EBS Reidmar 750 Bass Amp Head

this is one of my two amps, and it had to be light and portable, while being as close as possible to HD350 it was replacing. huge power available, which I do not use - but having the clean headroom is better than not having it. would have bought the 500W model if it had the drive knob.

character knob:
an EQ preset, quite nice sounding but I end up never using it.

gain knob:
important to know is that for the signal to be amplified cleanly, the gain level should be set in a way that the red light next to it does not light up while playing normally. the manual is also quite clear about it. I have found that some short spikes can come through undetected, so use your ears as well.

compressor:
seems to be the same as in HD350. the potentiometer controls the threshold and ratio, but do not forget that gain acts as input level, and master volume as make-up gain. no drastic compression can be had, but then this is not the purpose. this is as good as it gets with one-knob onboard compressor.

EQ section with bypass:
bass and treble seem to be voiced a bit differently than HD350, but close enough. most YT reviewers set bright control at noon, thinking it is zeroed lik that - this control is boost only and is defeated when fully CCW. bypassing the EQ section is a great way to see whether you are actually improving your sound.

drive:
only reason I went with 750 instead of 500. I run it around 1/3, depending on the bass, and it warms up the signal just enough to depart from the original sound, while not being overdriven yet. would not use it as a separate effect, as it also proportionally boosts the signal - the volume difference when foot-switched is too big for my needs. the amount of signal coming from previous stages has direct influence on the amount of drive, beside the drive level setting.

master volume:
works as intended. never went over 1/3, except one time to scare the drummer. that worked too.

pilot light:
why oh why did they not put a blue light there... but you can order it from EBS directly for a small fee. might be superficial to some, but the yellow one really did not fit there for me.

D.I.:
works great, the sound techs have nothing bad to say. however, I end up using my other head's D.I. for recording purposes.

phones out and aux in:
great if you need to practice silently. can be used without the speaker connected.

fx loop, remote switching, the handle on the side:
I do not use those.

I wish it had a controlable HPF. a second semi-parametric mid control would be very welcome, although not absolutely necessary. actually, if they ever release a lightweight 802... that'd be cool. also, there is a lot of empty space inside 750. not sure why is the housing so big.

surprisingly, EBS does not offer a gig-bag for this amp. luckily, ZOOM SCR 16 bag fits perfectly!