Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

EBS Reidmar


JakeBrownBass
 Share

Recommended Posts

[quote name='surfinbernard' timestamp='1341131704' post='1714022']
Hey 1976Fenderhead, I just got the Reidmar.. Yes to the power input 'giving' a little bit, in fact it made a little snapping sound when I first plugged in the kettle lead :o and yes it is slightly 'wiggly'. No though to the one light being dimmer, they both appear about the same brightness. I toyed with the idea of taking it back to the shop (I bought local) because of the wiggly lead but perhaps it's like that on all the units.
The amp is great though eh? I tried a lot of amps including ones with much higher supposed power ratings (including the ABM III at apparently 1000watts) and it was not only much louder but the sound quality and tone is way better than even much more expensive amps I tried. How are you gettin on with yours?
[/quote]

Yeah I thought about taking it back too but thought they'd probably all be like that, which it seems they may be so screw it... The dim light is very noticeable with daylight but barely noticeable at night.

I AB'd it in the shop with a Little Mark III and a TH500 and this one was much louder and punchier. Also AB'd it with my big SWR 350x and was louder too.
I'm only using 1 cab at the moment because I need to buy another Speakon. First of all, let me say that I plugged the 350x to that one cab and it sounded exactly the same to my ears as it used to sound through my SWR Triad. So that's very impressive, that this tiny light cab doesn't make that amp sound crappy.

I tried the Reidmar with Character on and off and initially left it off as I found it hard to get a focused sound with it on. However with it off, the sound is always a bit too nasal to my ears (probably used to 10 years of SWR). Anyway, then AB'd it with the 350x and found when playing on my own, I preferred the sound of the 350x: surprisingly, the valve preamp DOES make a difference, those upper harmonics are there and make it sound very warm and natural, the Reidmar lacks that. However, when playing to some recordings to simulate playing with a band to see how it will cut, the Reidmar blew the SWR away at the same volume, even with Compressor off.

Then I fiddled a bit more and got a sound with Character knob on I'm really digging and I'm sure I prefer this to the 350x despite no valve-ness... Now I'm playing around with the Compressor to try to figure out whether I can sell my MXR one...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been thinking of getting one of these for a while. Its specs tick all the right boxes, but I'm somewhat put off with the manufacturing being done by a third party in China - there's always a human cost for stuff made 'cost-effectively' over there. I may get a Tecamp Puma instead for that reason alone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='heminder' timestamp='1341159422' post='1714486']
Been thinking of getting one of these for a while. Its specs tick all the right boxes, but I'm somewhat put off with the manufacturing being done by a third party in China - there's always a human cost for stuff made 'cost-effectively' over there. I may get a Tecamp Puma instead for that reason alone.
[/quote]

True, if you're happy paying twice as much, I sometimes am too but not at this moment :( Well the cabs are made in Sweden if it helps...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='1976fenderhead' timestamp='1341162303' post='1714538']
True, if you're happy paying twice as much, I sometimes am too but not at this moment :( Well the cabs are made in Sweden if it helps...
[/quote]

I'm pretty sure that the ClassicLine cabs are made in China as well. That doesn't make them any less good though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1341266428' post='1716261']
I'm pretty sure that the ClassicLine cabs are made in China as well. That doesn't make them any less good though.
[/quote]

They're made in Sweden, this is from the web but mine say the same thing.

Edited by 1976fenderhead
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm, that's quite misleading. If you go here [url="http://www.bass.se/2009/cl112.htm"]http://www.bass.se/2009/cl112.htm[/url] and on the [s]left[/s] right column you'll see a certificate of origin where is states that the assembly is done in China.

Edited by heminder
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you mean the right column, I clicked on the certificate and see nothing about China in it...?

EDIT: for some reason Chrome wasn't showing the 2nd page. Downloaded it and yeah it says that. Explains the low price then... I'd say it's probably even illegal to say what they say on the cab... The certificate doesn't even say that parts are made in Sweden and then sent to China for assembly, it pretty much says designed in Sweden, assembled in China (which I guess implies made) and then sent back to Sweden for testing. Very dodgy then to write "made ENTIRELY in Sweden", I don't think "designed" and "made" are the same thing (and I'm a designer so I should know!)...

Edited by 1976fenderhead
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe they've made a first batch in Sweden or something? I've had a Kustom DE300 head for trial from one of the big german retailers a few years back, and it said "made in USA" on the back. I was curious, as press reviews stated it being made in China. Contacted both the retailer and Kustom, and both confirmed that there was a batch of several hundred amps that was made in the States and went for sale in Europe. Might be some sort of similar case here (which I kinda hope).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How's everyone getting on using the Reidmar with their effects? I find my distortions sound harsher with it than they did with my previous amp which had a tube preamp, they sound not so pleasant and organic with the Reidmar and I'm not being able to get around it :/ I've been using a T-Rex Bass Juice since it came out and a Red Ripper for a few months, they went great with the 350x but not enjoying them so much now... Don't tell me I'll have to start a new search for distortions all over again :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='1976fenderhead' timestamp='1341319211' post='1716886']
How's everyone getting on using the Reidmar with their effects? I find my distortions sound harsher with it than they did with my previous amp which had a tube preamp, they sound not so pleasant and organic with the Reidmar and I'm not being able to get around it :/ I've been using a T-Rex Bass Juice since it came out and a Red Ripper for a few months, they went great with the 350x but not enjoying them so much now... Don't tell me I'll have to start a new search for distortions all over again :(
[/quote]

