Burns-bass Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 I gig a fair bit and have a lovely EBS 350 amp in a flight case. It’s solid, sounds amazing and always delivers - but it’s heavy. I take an Elf as a backup but was wondering if the Tonehammer 500 would be as loud and effective. Any experiences to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJE Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 If you like EBS why not look at the Reidmar amps? I had the original one which was 250w but it had some magic clever stuff going on because it was insanely loud and I have not had an amp that had so much punch from such a small box. Mine was stolen, and for some reason I replaced it with a tonehammer which was quite fashionable at the time. I found it severely lacking in comparison, I never managed to get a tone out of it I was happy with. It didn’t have the same output volume and when pushed it lost some clarity to me. The TH did have more of a vintage vibe to it so maybe it was just going from a very punchy tight clear tone to vintage tone that was too much for me at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 The tonehammer is more vintage voiced but the Aguilar AG series is clean at all levels and responsive to the EQ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 (edited) On 06/04/2024 at 10:58, Burns-bass said: I gig a fair bit and have a lovely EBS 350 amp in a flight case. It’s solid, sounds amazing and always delivers - but it’s heavy. I take an Elf as a backup but was wondering if the Tonehammer 500 would be as loud and effective. Any experiences to share? The EBS is not heavy in comparison with other old school amps. My old TE probably weighed double what it does. I had a 350 and liked it. It was 2 ohm capable, so when I replaced it, I went with an Aguilar AG700 (which will also run into 2 ohms). I'm happy with the Aguilar, but that's just me. You should really take your EBS to a shop or two and compare it with other amps. You're obviously very happy with it apart from the weight, so don't get rid of it without doing some homework. Perhaps one of those lightweight rack cases (SKB, Gator, etc) might be helpful if you have it in a full-fat flight-case. Would be a lot cheaper than a new amp. Edited April 7 by Dan Dare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted April 8 Author Share Posted April 8 20 hours ago, Dan Dare said: The EBS is not heavy in comparison with other old school amps. My old TE probably weighed double what it does. I had a 350 and liked it. It was 2 ohm capable, so when I replaced it, I went with an Aguilar AG700 (which will also run into 2 ohms). I'm happy with the Aguilar, but that's just me. You should really take your EBS to a shop or two and compare it with other amps. You're obviously very happy with it apart from the weight, so don't get rid of it without doing some homework. Perhaps one of those lightweight rack cases (SKB, Gator, etc) might be helpful if you have it in a full-fat flight-case. Would be a lot cheaper than a new amp. I used to have two flightcased Hiwatt DR103s so I’m fully aware of how heavy amps are and can be. The 350 is nice it’s just annoying to carry to my music room in the loft and lug about. I use Barefaced cabs and just fancied a fully lightweight rig. A/B testing sounds like a great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 I owned the TH500 and didn't like it at all. Just wasn't clean enough sounding. It didn't have anywhere near enough volume for me before a horrible digital distortion ensued. Also, as with all Aguilar amps - the 40hz Bass control is simply redundant as anything other than a cut, as this is much too low a level to be used effectively. Again, all my opinion - you might have a better experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted April 8 Author Share Posted April 8 48 minutes ago, acidbass said: I owned the TH500 and didn't like it at all. Just wasn't clean enough sounding. It didn't have anywhere near enough volume for me before a horrible digital distortion ensued. Also, as with all Aguilar amps - the 40hz Bass control is simply redundant as anything other than a cut, as this is much too low a level to be used effectively. Again, all my opinion - you might have a better experience! This is the problem. I like vintage sounding amps but I don't want it to break up like an old valve amp too soon. I'll stick with what I have (and I have no work so maybe the lack of cash is an influence here!) Thanks all for your comments and views. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 If you like the clean punch of the EBS gear (I do) - there's a Reidmar 750 in the For Sale section. A very worthy beast that stays clean way past annoying the guitarists, but has a drive section on board should you wish to add a hair of grit. Compressor and pre-shape for a wide range of tones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 And I've just seen a 752 for sale too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 On 08/04/2024 at 17:03, Dood said: If you like the clean punch of the EBS gear (I do) - there's a Reidmar 750 in the For Sale section. A very worthy beast that stays clean way past annoying the guitarists, but has a drive section on board should you wish to add a hair of grit. Compressor and pre-shape for a wide range of tones. I’ve just purchased it !! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 31 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said: I’ve just purchased it !! Definitely in my top ten amps that one. Congrats! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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