all you get is your bass’s natural tone. I really like this as I can switch between 2 different tones without having to mess around with my EQ, also great if you use the drive but don’t need it for a particular part of a song as you can simply disengage the filters section all together.

With all the filter controls set to 12 o’clock, the drive all the way off and the compressor all the way off, the amp is crystal clear and punchy with great articulation. Once you start sculpting your tone with the EQ filters and compressor it really starts to get fun. The Reidmar 752 has a semi parametric mid EQ filter which consists of 2 controls. The mid EQ which cuts or boosts the selected mid frequency and a mid frequency selection control which sweeps you through a broad mid frequency range. This is fantastic for really dialling in that tone that is going to cut through the mix in a difficult venue or if you have a particularly dark sounding bass. The bass and treble EQ filters do exactly as you would expect, they cut or boost the bass and treble frequencies. The bright control is fantastic for adding some airiness to your tone and generally giving you some more top end sparkle, also great if you’ve got old or dull strings that need brightening up.

The drive on this amp is fantastic. It’s not a rip your face off pedal style fuzz but is instead a drive designed to emulate classic tube amps at their various stages of break up when being pushed hard. You can get a lovely subtle harmonic effect with this control set low but the more you turn the control up, the more breakup warmth and character comes through until it sounds like you’re pushing a 300 watt pure tube amp to within spitting distance of meltdown. My default is to have this control set somewhere between 10 o’clock and 3 o’clock depending on the style of music I am playing.

Conclusion.

Even though I’ve never played through an EBS amp before this one, I have been aware of EBS’s reputation for well made products and extremely high quality sounding gear for several years now. What immediately struck me about the amp is how simple the front panel layout is. You can literally start at the left and work your way along and find what you’re after intuitively, even if you can’t see anything. It took me minutes to learn the front panel controls rather than hours, and that is something I really appreciate in an amp.

Overall I have to say, I’m very impressed indeed, its build is good and solid, it’s easy to use, it sounds fantastic and it punches well above its weight when it comes to volume. There’s a vast array of tones available and I’m confident you could cater for pretty much any musical genre or playing style with the amp. The ability to engage or disengage the EQ filters is a really nice touch that to be honest, I wish more manufacturers would incorporate into their amplifiers. The compressor is very usable and not at all noisy which is nice. I love the drive on this amp, it sounds and feels warm and natural but has real teeth when cranked.

There’s everything a player could possibly need on the rear panel of this amp. DI with pre/post EQ selection, ground lift, effects send and return, 2 yes 2 footswitch jacks, aux in, headphones out and a line out jack. The DI, line out, effects loop and headphones all sound crystal clear with no added hiss, just excellent stuff.

I absolutely do not regret getting this amp, I will use it for jam sessions and smaller gigs for sure but I’ve also found since buying it that I’ve used it constantly in my home studio.

If you are a blind player, the EBS Reidmar 752 should definitely be on your short list of amps to check out. It has everything you could need for an amp of its size and power class and it’s very intuitive to use.

To find out more about the Reidmar 752 and other EBS gear, visit the EBS website at: https://ebssweden.com/content2/amps/

#BlindMusician #BlindBassPlayer #Blindness #PlayingMusicBlind #EBSReidmar752 #EBSReidmar752GearReview #MusiciansWithDisabilities #ExperiencesOfTheBlind #BestBassAmpForTheBlind

Edited August 22 by JGSpector
correcting a spelling error

[BlueMoon]

Thank you for the detailed review and a player’s perspective that I, and probably many others, had not appreciated. I have always found EBS gear to be very robust and reliable.

[ebenezer]

Strange to think, this amp I believe uses the same ice 700 power module as the aguilar ag700 and the gentler magellen and yet this only developed 280 Watts at 8 ohms, whereas the others are 350-400 Watts at 8 ohms....please explain?

