Line 6 spider

Post by **Hurb** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:22 am

As everyone that attended progfest this year knows, I was practically giddy with frans Line 6 spider II. Basically I want to know a bit more about them and amps of that ilk. I really care little about all the features of the amp. I just really like the cleans and that it took fuzz pedals awesomely well. I was in a house with vintage fender amps and even a custom matamp, that while they sounded very nice, gorgeous in fact. The line 6 beat em hands down simply because of it's cleanest cleans and fuzz love.

So who has em? And is there other options out there that would foot the bill of lovely modelled clean and taking pedals really well, without all the other crap(I fear not, although Benecol is getting me some info on H H amps.)

All the videos online are just not that great to be honest(that I could be arsed to find) mainly people doing the metal riffing, that it seems to do well...but I'm just not that interested in.

help a line 6 noob out!

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:55 am

It I have a spider 3. Ill do up a demo of just the cleans and some Eau Claire fuzz

Post by **Hurb** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:04 am

Your a star mate. cheers.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:39 am

Loads of info here. Loud, reliable hi-fi amps, with some nice features, and over-enigineered as you like. Plus they're pretty, in a 70's hi-fi way:

Alright, not pretty, handsome.

Cropped up a lot in the 70's (Marc Bolan used them, as did The Buzzcocks, Jason Pierce still uses one), and they became mainstays of practise spaces as comparatively bulletproof all round amps that could sub equally well for keyboards or, in a pinch, the bass. For the brief time I had mine (Mrs Benecol flipped out at the size of it - I'd lied and said it was only a little larger than my 1x10 combo...) I loved the cleans with pedals, and was surprised at how good the amp distortion was (it's mosfet trickery in there, I believe). Plus it sounded just as good at 'don't annoy the neighbours' volume as it did in full on trouser-flapping mode. And the fascia lights up lovely.

Plus, most importantly, they crop up on eBay for next to nothing: you'll get one for less than Â£100 easily.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:50 am

The recent Line 6 Spider models have more FX than mine Hurb, even 'artist settings' and i believe you can download a ridiculous amount more settings via usb off their website. But all that malarky aside, i think you want a good clean Solid State amp that does'nt clip even with 6 Fuzz pedals on the go.
An alternative could be 90s Laney and Peavey stuff that sells cheap and they are built to last.

I think the guy i bought mine off still has another Spider amp he was selling, i'll ask him what it is and how much he wants.

Post by **Doog** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:00 am

I heard if you connected a telephone up to that phone socket and asked the amp nicely, it'll do any sound.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 12:46 pm

If you are interested Hurb my mate still has a Spider I for sale. Its the 100w 2x12 model in mint nick, Â£140 ono he said. I'd be able to ship it through the local shop but it would be around Â£25.
Looks like this;

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 2:38 pm

the guitar player in my band Adam uses my old red wilshire thru a 60watt spider II 112

[youtube][/youtube]

you cant make out over Nate bringing the thunder with the rick,ampeg,road head though

Empires · Post by **Empires** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:17 pm

I can totally understand the love for this thing...

I've got a Fender Deluxe 112 Plus Solid State Amp and it sounds absolutely blinding on the clean channel and the built in reverb is lovely.

Specsheet

A friend, who uses lots of delays and a very effected sound, borrowed it for a recent mini-tour and he was sounding great.

It's fucking loud. 100W, I almost can't get it to go quiet enough when I'm practicing.

However, I wouldn't touch the dirty channel unless I wanted to show someone what 'shit' sounds like.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:32 pm

If it's just cleans you're looking, I know that the Hughes and Kettner Warp 7 thing has great cleans. Dunno how well it takes fuzzes and such, though. I don't know if they still make them, but I imagine you'd get them cheapish now, given how hard nu metal fell from fashion.

They look bloody awful, though.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:51 pm

uploading a demo, these things have PLENTY of trebble, not to mention volume

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:15 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:50 pm

I've got one dem deluxes al posted above i'd be willing to let go. Don't need it anymore. I think the distortion's great on it though, it's really punky.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:04 pm

Haze wrote:uploading a demo, these things have PLENTY of trebble, not to mention volume

I was shocked how loud mine is for 75w solid state. That 100w will be a beasty.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:14 pm

wow those are some clean cleans... that wouldn't mask my shit playing at all.

kim · Post by **kim** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:00 pm

Doog wrote:I heard if you connected a telephone up to that phone socket and asked the amp nicely, it'll do any sound.

pffffff

i've one of these and love the reverb on it, so splashy, dirt channel is shit but it's so loud and clean, thing is, you turn up the volume to 2, ..go up to 6 and it's still pretty much the same volume as on 2, just doesn't quiet down at all, it's either loud or no sound. and when you play quite aggressive with the volume up high it farts. so not as nice sounding as that line 6 one, but the reverb on it is yummy.

i'd love to have a setup where i have the stage 100 for certain things and the rocker/ampeg for other things, it'd be nice, but such a hassle and nerdy why bother.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:27 pm

I had a 30 watt spider II but I sold it as the tremolo effect kept bleeding through. The problem was more noticeable on the clean setting, no matter what I did the fucking thing wouldnâ€™t switch off completely.

MaMo · Post by **MaMo** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:19 pm

I got a Spider III HD 150 a couple of years ago and I really have no complaints about it. Its nice to hear others acknowledge it as a decent solid-state amp. What it lacks in vintage mojo and looks it really makes up for in ease of use and clarity. I'm a fan of the cleans as well, as a matter of fact that was what sold me on it. Of all the heads I tried in that price range nothing really came close. Now that there's a Spider IV line the III's (and especially II's) are coming down in price quickly, too.

Post by **Hurb** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:04 am

Thanks for the input guys.

The difficult thing with the other amps is without trying them. which is why I would be more tempted to stick with the line 6 as I know I liked that. However those H H amps to look swish, If I can find one cheap enough I may do it for giggles. Fran thats a good offer but I couldn't spend that at the moment and they come up on ebay enough not have him hold out. cheers for the leg work.

How much moolaa out of interest for the Fender Deluxe 112 stewart? would you say you can get it to house levels? as that is basically would it would be used for, for now. and does it take the pedals as well as the line 6?

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:15 am

i dunno, Â£60 or something? it's just taking up space here. you can get it to house levels but the volume knob has that usual fender quiet/loud thing, it can be done with a few seconds of tweaking though. to be honest i've only used it a couple of times and wasn't paying all that much attention to the line 6 at progfest for comparison, but it's clean clean clean.