Maybe put a tube prepedal in front of the amp... a bit annoying I know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1341321819' post='1716972']
Maybe put a tube prepedal in front of the amp... a bit annoying I know.
[/quote]


Yeah thought of it... Tried the SansAmp for simulation and doesn't really go nicely, I always find it cuts some essential frequencies from my basses (especially the fretless)... Wouldn't have a problem trying the ValveDrive and having it always on with a very mild setting but the 12V thing is annoying, already using a separate PSA for the Line 6 M5, that would be a third one, 3 PSA's for a Pedaltrain Mini is starting to get a bit OTT...

Edited by 1976fenderhead
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1341300977' post='1716451']
They shouldn't have written that on the cabs, I agree.
[/quote]

Could be a Swinglish mistranslation, or even just a plain old mistake on the back of the cab. The fact that EBS do the certificate of origin in the first place gives the impression that they don't want to mislead anybody as to what is done where.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very unlikely that it's a mistranslation from Swedish. My bets are that they forgot to change it when they copy-pasted the text onto the design of the plate. Still it is misleading if someone has never read the certificate before, as 1979fenderhead shows.

I'm sure it's great - a good design will still make a good cab/amp, no matter where it is put together. It's just that with stuff made over there, workers usually don't get paid properly and their health/environment often compromised - all in the name of low-cost and high-output.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They did indeed.

[quote][i]Disclaimer:[/i][color=#000000][font=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2] By mistake, it has been printed on the back of the ClassicLine 110 and 112 cabinets that they are "Entirely Made In Sweden". This is a cut and paste from the original artwork for the NeoLine mini size cabinets, and should of course been changed to Made Entirely in China, as it says on the large ClassicLine cabinets. We apologize for the misleading information, and advice to check the Certificate Of Origin for accurate information, where all steps in the process are described and where it is executed. No need to say it will also be changed from the next batch to be produced and on.[/size][/font][/color][/quote]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='1976fenderhead' timestamp='1341400300' post='1718259']
Got a reply apologising and explaining the mistake. They've put a disclaimer on the bottom of the 110 and 112 pages. Apparently the large Classic cabs say China correctly, they screwed up with copy pasting from the Neo cabs to the small ones.
[/quote]

An honest mistake then. No harm there really.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ok, now that I'm finally using both cabs (got a speakon cable I was missing) pedals sounds pretty much fine. Other things that helped were cutting Bright and stopping to use the unit's Compressor after my distortions and just continue to use a compressor before my distortions as before: problem solved B)
I've also gone from having to cut mids at around 200-250Hz with 1 cab, to boosting them at around 2KHz with both cabs. Boosting mids, now there's something I'm not used to...

Edited by 1976fenderhead
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

OK so after several months of being in two minds about the Reidmar, and with no HD350s showing up second hand, I went ahead and bought one! Arrived this morning, and on first impressions this guy makes some tasty sounds. The character switch is more useful that I thought it would be. I may write up a review of the setup later on.

With a Neoline cab I'm getting some hiss from the tweeter though, even with nothing plugged in and gain rolled to 'off'. It's about as loud as the Reidmar's fan (which is about as loud as a laptop running) and it gets louder as I turn the volume up. Is this normal? It's my first amp with a tweeter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='heminder' timestamp='1343268661' post='1748133']
With a Neoline cab I'm getting some hiss from the tweeter though, even with nothing plugged in and gain rolled to 'off'. It's about as loud as the Reidmar's fan (which is about as loud as a laptop running) and it gets louder as I turn the volume up. Is this normal? It's my first amp with a tweeter.
[/quote]

Perfectly normal behaviour for a tweeter horn, but I find EBS tweeters to be a bit quieter than other brands. Nowhere as noisy as my old Warwick cabs. The 'bright'' control on EBS amps really perk up the tweeter horn and you get a bit more unwanted hiss if the bright control is very high. Over the years I have turned the tweeter horn down and cranked up the bright control for a quieter result, but still quite lively and scooped sounding. Depends how sparkly you like your overall tone I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, that's good to know. I was worried that I got an especially noisy unit. Yeah it's quiet as a mouse with the tweeter off. Interestingly when the tweeter is on, no matter what the level is on the cab's attenuator knob, the hiss is the same volume. The bright control only seems to make a noticeable difference past half way on the dial, but I think I'm putting that down to pickups being humbuckers.

Someone asked about using distortions with it so here's a little adventure I had: I dug out an ancient dist pedal, the only dist pedal I've got. It's a Snarling Dogs Black Dog for guitar, which I found in a charity shop but didn't really take a liking to it. It claims to emulate a "cranked British Stack" but it's really harsh and ice-picky on guitar. It wasn't too bad on bass. Not a saturated gain but a fuzzy distortion that's passable for rock and the like. It got a little harsh on the higher notes, but the Treble knob on the amp took care of that. It had quite a bit of low cut but it wasn't too bad. I might modify its circuit or gut it completely and make it into a bass drive, but that's for a different thread.

Edited by heminder
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...