[agedhorse]

14 hours ago, ebenezer said:

Strange to think, this amp I believe uses the same ice 700 power module as the aguilar ag700 and the gentler magellen and yet this only developed 280 Watts at 8 ohms, whereas the others are 350-400 Watts at 8 ohms....please explain?

Because it doesn't use an ICEPower power module. 

 

The ICEPower module has become the industry standard because of the higher performance and reliability compared to virtually everything else on the market. That's why it's capable of 400 watts into 8 ohms, 800 watts into 2 or 4 ohms.

[Harlequin74]

Sorry chaps not fully understandidng this? Does it make the EBS less loud, or versatile? 
 

great review JG, thanks, its been on my list for a while

[ebenezer]

I stand corrected!....bassplayer magazine tested the Reidmar 750 and stated it was fitted with the ice module....they must have changed to something different for the  752.

[JGSpector]

2 hours ago, Harlequin74 said:

Sorry chaps not fully understandidng this? Does it make the EBS less loud, or versatile? 
 

great review JG, thanks, its been on my list for a while

I can categorically state that the 752 is unbelievably loud. Running mine into a Barefaced 210 at four ohms means the amp is running at 450 W. In a band with a loud hard hitting drummer, two guitars, vocals and keyboards I have never had to Have the volume any higher than four or five on the dial the amp is incredibly versatile for sure, you can get pretty much any sound you like out of it. It is definitely not a one trick pony 

[Bigwan]

Of the amps you've reviewed @JGSpector, which would you pick if you could only have one? I haven't read all your reviews but I'm leaning towards trimming all my equipment down to a single amp, single cab and a couple of basses. The Bergantino Forte is top of my GAS list so interested in your take.

[JGSpector]

14 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

Of the amps you've reviewed @JGSpector, which would you pick if you could only have one? I haven't read all your reviews but I'm leaning towards trimming all my equipment down to a single amp, single cab and a couple of basses. The Bergantino Forte is top of my GAS list so interested in your take.

Oh man, I thought someone might ask me this one day. Firstly, I will just state that I really love getting amps whether they be new or pre owned and trying them out. I have a genuine interest in how they fit with my personal requirements and preferences as a blind player, so that's why I appear to have so many amps. I currently only actually own 3 (some would say too many I know) which are a Bergantino Forte HP2, a Trace Elliot TE1200 and the EBS Reidmar 752.

 

I genuinely like all 3 of them, they all sound great and have excellent build quality. To answer your question though , if I could only keep one of them it would absolutely be the Bergantino Forte HP2.

 

It has absolutely everything a gigging bass player could need, variable rate compressor, high and low pass filters, built in drive with multiple firmware options for overdrive, fuzz (modern and vintage), FX loop, aux in, headphones out, studio quality DI, the ability to handle a 2 ohm load, it's got more power on tap than you can shake a stick at, it's compact, light weight, the build quality is first class and most importantly of all, it sounds absolutely fantastic. It's unbelievably versatile and if you want it, it even has a bluetooth footswitch that can be used with it. I can't imagine any gig situation that it couldn't handle to be honest.

 

I don't know if you've read my review of the Berg, but if you do or have, you'll notice that right at the beginning I say that it's not technically 100% accessible to me due to how some of the push buttons work, but even considering that, the amp is so good and flexible that I wouldn't be without it.

 

Interestingly, I'm actually considering thinning mine down to the Berg as my main amp and keeping The Reidmar as my backup amp and moving the Trace Elliot on. I genuinely love the Trace as well but it doesn't quite have the versatility of the Berg. I also do some jam sessions etc and sometimes do some work with blind teenagers where they can try playing instruments, so I will use the Reidmar for that and the jam session stuff as there's no way I'm taking my Berg to be potentially damaged. That's not to say that I think the Reidmar is rubbish, far from it, I think it's a great and versatile little amp, but given that it only cost me £200 and 2 pedals that I no longer wanted, I could handle it if it were to get damaged in some way.

 

Sorry, have waffled a bit there but I hope that has answered your question