Line 6 new Valve Spider!?...U tried it?

[al3d]

As the title said, as anyone tried the new line of valve Spider amps?, i've read some good reviews about them but i'de like more personnal opinions. i'm looking at getting a new amp and those so far seems to hit the mark in price range, power and versatibilty.

If you know something similar or even better let me know. But it does need to be a tube amp..:)

[gproud]

I tried one. Though I didn't give it enough of a spin to consider my opinion any kind of review, I spent more time trying to dial something in that appealed to my ears than I did actually 'playing' it. To me, that makes it not for me. Despite the fact it's a tube power amp, it still didn't have the 'oomph' that pure tube amps do; and I did get to run it pretty hot at the store with a very nice Les Paul. But I was generally unimpressed with it. I'm not one to spend hours tweaking something to get a good sound out of it, so I know opinions will vary greatly with it. I'm just not getting rid of what I have to get one. For someone that loves to spend the time I'm sure they would find several very good sounds they could use.

[suttree]

well, i'll ring in on the other side of the debate. i gave one a fast whirl at my local L&M, and was really quite impressed with the amp. it's finally getting closer to delivering on what line6 has had in mind since day one. the presets are still all over the place volume-wise (you'd think they'd have addressed this at some point), and it still doesn't sound as good as simple tube amp opened up.. but it's great for the money, very usable tones, and a good solid package for the guitarist who still isn't quite sure how they should go about building an individual tone, or the guitarist who is looking for an amp that will cover a lot of bases.

for the record, until now, the only line6 products i've really liked is the DL4, and the MM4.

[al3d]

WEll..i don't gig so it's mainly to play home or with my former band mates from time to time. I don't want to go back to a Marshall stack with a ton of FX pedal, so this amps, or a modeling amp basicaly will do the trick. I had a Spider III, but sold it to get a tube version.

If anyone knows of something better, i'm all open to sugestions.:)

[torndownunit]

How much are they going for?

I gigged with a Flextone III for a year and it was a great amp. I just found all the features overkill. I am interested in the new technology, and the Spider model though. IMO Line 6 has been miles ahead in the modeling technology since the Flextone III came out.

[Budda]

if you're buying it for home use, it'll do just fine. at the end of the day, its still a spider circuit, just being warmed up by a tube power section (i dont care who designed it).

the spider valve is not a true tube amp, its a hybrid. if you want a true tube amp in that range, have a look at a used mesa F30, DC-3, DC-5, used peavey classic 30, used traynor YCV50..

[torndownunit]

That circuit will do for a lot of people uses though. No the Flextone III didn't sound perfect, but it totally did a good enough job for live situations playing Rock n' Roll to a drunk crowd. And you didn't have to worry about it. That's about all I would expect from it personally. I am never looking to replace my tube amps, just to find something that can 'get me by' in some situations.

[torndownunit]

Man I just looked that the price on these. At $700, you have a lot of choice in actual tubes amps you could look at. I think they should have tried to come out with something cheaper.

I think putting a Vintage 30 in them is a mistake too. For those types of amps you want a speaker that doesn't have much identity so that it will work with th models.

I'll wait till they are $300 used lol.

[al3d]

I wanna stick to Tube..always like the sound better for personnal reasons. What i liked about the spider was the ability to set different sounds and with the flip of a switch, change sounds without having to redo them all the time. Also having lots of FX built in as well, i'm not one to get load of extra pedals realy.

SOme kid as a JCM 2000 TLS 2000 with an extra 2x12 cab for sale at 1400$..it's very tempting i most admit..LOL

[torndownunit]

I wanna stick to Tube..always like the sound better for personnal reasons. What i liked about the spider was the ability to set different sounds and with the flip of a switch, change sounds without having to redo them all the time. Also having lots of FX built in as well, i'm not one to get load of extra pedals realy.

SOme kid as a JCM 2000 TLS 2000 with an extra 2x12 cab for sale at 1400$..it's very tempting i most admit..LOL

If those are things you need than go for it. A lot of us don't want/need those features so the amps become overkill. But I think Line 6 makes a decent product. I have no issues with the Flextone III I had and I gigged it a ton.

[Eric Pykala]

Just love how Line 6 make a business out of "replacing" tube amps so they can come out with their own tube amp. I'll wait for the Flextone or Vetta version, as the Spider front end is, well, a Spider front end. Not me, and it needs to be cranked to sound like an amp. Talk about 180 degree shift.
One customer at our store liked it so much he bought one and traded-in his MESA Express 5:25, which I picked-up. I'm delighted with the MESA. Different strokes for different folks.-Eric

[torndownunit]

Just love how Line 6 make a business out of "replacing" tube amps so they can come out with their own tube amp. I'll wait for the Flextone or Vetta version, as the Spider front end is, well, a Spider front end. Not me, and it needs to be cranked to sound like an amp. Talk about 180 degree shift.
One customer at our store liked it so much he bought one and traded-in his MESA Express 5:25, which I picked-up. I'm delighted with the MESA. Different strokes for different folks.-Eric


Line 6's effects are pretty decent though. The idea of combining them with a tube amp is a great idea. Fender did a pretty good job with those new XD amps, and they are pretty much the same concept.

As you said though, the Flextone and Vetta are the flagship lines. They will be the ones to hear.

[Rydock]

Line 6 amp modeling, and tube amps work really well together imo. I have an atomic 212 with a pod x3 and it's absolutely amazing :bow:. The spider valve seems to have the same idea, but I don't think it could ever replace my atomic.